Earth Game

In this card-driven, tableau-building game for 1-5 players, the goal is to build relationships between Flora and Terrain cards while working to gain points awarded by Ecosystem and Fauna cards, as well as Recycling cards. The game ends when one player completes their card tableau by placing their 16th card in a 4x4 grid. Everyone then gets their final turn and the person with the most points wins the game!

Overview:

There are seven different card types in Earth Game. Central to the game for the player tableau are the Flora and Terrain cards. This is a 283-card deck consisting of 179 Flora cards, 66 Terrain cards, and 38 Event cards. Flora and Terrain cards are used to build each player’s individual Ecosystem/Tableau. Flora Cards provide end-game points and in-game activations. Terrain cards provide in-game bonuses or end-game scoring opportunities. Event cards are described in the setup below.  

Setup:
 
The game begins with a main board and player boards. The Main Board displays four Fauna cards and two Ecosystem cards. These cards are public goals that if met, provide players with points at the end of the game. The Player Board provides five card spaces with different functions.
Each player receives two of each of the following two-sided cards, and can choose one of each to start with:

• Ecosystem Cards: Like the cards on the main board, this card provides an individual game-end goal for points.
• Island Cards: These cards give players their starting resources (such as dirt, which is used to play cards to their tableau), starting cards from the Earth deck (Flora and Terrain Cards) which will be played to their grid, and the number of these cards they must recycle.  Recycled cards are placed in a space on each player’s game board, and will yield one point each at the end of the game.  
• Climate Cards: Climate Cards provide each player with a starting ability, and some provide game-end points.

Additional Cards used during the game and placed on player boards are:

• Recycled Cards: Besides setup, there are several chances to recycle cards during the game.
• Event cards: Players may play Event cards at any time during the game, which provide instant benefits. These cards may also add or subtract points from end-game scoring.

Gameplay:

Each turn, players choose one of four actions, which represent vital components of creating, caring for, and recycling materials for an efficient, thriving ecosystem. These four actions are planting, composting, watering, and growing. Each action has two different components. The first is the action itself and the second is the activations on cards with matching colors that are in player tableaus and on their boards. All other players take an abbreviated version of the active player’s choice with less benefits and card activations. Play continues with everyone’s action choices and tableau card activations until the game-end is triggered. Game scores are tallied across several variables and the person with the most points wins! For 1-5 players with a 40-90 minute playtime.

Awards & Honors

• 2023 Dice Tower Game of the Year Winner
• 2023 Dice Tower Strategy Game of the Year Winner
• 2023 BoardGameOfTheYear.org Game of the Year Winner
• 2023 People’s Choice at Dice Tower #1 Game of the Year
• 2023 Best of Gen Con Gaming Trends
• 2024 American Tabletop Complex Games Recommended
• 2023 UK Games Expo Best Boardgame (Euro-Style) Winner
• 2023 Meeples Choice Award Winner
• 2023 International Gamers Award Solo Winner
• 2023 Golden Geek Medium Game of the Year Winner