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How to Play

Earth

1-5 players 45-90 min 7.6 Board Game Geek Rating

Players build interconnected nature-themed card tableaux using simple mechanics with deep strategy. Cards serve dual purposes: triggering actions that affect all players and generating resources. Through thousands of combinations, players develop self-sustaining engines where unused plants become compost for future growth. Victory goes to whoever accumulates the most points when someone completes their tableau.

Published 2023

Earth

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Prepare the Earth deck
Shuffle the deck containing flora cards (light green), terrain cards (beige), and event cards (white)
2
Set up the fauna board
Place 4 random fauna cards (brown) and 2 random ecosystem cards (dark green) on the fauna board
3
Assign first player
Randomly give the first player token to one player to track turn order and ensure equal turns at endgame
4
Distribute starting cards
Each player receives 2 random ecosystem cards (dark green), 2 random island cards (light blue), and 2 random climate cards (orange)
5
Choose starting cards
Players select 1 of each card type and place them on their player boards using either side
6
Take leaf tokens
Each player takes 5 leaf tokens of the same color for claiming fauna objectives and tracking actions
7
Return unused cards
Put all unused starting cards not part of the Earth deck back in the box
8
Draw initial hand
Draw Earth cards as indicated on your island card
9
Create compost pile
Place the indicated number of drawn cards facedown in your personal compost pile
10
Receive starting soil
Take soil (currency) as specified on your island card

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Select an action
Place the active player marker (fox) above 1 of the 4 action spaces
2
Perform active player actions
Execute the actions at the top of the chosen space in order
3
Other players act
All other players perform the action(s) shown at the bottom of the space
4
Activate matching abilities
Everyone activates all abilities matching the chosen action's color(s) in reading order
5
Green abilities
Can be activated the same turn they are planted
6
Black abilities
Activate once when planted, never triggered again
7
Brown abilities
Provide ongoing advantages or endgame scoring without triggering
8
Play event cards
Use as a free action anytime, even during another player's turn; place faceup in your event pile (not tableau)
9
Planting (green action)
Pay the soil cost, then place flora/terrain card orthogonally or diagonally adjacent to an existing card; activate black abilities immediately
10
Composting (red action)
Compost cards from the Earth deck (or discard pile if players agree)
11
Watering (blue action)
Place sprouts immediately when obtained; cannot save for later
12
Growing (yellow action)
Place trunks immediately when obtained; final growth piece is a canopy
13
Claim fauna objectives
At end of any turn, place a leaf marker on achieved fauna objectives; multiple players claim in clockwise order from active player

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Trigger endgame
The game ends at the end of the round where any player completes their 4x4 tableau
2
Equal turns
Ensure all players get an equal number of turns before final scoring
3
Claim completion bonus
First player to complete a 4x4 tableau places a leaf marker on the 7VP bonus space
4
Score flora types
All flora cards are 1 of 4 types: tree, bush, herb, mushroom
5
Score habitats
Flora, terrain, island, and climate cards have habitats: sunny, wet, rocky, cold
6
Count multicolored abilities
These count as red, blue, and yellow abilities for ecosystem and fauna objectives
7
Include base VPs
Island and climate cards have base VPs and count toward ecosystem objectives
8
Deduct event costs
Event cards generally cost VPs at endgame
9
Calculate final score
Total VPs from tableau cards, completed canopies, trunks, sprouts, composted cards, fauna objectives, and ecosystem objectives
10
Determine winner
Player with the most VPs wins
11
Break ties
Use tiebreakers in order: most soil, cards in hand, growth pieces, sprouts, composted cards

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