How to Play Wondrous Creatures | Rules & Setup Guide

Get Ready

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

Place main board

Place Main Board with correct player count side face-up in center (Side-A for 1-2 players, Side-B for 3-4 players)

Place time track pieces

For 4-players only, place 2 additional Time Track pieces covering existing Time Track on Main Board

Set up habitat tiles

Place Habitat Tiles on Main Board; shuffle all tiles and place face-down as stack, draw 3 tiles and place face-up as Habitat Tile Pool

Place trophies

Place Trophies on Main Board (10 for 2 players, 14 for 3 players, 16 for 4 players)

Place eggs on map

Shuffle all 5 Time Tokens face-down, randomly select 2 and flip face-up; draw random Eggs from Egg Pouch and place 1 on each hex with corresponding markings on Map

Set up supply board

Place Supply Board above Main Board; place Energies, Butterfly Nets, and remaining Eggs on Supply Board

Set up creature cards

Shuffle all Creature Cards as face-down deck; draw 6 cards and place face-up as Wilderness

Place initial habitat tile

Draw 1 Habitat Tile from stack and place face-up on icon on Map

Place initial eggs

Randomly draw 2 Eggs from Egg Pouch and place 1 on each of the 2 icons on Map

Fill egg pouch

Place total of 35 Eggs (5 of each species) into Egg Pouch and mix well

Set up time track

Place Time Tracker on first space of Time Track; shuffle 2 selected Time Tokens and place face-down on 2 rightmost yellow-bordered spaces; shuffle remaining Time Tokens and place face-down on remaining yellow-bordered spaces (3-players: only use 4 Time Tokens total)

Set up achievement cards

Shuffle Main Achievement Cards and randomly place one in each of 3 brown spaces (beginners: use numbers 1, 2, 3); select 2 Single-Species Achievement Cards that don't match 4 species placed during setup and place in turquoise spaces; select Multi-Species Achievement Cards ensuring no species overlap and place in yellow spaces

Place score tokens

Place Score Tokens near Score Track

Each player takes player board

Take Player Board and place in front of you

Choose player color

Each player chooses color and takes 3 Crew Members, 6 Achievement Markers, 4 Resource Trackers (place on space 1 of each Resource Track), 1 Score Tracker (place on boat icon near Score Track), and 1 Lock Token

Gain starting resources

1st player: no additional resources; 2nd player: move any 1 Resource Tracker one space right; 3rd player: move any 2 Resource Trackers one space right; 4th player: move any 3 Resource Trackers one space right

Each player takes butterfly net

Take 1 Butterfly Net from Supply and place on Player Board

Choose captain

Each player takes 2 random Captain Boards, chooses one and places on Player Board, returns unused to box; take corresponding Captain meeple and combine with magnetic Crew member; place Lock Token on Captain Board

Draw starting cards

Each player draws 8 Creature Cards from deck, chooses 4 to keep in hand, discards rest to discard pile

Determine first player

Player who befriended most unusual animal becomes First Player (play proceeds clockwise)

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Place main board

Place Main Board with correct player count side face-up in center (Side-A for 1-2 players, Side-B for 3-4 players)

Place time track pieces

For 4-players only, place 2 additional Time Track pieces covering existing Time Track on Main Board

Set up habitat tiles

Place Habitat Tiles on Main Board; shuffle all tiles and place face-down as stack, draw 3 tiles and place face-up as Habitat Tile Pool

Place trophies

Place Trophies on Main Board (10 for 2 players, 14 for 3 players, 16 for 4 players)

Place eggs on map

Shuffle all 5 Time Tokens face-down, randomly select 2 and flip face-up; draw random Eggs from Egg Pouch and place 1 on each hex with corresponding markings on Map

Set up supply board

Place Supply Board above Main Board; place Energies, Butterfly Nets, and remaining Eggs on Supply Board

Set up creature cards

Shuffle all Creature Cards as face-down deck; draw 6 cards and place face-up as Wilderness

Place initial habitat tile

Draw 1 Habitat Tile from stack and place face-up on icon on Map

Place initial eggs

Randomly draw 2 Eggs from Egg Pouch and place 1 on each of the 2 icons on Map

Fill egg pouch

Place total of 35 Eggs (5 of each species) into Egg Pouch and mix well

Set up time track

Set up achievement cards

Place score tokens

Place Score Tokens near Score Track

Each player takes player board

Take Player Board and place in front of you

Choose player color

Gain starting resources

Each player takes butterfly net

Take 1 Butterfly Net from Supply and place on Player Board

Choose captain

Draw starting cards

Each player draws 8 Creature Cards from deck, chooses 4 to keep in hand, discards rest to discard pile

Determine first player

Player who befriended most unusual animal becomes First Player (play proceeds clockwise)

Perform 1 basic action

Choose one of 4 Basic Actions: Place a Crew Member, Play a Card(s), Complete an Achievement, or Recharge

Select and place crew member

Select Crew member from Player Board and place on Map across two adjoining hexes (cannot place on Lake or Habitat hexes; each hex can only hold 1 Crew; placing on Mountain hex costs any 1 resource; if placing on hex with Egg, collect that Egg)

Interact with adjacent habitats

From each adjacent Habitat, gain corresponding resource (advance Resource Tracker 1 space right) OR take 1 Creature Card with corresponding Habitat Icon from Wilderness and add to hand

Captain ability (if unlocked)

If placing Captain and ability unlocked, activate Captain ability at any time during this action

Collect eggs from placement

If Crew member placed on hex with Egg, collect Egg and place sequentially on Player Board in number order; if Egg Storage shows reward, receive it immediately

Select card from hand

Select Creature Card from hand to play

Pay cost

Pay costs shown on left side of card

Place card in reserve

Play card face-up to your reserve

Place energies (if Energy Card)

If Energy Card was played, take number of Energies indicated on card from Supply and place on card

Activate card ability

Depending on Card Type, activate card effect (Instant: immediately; Continuous: whenever conditions met; Energy: when Energy used; Recharge: during Recharge Action; End: at game end)

Play second card (optional)

May play up to 2 cards total with single Play a Card(s) Action; repeat steps for second card

Select achievement marker

Once conditions for Achievement met, select desired Achievement Marker from Player Board

Place achievement marker

Place selected Achievement Marker in slot dedicated to accomplished Achievement (each slot holds only 1 marker on first-come, first-serve basis)

Obtain achievement marker reward

Immediately obtain reward corresponding to chosen Achievement Marker

Obtain trophy

Take 1 Trophy from Main Board and place next to Player Board

Hatch used eggs

If used Eggs to complete Achievement, hatch all used Eggs by flipping to Hatched side

Unlock captain ability

If first Achievement completed, remove Lock Token from Captain Board to unlock Captain ability

Retrieve crew

Take all 3 Crew members from Map and place next to Player Board (can only perform when all 3 Crew on Map)

Advance time tracker

Move Time Tracker one space right on Time Track

Check for time token

If Time Token on advanced space, flip to see marking and place Eggs on all empty hexes with corresponding marking on Map

Apply track icon effect

If icon on newly advanced space, perform effect immediately (Butterfly Net: gain 1 Net; Full Sweep: discard all Wilderness cards and refill; Remove Trophy: remove 1 Trophy from Main Board)

Discard excess cards

Discard Creature Cards exceeding hand limit of 5 cards to discard pile

Activate recharge cards

Activate all Recharge Cards in reserve in preferred order

Use an energy

Discard one Energy from Energy Card to activate ability of that card (each Energy Card can only be used once per turn; cannot use if conditions not met)

Use a butterfly net

Spend 1 Butterfly Net to either: obtain any 1 Egg adjacent to any Crew member on Map and place Unhatched side up on Player Board OR activate one Special Effect Icon adjacent to any Crew member on Map (each Special Effect Icon can only be activated once per turn using Net; used Nets returned to Supply)