Glossary

Biome

A single colored area on a tile. A full biome consists of all adjacent, connecting areas of the same color, potentially spanning multiple tiles.

Controlled biome

A biome containing at least one critter. The player whose critter is in the biome controls it for resource and scoring purposes.

Contested biome

A conflict state created when a tile placement merges two or more previously separate biomes, resulting in critters from different players occupying the same new biome.

Uncontrolled biome

A biome that currently has no critters within any of its connected segments.

Wild biome

A community term for an uncontrolled biome on an uninhabited tile, representing the easiest and most desirable territory to claim.

Buy

The action of spending resources to purchase a new tile from the Supply.

Critter

The game pieces representing your faction. Critters are used to control biomes, occupy tiles, and unlock powers.

Agile critter

A player who has unlocked the Agile Critters power, allowing them to perform two critter movements per turn.

Colossal critter

An upgraded, 2HP critter, represented by two stacked critter tokens. It is worth more points but can be reduced to a regular critter after taking damage.

Herding critter

A critter that is part of a Herd—a defensive group of two or more critters on the same biome, created by the Herding Critters power.

Pack critter

A critter that is part of a Pack—an offensive group of two or more critters on the same biome, created by the Pack Critters power.

Evacuate

A forced move that costs 1 resource, triggered when an incoming lava flow targets a tile your critter occupies. Failure to evacuate results in the critter being returned to your hand.

Island

A continuous landmass of one or more connected tiles surrounded by ocean spaces. Can also refer to the special action of purchasing and placing a new three-tile island.

Join

The action of placing a tile in a way that connects two previously separate biomes of the same color. If critters from different players are in the joined biome, this triggers a Contested Biome.

Migrate

A free and immediate move for a critter that is displaced when an opponent stacks a new tile on top of its location. The critter must move to a connecting biome if available.

Ocean

The empty hexagonal spaces on the game board that are not occupied by land or island tiles.

Place

The general term for adding a tile to the play area.

Stack

The specific action of placing a new tile vertically on top of an existing land tile.

Play Area

The entire game board, comprising all islands and the ocean spaces between them.

Resources

The currency of the game, used to buy tiles and pay for certain actions. There are three types of resources, one corresponding to each of the three biome colors.

Round

A full cycle of play in which every player has taken one turn. For example, in a 4-player game, a round consists of 4 turns.

Sacrifice

To voluntarily remove one of your critters from your hand or the board and place it in your Sacrificial Critter Crater. This can be a penalty for having insufficient resources or a strategic choice to earn points.

Split

The action of placing a tile in a way that divides a single large biome into two or more smaller, separate biomes.

Squash

A community term for when a critter is removed from a tile because an opponent stacked another tile on top of it and there was no valid connecting biome for it to Migrate to. The squashed critter is returned to its owner’s hand.

Conquer / take over

General terms used to describe defeating opponent critters, either through a Contested Biome battle or by using an offensive power like Pack Critters.

Starting island

The initial three-tile island each player creates during set-up.

Supply

The central pile of all remaining game tiles and resources that are not yet in play.

Tile

The hexagonal pieces used to build the islands on the game board.

Duo tile

A tile composed of two separate biomes.

Lava tile

A tile representing an active lava flow that moves at the end of each player’s turn.

Populated tile

Any tile that has one or more critter tokens physically on it.

Sacrificial critter crater

The personal tile each player has to keep track of their sacrificed critters.

Trio tile

A tile composed of three separate biomes.

Uninhabited tile

A tile that has no critter tokens of any color physically on it. Note that an Uninhabited Tile may still contain biomes that are Controlled from an adjacent tile.

Uno tile

A tile composed of a single biome.

Volcano tile

A lava tile purchased by a player to signify and trigger an eruption on a chosen land tile, wiping out critters and unlocking a Volcanic Power.

Volcanic soil tile

A special tile created when lava flows into the ocean, which allows for bonus tile placements.

Turn

The sequence of actions performed by a single player during their turn in a round.

Wipe out

A game term meaning a critter is removed from the board and returned to its owner’s hand. A wiped-out critter is never removed from the game permanently.