Wondrous Creatures · Board game rules
How does the SCORE TRACK work in Wondrous Creatures?
Quick answer
The Score Track tracks VPs during play, giving Immediate Score rewards at certain spaces, and wraps around past 50 VPs using Score Tokens, until final scoring at game end.
Details
Whenever you gain an Immediate Score (brown seal icon), you advance your Score Tracker on the Score Track right away [p.7 — Scoring]. The Score Track has 10 spaces that grant rewards (a Butterfly Net, a Discovery Reward, or a Trophy) to any player who reaches or passes them [p.7 — Scoring]. Ending Scores (red seal icon), on the other hand, are only tallied at the end of the game — you still move your tracker for them, but you do NOT receive Score Track Rewards for that movement [p.7 — Scoring][p.20 — Score Calculations].
If your score exceeds 50 VPs, take a Score Token, place it next to your Player Board with the "50" side up, and reset your Score Tracker to the first space of the Score Track, continuing to track your score from there [p.7 — Scoring]. Once you've passed 50 VPs, you can no longer obtain Score Track Rewards even if you pass a Reward Icon again [p.7 — Scoring]. If your score later exceeds 100, flip the Score Token to show "100"; if it exceeds 150, take an additional Score Token set to "50" [p.20 — Score Calculations].
The Score Track also contains Discovery icons at 5, 25, and 40 VPs. Reaching or passing these lets you place a Habitat Tile from the Habitat Tile Pool onto a Lake hex, turning it into a usable Habitat (and collecting any Egg there) [p.11 — Discovery].
At game end, scores are calculated in a fixed order (End Cards, Ending Scores of cards, Achievement Slot scores, Trophies, leftover resources/Nets), advancing the Score Tracker each time — but again, no Score Track Rewards are granted during this final calculation [p.20 — Score Calculations].
Watch out: Don't confuse Immediate Score (brown seal, rewards apply) with Ending Score (red seal, no rewards apply) — both move your tracker, but only the brown seal triggers Score Track Rewards like Trophies or Nets [p.7 — Scoring].