Contents
Game Rules for Arctic Scavengers
Welcome to the game of Arctic Scavengers! In this exciting card game, you will be competing with other players to survive and thrive in the harsh Arctic environment. The goal of the game is to build the best clan and gather the most resources. Let me walk you through the rules so you can get started on your Arctic adventure!
To start the game, each player is dealt a starting hand of cards and given a random deck of scavenger cards. These cards represent members of your clan who will help you in your struggle to survive. You will also have a Refuge card, which acts as your base of operations.
On your turn, you have several actions you can take. You can draw cards, play cards from your hand, or send your clan members to scavenge for resources. You can also use the special abilities of your clan members to gain an advantage. But be careful, because the other players will be doing the same, and you’ll need to outsmart them to come out on top!
As you play, you’ll collect various resources like food, medicine, and ammo. These resources are essential for your survival and can be used to gain points, improve your clan members, or launch attacks on other players. You’ll need to carefully manage your resources and make strategic decisions to stay ahead of the competition.
The game is played over a series of rounds, and each round is divided into three phases: the Recruitment Phase, the Planning Phase, and the Resolution Phase. These phases represent the daily struggles of life in the Arctic and the actions you take to overcome them. It’s a race against time and your opponents to gather the resources you need before they’re gone.
At the end of the game, the player with the most victory points is declared the winner. Victory points can be earned in various ways, such as by capturing contested resources, improving your clan members, or completing special missions. So be sure to use your resources wisely and plan your strategy carefully if you want to come out on top!
I hope you’re excited to start playing Arctic Scavengers! It’s a challenging and fast-paced game that will test your decision-making skills and strategic thinking. So gather your clan, prepare for an icy adventure, and may the best scavengers win!
In 2097, the world experienced a catastrophic climate shift that threw our planet into a new ice age. This devastating event wiped out over 90% of the global population, forcing the remaining survivors to come together and form small communities and tribes.
Now, as the leader of one of these tribes, it’s up to you to guide your people through this harsh new world. Resources are scarce, tools are rare, and even medicine and mercenaries are hard to come by. But you won’t let that stop you.
In this fight for survival, every tribe is pitted against one another. It’s a battle to see who can gather the most power, the most resources, and ultimately, build the largest tribe. And in this game, the leader who can achieve that feat will emerge victorious.
Discover the Game
I’m here to talk about a game called Tribes: Dawn of Humanity. It’s a strategy game that revolves around building and expanding your own tribe. The game comes with a variety of components, such as mats, cards, and rulebooks. To be more specific, the game includes:
– 1 junkyard mat
– 1 contested resources mat
– 1 initiator card
– 20 refugee cards
– 69 mercenary cards
– 46 junkyard cards
– 14 contested resource cards
– 1 rule booklet
– 1 rule summary
In addition to these, there are also other components like an engineering schematics mat, a storage cover, building cards, tribal leader cards, junkyard cards, medic cards, engineer cards, gangs, and an expansion rules summary.
Now that we have covered the components, let’s talk about the object of the game. The goal is to grow your tribe by hiring mercenaries, scavenging junk piles, and defeating other players’ tribes in battles. You want to build the largest tribe possible and become the dominant force in the game.
So, whether you’re a fan of strategy games or looking for something new to try, Tribes: Dawn of Humanity is worth checking out. It offers an engaging and competitive gameplay experience that will keep you entertained for hours. Are you ready to embark on the journey of building your tribe?
Hey there! Let me explain how the tribe member cards work in Arctic Scavengers. Each card represents a certain number of people in your tribe. The more cards you have, the bigger your tribe becomes.
Let’s Take a Look at an Arctic Scavengers Card
The cards are actually pretty cleverly designed. They make it really simple to tell the different types of cards apart. This comes in handy when you’re sorting and setting up the game. It also makes it easier to make quick decisions during gameplay.
Understanding how a card works
Look closely at the diagram above. The labels in green are always present on a card, while the ones in red may or may not be there, depending on the card. The gray labels describe sub-types of card actions.
Every card has a type, title, image, and actions. Standard actions can be done with that card alone, action modifiers require combining it with another card, and disabled actions can’t be used.
Some cards are organized by their supply pile icon, others by their title. Some cards have additional identifiers like instructions, cost, and the number of tribe members they represent.
Setting Up
Arctic Scavengers is a game for 2 to 5 players. Each player starts with the same deck, representing their tribe. This starter deck contains 10 cards:
- After everyone has taken their resource gathering actions, we all reveal our remaining cards for the skirmish and see who the winner is.
- When two players are competing for a resource, they engage in a skirmish.
- If I win the skirmish, I take the top card from the contested resources stack and add it to my discard pile.
- Then, I pass the initiator card to my left-hand opponent, starting a new round.
In today’s world, we find ourselves constantly searching for things that bring us joy and excitement. Are you looking for a game that will challenge your strategic thinking and keep you on the edge of your seat? If so, then you’re in luck because Arctic Scavengers is the perfect game for you!
When it comes to choosing the right game, it’s crucial to understand what sets Arctic Scavengers apart from the rest. This game is known for its unique mixture of card drafting, deck building, and resource management. It offers a thrilling experience that will have you constantly strategizing and adapting to new challenges.
One of the key components of Arctic Scavengers is the deck of cards that each player possesses. These cards include 4 refugee cards, 3 scavenger cards, 1 brawler card, 1 spear card, and 1 shovel card. It’s important to note that any additional refugee cards should be removed from the game. Once removed, the remaining cards should be sorted into three categories: contested resources, junkyard, and mercenaries.
Contested resources are represented by the 
symbol. These cards represent valuable resources that are highly sought after and will require strategic planning to obtain.
The junkyard category is represented by the 
symbol. These cards represent discarded items that can still be useful if you’re willing to take a chance on them.
Finally, we have the mercenaries. These cards represent skilled fighters that can be recruited to aid you in your scavenging missions. They can provide you with a significant advantage over your opponents.
Overall, the meaning of Arctic Scavengers is to navigate a post-apocalyptic world and outmaneuver your opponents in the quest for survival. It’s a game of strategy, resource management, and calculated risks. By following these rules and understanding the different card categories, you’ll be well on your way to becoming the ultimate Arctic scavenger! So, if you’re ready for an exhilarating challenge, give Arctic Scavengers a try – you won’t be disappointed!
To get started in Arctic Scavengers, we need to set up the game and prepare the playing surface. Let’s gather the necessary materials and get everything organized!
First, let’s shuffle the cards that represent the contested resources. These are the cards that players will be vying for throughout the game. Place the shuffled contested resources cards face-down on the mat to create the contested resources stack.
Next, we need to shuffle the junkyard cards. These are cards that players can acquire from the junkyard during the game. Shuffle the junkyard cards and place them face-down on the mat to form the junkyard pile.
Now, let’s focus on the remaining cards – the mercenaries. These cards feature character portraits and have a cost listed. We need to organize them into different stacks based on their mercenary type. Sort the mercenaries into eight separate stacks and place them face-up on the playing surface.
With the game set up, we’re ready to dive into the world of Arctic Scavengers and see who can come out on top!
For the game Arctic Scavengers, each player starts by shuffling their deck of 10 cards and placing it face-down in front of them. To determine who goes first, we randomly select a player and give them the initiator card. This player will be the initiator for the first round.
Now, if you’re playing with only two players, there are a few adjustments to keep in mind:
1. Remove two cards of each kind from the junkyard, like 2 junk, 2 medkit, 2 pickaxe, and so on.
2. Get rid of any contested resources that are peeking.
3. The number of tribe members a player brings to a skirmish doesn’t matter anymore.
4. In a skirmish, a player must win by 2 points. If there’s no clear winner, it’s a tie. In that case, both players place the contested resource on top of the junkyard and shuffle the junkyard.
Alright, let’s get into the gameplay itself. A round of Arctic Scavengers consists of three phases, which are played in the following order:
Phase I: Drawing Phase
– First, discard all cards from the previous round.
In the game, I’ll start by drawing 5 cards from my deck. If my deck runs out, I’ll shuffle the discard pile and add it back to my deck. Once we reach the third round, things get interesting. I’ll take a peek at the top card on the contested resources stack and put it back. This peeking action continues for the rest of the game.
Now, let’s get into the resource gathering phase. As the initiator, I’ll take the first action and use as many cards as I want to gather resources. After that, I’ll let you know how many cards I’ll keep for the skirmish. Then, it’s your turn. The other players will take their actions and announce how many cards they’ll keep as well. We’ll go in a clockwise order, repeating steps 1 and 2.
This process will help us gather resources and strategize for the upcoming skirmish. Are you ready for the challenge? Let’s dive in and see who comes out on top!
When it’s time to gather resources, you and the other players have a chance to build up your decks by playing cards from your hands. This is an important phase in the game, and it’s where you can add more cards to your deck to strengthen your resources.
The player who has the initiator card in their play area takes the lead and starts the gathering process. Then, you and the other players take turns playing cards in a clockwise order.
During this phase, there’s no limit to the number of actions you can take. You can play as many cards as you want, as long as you don’t repeat any actions. It’s a great opportunity to think strategically and make the most of your resources.
When it comes to playing Arctic Scavengers, there are three main actions for gathering resources: dig, hunt, and hire. Digging allows me to retrieve cards from the junkyard, hunting lets me get food (which I can use as currency), and hiring allows me to recruit mercenaries for my tribe using a combination of food from hunting and medicine from my hand.
Digging for Cards
When I dig, I draw one or more cards from the top of the junkyard stack. Out of those cards, I can choose one to add to my discard pile, and any remaining cards go back to the bottom of the junkyard pile.
When I play a card from my hand in the game, the number of cards I draw depends on the sum of the digit numbers shown on those cards. But remember, I can only draw cards once per round, just like with any other action.
Let me explain with an example: Natalie has a card called “brawler” in her play area, and she decides to perform a dig action. The brawler card has a dig value of 1, so Natalie gets to draw one card from the junkyard and place it in her discard pile. Neat!
Now, imagine if Natalie also played a shovel. The shovel adds 2 to the dig score. So, if we combine the dig scores of the brawler and the shovel, Natalie would have a total dig score of 3. That means she gets to draw 3 cards from the junkyard this time. After drawing the cards, Natalie keeps one of them and puts it on her discard pile. The remaining 2 cards go back to the bottom of the junkyard. It’s like digging for treasure!
Draw 
When I’m playing, I get to draw one or more cards from my deck and add them to my hand. I can even combine multiple cards to draw even more cards. But remember, I can only do this once per round, just like any other action.
Let me give you an example: I have a scout card with a draw of 2 and a sled team card with a draw of 2 in my play area.
If I use both of these cards together, I can draw a total of 4 cards from my deck and add them to my hand. But I could also play two scavengers and a scout card to get the same result.
Hire
The hire ability is a special action that doesn’t require me to have a specific card in my hand. I can simply take a mercenary card from the face-up piles of cards. But remember, I need to have enough food or medicine to pay the cost displayed on the card. Those are the two currencies I can use.
Food is made in real-time when you use the Hunt action. This means that you can gather food during the game to help you buy a mercenary.
You can also get medicine cards to heal your mercenaries. To use a medicine card, you just have to play it from your hand. It’s important to note that you don’t need a person to spend the medicine cards.
In each round of the game, you can only hire one mercenary. Once you do, you add the mercenary card to your discard pile.
During the Hunt action, you can generate food that can be used as currency to buy a mercenary. The amount of food you generate is based on the total hunt abilities played from your hand.
So, gather food and use medicine cards wisely to hire strong mercenaries and improve your chances of winning!
Hey there! Did you know that you can enhance the hunting abilities of your mercenaries by equipping them with tools? Pretty cool, right?
Let’s say you’re playing as Natalie and you have two scavenger cards and a spear card. Each scavenger has a hunt score of 1, and the spear gives one scavenger an extra hunt score of 1. When you add them all up, Natalie’s combined hunt score is 3. With this score, Natalie can spend 3 food this round to hire a mercenary card. Awesome!
The Trash Ability
Oh, here’s a neat trick! You can use the trash ability, free of charge, to get rid of any number of cards from your hand. Just add them to the junkyard supply pile. No need to worry about drawing replacement cards from your deck. Easy peasy!
Special Actions
Now, let’s talk about some special actions you might come across. There are cards like the saboteur, which allows you to disarm another player’s tool, and the sniper team, which lets you snipe another player’s tribe member. These actions can really come in handy during the resource gathering phase. So keep an eye out for them!
Exploring the Scrap Heap
As I play the game, I might come across situations where I need to discard cards into the junkyard. This happens when I use the Trash action or when a confrontation for a valuable resource ends in a stalemate.
Whenever cards are thrown into the junkyard, I simply place them face-down on top of the existing pile and then give it a good shuffle to mix everything up.
 Junkyard: Multitool, Pickaxe, Shovel |
Utilizing Tools 
When we start playing, we each get two tools – a spear and a shovel. If we want more tools, we can dig in the junkyard. But tools can’t do anything on their own. They’re just objects. We can use a tool to help us do something better. But if we don’t know how to do that thing in the first place, a tool won’t help us.
Let me give you an example. Let’s say my name is Anna, and I have a card with a scavenger ability. That means I can dig, draw, fight, and hunt each at a value of 1. Now, if I have a shovel (which enhances digging and fighting), I can use it to improve my digging ability. So instead of digging at a value of 1, I can dig at a value of 3. But here’s the catch – if I wanted to use my scavenger to hunt instead, the shovel wouldn’t help. That’s because the shovel doesn’t have the hunt ability.
So, if I want to use the shovel to dig, I have to have another tribe member card that knows how to dig and can use the shovel. For example, if I had a refugee card that could dig, I could use the shovel with that card. But if I don’t have another card that can dig, I can’t use the shovel to dig. It’s as simple as that.
Playing Multiple Cards
When I play multiple cards for an action, the results get better. I can do this by playing multiple people or people with tools. The total of all ability values that I play is what I use to perform that action, as long as the total is 1 or higher.
Taking Multiple Actions
Even though there are many cards that allow me to take multiple actions, once I play a card for a certain action, I can’t use it for another action in that round.
For example: let’s say I play a refugee card. I can use it to either dig in the junkyard or hunt for food, but I can’t use it for both actions.
III. Skirmish Phase (Round 3 and following)
The game continues like this until the last contested resource card is won.
No Skirmish until the Third Round
The game starts with two rounds of resource gathering. In these first two rounds, there is no skirmishing. This gives each player a chance to build a strong foundation before skirmishing over the contested resources.
Once all players have finished gathering resources, the skirmish phase begins. Every player reveals the cards they have saved for the skirmish at the same time.
When I play a game, the total fight values of my cards show how strong my attack is. The rules for using tools also apply to using them as weapons in the skirmish phase.
During a skirmish, the Initiator goes first. I can choose actions for my units, like saboteurs or sniper teams.
Then it’s the next player’s turn, going clockwise. They can choose actions for their units, as long as they weren’t sniped or disarmed by the previous player.
We keep going like this until all the skirmish actions are done. Then we add up the remaining fight values, and the player with the highest value wins. The winner gets to draw a card from the contested resources supply pile and adds it to their discard pile without showing it to anyone else.
Resolving Ties During the Skirmish
When there is a tie, we each count the number of people involved in the skirmish. This includes refugees and tribe families who might not be directly participating in the fight. The player with the most people wins the skirmish.
If we’re still tied, it’s a deadlock. We take the top card from the contested resources pile and put it in the junkyard pile without looking at it. Then, we shuffle the junkyard and the round is over. The player with the initiator card passes it to the person on their left to start a new round.
Peeking at the Contested Resources
Starting from the third round, I can look at the top card of the contested resources pile. But I won’t show it to everyone else.
When I look at the cards and make my decision, I quietly return the card I’ve chosen to the top of the stack. This way, I have a secret advantage in knowing which resource will be up for grabs during the skirmish phase.
 Resources in Demand: Sled Team, Field Crew, Tribe Family |
Telling My Cards
I keep some cards unused while gathering resources, saving them for the skirmish. Once I’m done gathering, I put all the cards I’ve already used in my discard pile to clear my play area.
Next, I place my remaining cards face down in my play area and announce how many I’ll be using in the skirmish.
Playing Mind Games
When it comes to playing the game, there are times when I have extra tools or refugee/tribe family cards without any tools. Even though I can’t use them, I still bring them into the skirmish. This can make my hand look stronger to my opponents and influence the decisions they make.
How to Win a Skirmish
When we settle a skirmish, the player with the highest fight score emerges victorious. Several factors contribute to a player’s fight score: we add up the attack abilities of each tribe member, considering the modifiers and taking special actions like disarm and snipe into account (explained later).
Ending the Game
Once the final contested resource card is claimed, the game comes to an end.
The player who has built the largest tribe is declared the winner.
When it comes to tribes in this game, the size of your tribe is determined by counting the number of tribe member icons on the lower right corner of each card in your deck. It’s a simple way to see how powerful your tribe is!
If there are two players with the same number of tribe member icons, then we have a tie! In that case, the player who has the most contested resource cards is the winner. It’s all about managing those valuable resources!
But what if there’s still a tie? Don’t worry, we have a solution for that too. The player with the largest number of cards in their deck takes home the victory. It’s all about building up that powerful tribe!
And if we still have a tie after all that, well, it’s a shared victory! Those tied players can rejoice together. It’s always nice to have someone to celebrate with.