# Ecos: New Horizon ## General Info - **Year Published**: 2021 - **BGG Rating**: 7.4 - **BGG Rank**: — - **Players**: 2-6 (Best with: 3) - **Duration**: 45-75 min - **Weight**: 2.75 / 5 - **Designers**: John D. Clair - **Artists**: Sabrina Miramon - **Publishers**: Alderac Entertainment Group, Lavka Games - **Categories**: Animals, Environmental, Expansion for Base-game ## Verdict Perfect for those who have mastered the base game and want more tactical depth and visual variety.Iconic and impactful new landscapesIncreases animal varietyMechanics that shift the dynamicsVisually enriching for the mapRequires the base game to playModerate language dependency on cardsRECOMMENDED ## Description If you already enjoy building your own ecosystem in Ecos, get ready because New Horizon arrives to make everything much more grand. This expansion isn't just a 'pack of extra cards', but an update that brings iconic geographic landmarks to your map. Imagine adding the majesty of Kilimanjaro, the vastness of the Sahara, or the biodiversity of the Serengeti to your continent. These new landscape features aren't just for show; they introduce a brand new card mechanic that changes the dynamics of how you interact with the terrain, creating effects that can either boost or hinder everyone's strategy at the table. Beyond the geography, the fauna gets a heavy-duty boost. Now you can populate your world with creatures like Nile crocodiles and herds of zebras, bringing new layers of scoring and biological interactions. The real charm here is how these new landscape cards force players to rethink their plans. Will you manage to take advantage of the dense Congo Basin to expand your domain, or will you watch your plans be swallowed by the relentless advance of the Sahara desert? The gameplay experience maintains the essence of the base game but with an extra spice of tactical complexity. The interaction between the new cards and the modular board makes each match more unpredictable, requiring you to adapt your strategy in real-time as the world evolves. It's the perfect choice for those who feel the base game has become too 'stable' and want more layers of decision-making and visual variety. If you love watching your ecosystem grow and want to feel like you're shaping a truly unique continent, New Horizon is the way to go. Just remember that, as an expansion, you need the base game to play, and there is moderate language dependency, so having translated cards helps significantly with the flow of the game. ## How to Play Game Objective Ecos: New Horizon is an expansion for Ecos: First Continent. In this expansion, players aim to enhance the landscape by placing Landscape Feature tiles. These features provide immediate rewards, ongoing benefits, or end-game victory points by matching specific patterns of tiles and tokens on the map. Consulte o manual para detalhes sobre esta seção regarding the overall victory conditions of the base game. Setup To integrate the expansion content into your game, follow these steps: Game Cards: Shuffle the new game cards into their respective decks prior to the draft. Starting Hands: If using pre-made starting hands, two additional sets have been added: Baobab and Acacia. Components: Ensure the following expansion components are available: 6 Landscape Feature tiles 32 Game cards 6 Animal token reference cards 6 Energy cubes 1 Mount Kilimanjaro token 46 Animal tokens and 1 storage container Game Flow The expansion follows the core rules of Ecos: First Continent. The specific flow for Landscape Feature cards is as follows: ECO Resolution: A player resolves all “ECO” effects from their own cards. Pattern Check: After resolving their effects, if a pattern of tiles and/or tokens on the landscape matches the pattern criteria on a Landscape Feature card in their hand, the player may immediately declare that card. Placement: The player places the Landscape Feature card into their tableau and places the corresponding Landscape Feature tile over the map tiles indicated. External Triggers: If a pattern is created by other players' actions, the player holding the card may declare and play it after all other players have finished resolving their “ECO” effects from the drawn Element token. Conflict Resolution: If multiple players wish to play a Landscape Feature simultaneously, they do so in clockwise order, starting with the Harbinger. Actions and How to Play Landscape Features Landscape Feature cards differ from normal cards: they are not played to the tableau via normal rules and do not require Element tokens to activate. They are played only when their pattern criteria (indicated by the black line on the card) is met on the map. Placement Rules: The Landscape Feature tile (indicated by the red line) is placed over the map. Existing tokens on the covered map tiles are not destroyed; they must be carefully removed and replaced in the corresponding position on the new Landscape Feature tile. Kilimanjaro is a special case: the mountain meeple replaces all previous mountain meeples in that area and counts as 3 mountains for game purposes. A Landscape Feature tile cannot overlap with another Landscape Feature, but it can be adjacent. Once placed, these tiles cannot be moved or removed, and cards that move map tiles do not affect them. Pattern Criteria: [land icon]: Indicates that any land tile (either desert or grassland) satisfies the requirement. "At least" or "Or more": If these terms are used, the number of tokens can be higher than the number on the card. Otherwise, the pattern must match exactly. Unindicated Tokens: If a token type is not mentioned, its presence or absence does not affect the placement. Placing Animal Tokens When placing animals, check the Tabs on the token: Blue Tab: Must be placed on a Water tile [water icon]. Brown Tab: Must be placed on a Desert tile [desert icon]. Green Tab: Must be placed on a Grassland tile [grassland icon]. Multiple Tabs: Can be placed on any of the indicated tile types. Leopards: Can only be placed on Map tiles that have at least one [animal icon]. Gorillas: Can only be placed on Map tiles that have a [mountain icon]. End of Game and Scoring Consulte o manual para detalhes sobre esta seção regarding the general end-game triggers and final scoring. However, specific Landscape Feature benefits include: Immediate Rewards: Some provide VPs or resources immediately when placed (e.g., Nile River and Serengeti provide resources upon placement). Ongoing Benefits: Some provide VPs or resources when specific events occur (e.g., Madagascar gains 2 each time a token is placed on or adjacent to it). End-Game VPs: Some provide VPs at the end of the game as described in the benefits section of each card. Tips for Winning Strategic Adjacency: Use the Serengeti's edge hex spaces as normal grassland map tiles to help meet the pattern criteria for other features, such as the Nile River. Kilimanjaro Synergy: Utilize Kilimanjaro as a high-density mountain habitat, as it counts as 3 mountains (one in each space), which can be part of a larger mountain habitat. Positioning Madagascar: When placing Madagascar, remember that up to 4 of the water spaces can be the edge of the landscape (tiles not completely surrounded on all 6 sides) instead of actual water. ## FAQ ### Do I need the base game to play? Yes, New Horizon is an expansion, so it adds content to the original game and cannot be played standalone. ### Does it make the game much more complex? Complexity increases slightly due to the new landscape mechanics, but anyone familiar with the base game will pick it up quickly. ### How many players can play with the expansion? It maintains the same player count as the base game, supporting 2 to 6 players. ### Does the language on the cards get in the way? There is moderate language dependency. If you aren't fluent in the original language, using translated sheets or cards is recommended. ### What actually changes during the game? You'll deal with geographic features that affect everyone's choices, making the game more dynamic and unpredictable. ## Price Comparison ### Best International Offers - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 19.27 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=2781286&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 19.49 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=4673318&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 19.99 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=2422421&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 20.69 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=6720328&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 22.37 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=2408425&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 24.99 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=4915274&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 26.16 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=6909269&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 26.65 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=2651154&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 27.98 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=6076304&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 28.56 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=2797697&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - See all on BoardGamePrices: https://boardgameprices.com/item/show/37621/ecos-new-horizon?utm_source=boardgamesbot.com