Cascadia

To set up Cascadia, first place all 100 animal tokens into the provided cloth bag. Next, select the appropriate number of habitat tiles based on the player count: 43 for 2 players, 63 for 3 players, and 83 for 4 players. Shuffle these selected habitat tiles and create several face-down stacks in the center of the table, returning any unused tiles to the box. Randomly select one score card for each of the five wildlife types (bear, elk, fox, hawk, salmon) and place them face-up on the table, returning the rest to the box. Each player then randomly chooses one starting tile and places it face-up in front of them. Finally, draw four habitat tiles from the stacks and four animal tokens from the bag, placing them face-up on the table to form four pairs, and place the 25 nature tokens nearby.

The objective of Cascadia is to create the most ecologically harmonious and beautiful landscape by strategically placing habitat tiles and animal tokens. Players will compete to earn the most points by fulfilling specific scoring conditions for each animal type, creating large continuous corridors of matching habitat types, and collecting nature tokens. The player who accumulates the highest total score at the end of the game will be declared the winner.

The game proceeds in turns, starting with the player who last saw a wild animal (or chosen randomly). At the beginning of your turn, you must choose one of the four available combinations of a habitat tile and an animal token. Before making your choice, check if there are four identical animal tokens or three identical animal tokens among the available options. If there are four identical tokens, they are immediately replaced. If there are three identical tokens, the current player can choose to replace them or not. After selecting a combination, you will place the chosen habitat tile and animal token onto your personal map. Habitat tiles must be placed adjacent to an existing tile, with at least one side shared. Habitat tiles cannot be placed on top of other tiles or moved once placed. Animal tokens must be placed on an empty habitat tile that has the matching animal symbol. If you cannot place an animal token, return it to the bag. If you place an animal token on a tile with a nature token symbol, you gain a nature token. After placing, replenish the display by drawing a new habitat tile and animal token to form a new pair for the next player.

At the end of the game, points are calculated in order based on several criteria. First, score points for each animal type according to the specific conditions on the selected animal scoring cards. Second, score points for the largest continuous corridor of each habitat type on your map. For a 2-player game, the player with the largest corridor of a specific habitat type receives 2 points, and the second largest receives 0 points; in case of a tie, each tied player receives 1 point. For 3 or 4 players, the player with the largest corridor receives 3 points, the second largest receives 1 point, and the rest receive 0 points; in case of a tie for the largest, each tied player receives 2 points, and in case of a tie for the second largest, each tied player receives 1 point. Finally, each player receives 1 point for each nature token they collected.

The game concludes immediately when there are no more habitat tiles left to replenish the display, meaning that only three combinations of habitat tiles and animal tokens remain on the table. Once the game ends, players proceed to calculate their final scores based on the animal scoring cards, habitat corridors, and nature tokens. The player with the highest total score is the winner. In the event of a tie, the player with the most nature tokens wins. If there is still a tie, the victory is shared among the tied players.