Wondrous Creatures reference sheet

Overview

• Collect Creature Cards and Eggs to build the most harmonious reserve [p.7 — Goal of the Game]
• Highest Victory Points (VPs) at game end wins [p.7 — Goal of the Game]
• 1–4 players; solo mode available vs. AI opponent Tingent [p.22 — Solo Mode]
• Game ends when all Trophies on the Main Board are depleted [p.8 — Game Structure]
• Each turn: 1 Basic Action + any number of Free Actions [p.8 — Game Structure]
• Trophies = 3 VPs each; number used depends on player count [p.8 — Trophy]

Setup

1. Place Main Board center: Side-A for 1–2 players, Side-B for 3–4 [p.5 — General Setup]
2. Place Supply Board above Main Board [p.5]
3. Shuffle Creature Cards; deal 6 face-up to Wilderness [p.5]
4. Place 35 Eggs (5 per species) in Egg Pouch; remaining Eggs, 8 Energies, 8 Butterfly Nets on Supply Board [p.5]
5. Shuffle Habitat Tiles; reveal 3 face-up as Habitat Tile Pool [p.5]
6. 4-player only: Add 2 extra Time Track pieces, 1 extra Habitat Tile, 2 extra Eggs on Map icons [p.5]
7. Randomly select 2 Time Tokens; place Eggs on matching Map hexes; place all 5 tokens face-down on Time Track [p.5]
8. Place Trophies: 10 (2P), 14 (3P), 16 (4P) — reduce by 2 if learning [p.5]
9. Place 7 Achievement Cards (3 Main, 2 Multi-Species, 2 Single-Species) — no species overlap [p.5]
10. Each player: Player Board, 3 Crew Members, 6 Achievement Markers, 4 Resource Trackers at '1', 1 Score Tracker on boat icon [p.6]
11. Each player draws 2 Captain Boards, keeps 1; draws 8 Creature Cards, keeps 4 [p.6]
12. Each player takes matching Captain meeple, Lock Token, 1 Butterfly Net [p.6]
13. Play order bonus — 1st: no bonus; 2nd: +1 any resource; 3rd: +2 any resources; 4th: +3 any resources [p.6]

Turn structure

Each turn: 1 Basic Action + any Free Actions (before, during, or after)

Basic Actions (choose 1):

1. Place a Crew Member — place on Map, collect Egg if on same hex, gain resource or Creature Card per adjacent Habitat [p.9]
2. Play a Card(s) — play up to 2 cards from hand by paying costs; activate card abilities [p.12]
3. Complete an Achievement — place Achievement Marker, hatch used Eggs, gain reward + Trophy [p.15]
4. Recharge — only when ALL 3 Crew are on Map; retrieve Crew, advance Time Tracker, discard to 5-card hand limit, activate Recharge Cards [p.17]

Free Actions (unlimited, any time):

• Use a Butterfly Net — collect adjacent Egg OR activate adjacent Special Effect Icon [p.19]
• Use an Energy — discard 1 Energy from a card to activate that card's ability (once per card per turn) [p.18]

Actions

Scoring

Immediate Score (brown seal): Advance Score Tracker now; gain Score Track rewards at 5, 25, 30, 40, 50 VP [p.7]

End-of-Game Score (red seal) — calculated in order:

1. End Card abilities in reserve [p.20]
2. Ending Score printed on every Creature Card in reserve [p.20]
3. Ending Score of each completed Achievement Slot [p.20]
4. 3 VPs per Trophy [p.20]
5. 1 VP per 4 combined resources + Butterfly Nets [p.20]

• Exceeding 50 VPs: take a Score Token (50 side up), reset tracker [p.20]
• Score Track Rewards NOT gained during end-of-game calculations [p.20]

Tiebreaker: Most Trophies → most remaining resources → shared victory [p.20]

End of game

• Game ends when all Trophies on the Main Board are depleted [p.20]
• The player who takes the last Trophy finishes their turn; then ALL other players take one final turn in order [p.20]
• If Time Tracker reaches last space, each subsequent Recharge removes 1 Trophy and grants 1 Net [p.17]
• After final turns, calculate scores in order: End Cards → Card Ending Scores → Achievement Slots → Trophies → Resources/Nets [p.20]
• Highest score wins; tiebreak: most Trophies, then most resources [p.20]

Glossary

• Reserve: all Creature Cards and Eggs you have collected and played [p.7 — Reserve Building]
• Wilderness: 6 face-up Creature Cards on Supply Board available to take [p.9 — Habitat]
• Sweep: discard all 3 leftmost OR 3 rightmost Wilderness cards; draw 3 replacements [p.11 — Wilderness]
• Full Sweep: discard entire Wilderness; refill from deck [p.17 — Recharge]
• Habitat Icon: icon on Creature Card upper-right showing which Habitat it can be obtained from [p.9 — Habitat Icon]
• Habitat Resource: the resource type matching a specific card's Habitat Icon [p.13 — Abilities]
• Hatch: flip an Unhatched Egg to its Hatched (black & white) side; Hatched Eggs cannot be used for Achievements [p.14 — Eggs]
• Flip: turn an Egg to its other side (either direction) [p.14 — Eggs]
• Discovery Reward: place a Habitat Tile from the pool onto a Lake hex; triggered at 5, 25, 40 VPs on Score Track [p.11 — Discovery]
• Energy Limit: maximum Energies a card can hold; shown on the card [p.18 — Use an Energy]
• Captain: combined Captain + Crew meeple; unique ability unlocked after first Achievement [p.16 — Captain Ability]
• Trophy: end-game token worth 3 VPs; depleting all ends the game [p.8 — Trophy]

FAQ

• Q: Can I place a Crew member on a Mountain if I have no resources? — A: Yes, only if ALL remaining valid spaces are Mountains [p.10 — Crew Placement Rules]
• Q: Can I gain both a resource AND a Creature Card from the same Habitat? — A: No, only 1 reward (resource OR card) per Habitat per placement [p.10 — Hand]
• Q: Do I gain Score Track Rewards during end-of-game scoring? — A: No, Score Track Rewards are not granted during final score calculations [p.20 — Score Calculations]
• Q: Can the same Special Effect Icon be activated twice with Nets in one turn? — A: No, each Special Effect Icon can only be activated once per turn via Net; card/Captain abilities bypass this limit [p.19 — Activate an Adjacent Special Effect Icon]
• Q: What happens if my Egg Storage is full and I gain another Egg? — A: You cannot collect it but immediately gain 2 VPs instead [p.14 — Egg Storage Limit]
• Q: Can I use Energies from one card to activate a different card? — A: No, Energies on a card can only activate that specific card's ability [p.18 — Use an Energy]
• Q: When does the Captain ability unlock? — A: After completing your FIRST Achievement; remove the Lock Token from your Captain Board [p.15 — Unlock your Captain Ability]