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:

1. ECO Resolution: A player resolves all “ECO” effects from their own cards.
2. 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.
3. Placement: The player places the Landscape Feature card into their tableau and places the corresponding Landscape Feature tile over the map tiles indicated.
4. 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.
5. 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.