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How to play
Grounded in Cascadia's rulebook — cite-checked answers, not guesses.
Get a straight answer with the exact rulebook passage to back it up.
The easy-to-forget bits, straight from the rulebook.
Game end trigger
The game ends immediately when, at the end of any player's turn, there are no face-down Habitat Tiles left in the stacks to replace the one taken.
Total turns per player
Each player will play exactly 20 turns.
Nature token scoring
Each unused Nature Token is worth 1 point at the end of the game.
Tie-breaker
In case of a tie, the player with the most Nature Tokens wins; if still tied, they share the victory.
Wildlife token overpopulation (4)
If all 4 of the available Wildlife Tokens are the same, they are automatically wiped and replaced with 4 new tokens from the Cloth Bag.
Wildlife token overpopulation (3)
If 3 of the available Wildlife Tokens are the same, the active player may choose to wipe these 3 tokens and replace them with 3 new tokens from the Cloth Bag, once per turn.
Nature token spend option 1
Players may spend a Nature Token to take ANY one of the four Habitat Tiles and ANY one of the four Wildlife Tokens.
Nature token spend option 2
Players may spend a Nature Token to wipe ANY number of Wildlife Tokens and replace them.
To set up the game of Cascadia, follow these steps: 1. **Wildlife Tokens:** Place all Wildlife Tokens into the Cloth Bag and shake them well. 2. **Habitat Tiles:** Determine the number of Habitat Tiles needed based on the player count: * 2 Players: 43 tiles * 3 Players: 63 tiles * 4 Players: 83 tiles Shuffle the selected tiles and stack them face down within easy reach. Exclude any unused tiles. 3. **Wildlife Scoring Cards:** Randomly select one Wildlife Scoring Card for each of the five wildlife types and place these five cards face-up in the center of the play area. Return other Wildlife Scoring Cards to the box. (For your first game, it is recommended to use the cards marked with 'A'). 4. **Starter Habitat Tiles:** Randomly distribute one Starter Habitat Tile face-up to each player. Place the others back into the box. 5. **Habitat Tile Display:** Reveal 4 Habitat Tiles from the face-down stacks and place them face-up in the center of the play area. 6. **Wildlife Token Display:** Draw 4 Wildlife Tokens from the Cloth Bag and pair them, in order, with each of the 4 face-up Habitat Tiles. 7. **Nature Tokens:** Place the Nature Tokens within easy reach of all players. 8. **First Player:** The player who most recently saw one of the game's wildlife (or a randomly selected player) goes first. **Variant Setup Notes:** * **Solo Mode:** Follow the 2-player setup, but you only give yourself one Starter Habitat Tile, and the Habitat Tile stacks are placed to the left side of the play area. * **Family Variant:** The setup is the same as the standard game, except for step 3, you use only the Family Variant Wildlife Scoring Card.
On your turn in Cascadia, you will perform the following actions: 1. **Select a Habitat Tile and Wildlife Token combination**: * There will be four habitat tile and wildlife token combinations available. * Before selecting, check for overpopulation of wildlife tokens: * If all 4 available wildlife tokens are the same, they are automatically wiped and replaced with 4 new tokens from the bag. * If 3 available wildlife tokens are the same, you may choose to wipe those 3 and replace them with 3 new ones from the bag (once per turn). * You typically must take an existing combination. * Optionally, you can spend a [NATURE TOKEN] to: * Take any one of the four habitat tiles and any one of the four wildlife tokens. * Wipe any number of wildlife tokens and replace them. 2. **Place the Tile and Token into Your Environment**: * **Habitat Tile placement**: It must be placed adjacent to any tile already in your environment (touching at least one side). It cannot be placed on top of another tile. * **Wildlife Token placement**: It must be placed onto a habitat tile that does not already have a wildlife token on it. The chosen habitat tile must display the matching wildlife icon. * If you place your wildlife token onto a [KEYSTONE TILE], you take a [NATURE TOKEN]. * If you cannot or choose not to place the wildlife token, return it to the [CLOTH BAG]. 3. **Replace Components**: After placing your selected tile and token, replace them in the center of the play area. A new habitat tile is drawn from a stack, and a new wildlife token is randomly selected from the [CLOTH BAG]. Your turn then ends, and play passes clockwise. Each player will take 20 turns in total.
Rules summaries are AI-generated from the official rulebook and may contain mistakes — check the manual for anything critical.
The game ends immediately when there are no face-down habitat tiles left in the stacks to replace a taken one, which means each player will play exactly 20 turns. To win the game, players tally their scores from the following categories: 1. Wildlife Scoring Cards 2. Habitat Tile Corridors (1 point per tile in the largest contiguous group for each of the 5 habitat types) 3. Habitat Tile Corridor Majorities (bonus points for having the largest contiguous habitat corridor for each of the 5 habitat types) 4. Nature Tokens (1 point for each unused Nature Token) The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie in points, the player with the most Nature Tokens wins. If there is still a tie, those players share the victory.
Scoring in Cascadia works as follows: The game ends immediately when, at the end of any player's turn, there are no face-down habitat tiles left to replace a taken one. Each player will have played exactly 20 turns. Scores are tallied on the scorepad for these categories: 1. **Wildlife Scoring Cards**: Points are awarded based on these cards. (Specific rules for these are not provided in the context). 2. **Habitat Tile Corridors**: For each of the 5 habitat types (Mountains, Forests, Prairies, Wetlands, Rivers), you score 1 point for each habitat tile in your single largest contiguous group (corridor) of that specific habitat type. Tiles are connected if they share at least one matching edge. 3. **Habitat Tile Corridor Majorities**: Bonus points are awarded for having the largest (or second largest) contiguous habitat corridor for each of the 5 habitat types, based on the scores from step 2. The bonus points vary by player count: * **Solo game**: 2 bonus points for each habitat type with a group size of 7 or more. * **2-player game**: 2 bonus points for the largest corridor of each type. If tied, 1 bonus point each. * **3/4-player game**: 3 bonus points for the largest, 1 bonus point for the second largest. Specific rules apply for various ties. 4. **Nature Tokens**: You score 1 point for each unused Nature Token. Finally, all points are tallied, and the player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most Nature Tokens wins. If still tied, they share the victory.
The game ends immediately if, at the end of any player's turn, there are no face-down habitat tiles left in the stacks to replace the one that was taken. Once the game ends, scores are tallied immediately. Each player will have played exactly 20 turns.