Gamehelpfirstgiants

First Giants

In this tactical engine-building game for 2-5 players, you lead rival museums striving to curate the most prestigious dinosaur exhibits. The core challenge lies in the dual-use cards: keep them in your workshop for powerful ongoing abilities, or move them to your exhibit for victory points, losing their mechanical benefits forever.

Gameplay & Actions

Players take turns clockwise. On your turn, choose from the following strategic actions:

• The Excavation (Collecting Resources): Visit one of the three specialized dig sites:
  • The Mountains & The Desert: Focus on gathering specific Fossil Tokens (Bones). These are required to "complete" dinosaur cards before they can be displayed.
  • The Jungle: This site provides Amber. Amber is a versatile "wild" resource used to substitute for missing fossils or to trigger special "Breakthrough" actions.
• The Workshop (Engine Building): When you acquire a Dinosaur Card, place it in your Workspace. While here, the card provides passive buffs:
  • Action Efficiency: Some cards reduce the cost of future excavations.
  • Resource Boosts: Others grant extra tokens whenever you visit a specific dig site.
• The Exhibit (Scoring): Move a card from your Workspace to your Museum Board.
  • The Trade-off: You immediately score the card's Prestige Points, but you must flip the card or move it to the display area where its abilities are no longer active.

News Tokens & Media Hype

• Earning News Tokens: These represent public interest in your museum. You earn them by completing specific sets (e.g., three carnivores) or being the first to reach certain milestones.
• Utility: News Tokens can be spent for one-time immediate bonuses (like drawing extra cards) or kept until the end of the game for significant bonus Prestige Points.

Strategic Amber Usage

Amber is the most flexible resource in the game. Beyond its use as a wild card, you can spend large quantities of Amber to:

1. Secure Initiative: Move your marker to the first position in the turn order for the next round.
2. Double Action: Perform a second main action during your current turn, which can be a game-winning move.

End of Game & Scoring

The game ends immediately if a player fills all slots on their Museum Board or if the main deck is exhausted.

• Scoring Checklist: Total your Prestige from displayed Dinosaurs + Bonus points from News Tokens + Points for completed Fossil Sets + Remaining Amber.
• Winner: The player with the highest total Prestige is declared the master curator.

Symbol Reference & Effects

Resources & Tokens

Symbol & Name	Meaning / Effect
💎 Amber	Acts as a wild resource for fossils or to purchase extra actions (e.g., securing initiative).
🦴 Bone Icon	Represents a fossil fragment. A complete set is required to move a dinosaur to the exhibit.
📰 News Token	Earned via card effects or majorities. Grants immediate bonuses or end-game points.
🌿 Victory Laurel	Shows the amount of Prestige Points the card grants once moved to the exhibit.
🚩 Initiative Marker	Determines the player order for the following round.
💰 Fossil Set (Bag)	Allows drawing random bone tokens from the supply bag.

Game Areas & Status

Symbol & Name	Meaning / Effect
🦖 Dino Head	Indicates the Workshop area. Cards placed here have active ongoing abilities.
🏛️ Museum Logo	Indicates the Exhibit area. Cards here provide points but their abilities are disabled.
⛏️ Dig Site	Symbolizes one of the three locations (Desert, Mountains, Jungle) for resources.
🎴 Card Deck	Instruction to draw one or more cards from the draw pile.
🗑️ Trash / Discard	Requires a card or resource to be placed in the discard pile.

Card Actions & Mechanics

Symbol & Name	Meaning / Effect
➔ Arrow Icon	Instant Effect: Triggered once immediately when the card is played.
∞ Infinity Symbol	Passive Effect: Active as long as the card remains in the Workshop.
⚡ Lightning Bolt	Reactive Effect: Triggered whenever a specific condition is met.
👛 Pouch / Costs	Shows the resource cost required to play or exhibit a card.
🔍 Magnifying Glass	Allows looking at cards (deck or opponent's hand).
↔️ Exchange Symbol	Allows trading resources or cards with the market or other players.