Tips daybreak

Symbol Terminology:

Refer to the Symbol Terminology section later in the guide for a list of terms and symbol explanations (tags, resilience, etc.). Use CTRL+F to search for unfamiliar terms.

Finding Card Information:

You can look up card details in two ways:

1. Click the "?" in the bottom left corner of any card to open its dedicated page on https://daybreakgame.org/explore-cards, which provides an in-depth breakdown.
2. Hover over a card for a quick description. Tip: You can view "buried/tucked" cards this way, useful when discarding the top layer of a stack..
3. List of all cards (Fan created) - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vcwCeUuMxzXbT3QUkF4Tk0rTmTtf2SNeACxVuStc0yU

Game End

Winning Conditions

• Reduce Net Carbon to -1 (visible under the world map).
• Survive a final crisis round.

Optional Challenge Cards

• If Global or Local Challenge Cards are active, their conditions must be met for the game to end.
• If you want a more extended game, consider adding challenge cards (hard or variable).

General Tips

Use the chat to communicate so your teammates are on the same page:

Understanding Cards

Card Mechanics

• The 5 starting local projects cards are fixed based on the country you play as.
• Discarded global project cards are reshuffled once the deck is depleted. Discarding good cards allows them to be redrawn later by a player when the deck is reshuffled.

Frequency of Use & Card Retention

• "Once per round" effects can be triggered both at the end of a round and the beginning of the next.
• You can keep cards in your hand between rounds, potentially activating them twice before covering them.
• Cards without "once per round" may be used multiple times, or as many times as resource availability allows.
• Before ending your round, maximize card effects-limited-use cards display X/X, in the bottom right corner to track usage.
• Avoid holding onto cards that can't be utilized immediately or in the short-term - they may be better tucked into a stack or discarded to activate a stack..

Understanding Stacks

Stack Mechanics

• There are 5 "Local Projects" stacks (an "easy" challenge card allows for a 6th stack).
• The top card in each stack is active, utilizing all tags within the stack.
• Adding a new top card tucks the previous card, making only its tags available.

Stack Optimization

• Assign each stack a dedicated function (e.g., Power Generation, Dirty Energy Removal, Card Draw 1, Card Draw 2, Emission Removal)
• The top card in each stack is active, utilizing all tags within the stack.
• Adding a new top card tucks the previous card, making only its tags available.
• Keep similar card tags together enhances synergies.
• Avoid scattering energy-related cards - as some require matching tags within the stack for activation.
• Depending on your strategy, you may keep the same card on a stack the entire game, e.g., Persistent Card Draws that have 2-3 cards drawn per round, or a card that one that produces trees every round.

Advanced Engine Tucking Strategies

• Most stacks only need to be 2 deep for efficient engine optimization. (e.g., 2 energy per discard, 2 energy removal per discard)
• Cards can be tucked under a stack to utilize its tags for immediate benefits.
• Global Projects with tag-triggered benefits only activate when played as the top card.
• If covering a top card, use its benefits before replacing it.

Adapting Strategies

• It is OK to change plans if covering a card helps activate a new card. Sometimes it is beneficial to cover cards in a stack to gain the tags to activate a new card you've received.

Crises

• The fast game strategy typically ignores Crises and does not spend cards to mitigate or stop crises from happening.
• Not all crises are negative; Crises where you can discard cards from the play area can be HELPFUL if you buried a card to use another card's effects
• Crises to look out for:
• Crises that penalizes players that have one or more "cows" - Consider removing cows for this reason when removing emissions! Consider removing cows for this reason when removing emissions! Relevant crisis cards: ⭐Deforestation (Also this card) - Remove 1 Tree for each player who has Agriculture Emission tokens.
• Late Game: There are crises that removes one social resilience for every 2 CIC's you have
• There are Crises that that removes two dirty energy and triggers again the malus of CIC on energy (so if you are at -2 energy, and it triggers on you, you first gain 2 CIC, and then gain up to 4 CIC, which is a lot).

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Fast Game Strategy

Aggressively Cut Emissions, Winning by Turn 3

• Early Emission Cuts are Critical: Reduce 2-3 emissions in turn 1 - more is better. In this strategy stockpiling resilience, combatting/mitigating upcoming crises, oceans and trees generation, and managing Communities in Crisis tokens take a backseat to rapid emission reduction..
• Global Card Selection - Pick options that don't require tucked cards.
• Total Emissions to Remove: Aim to cut 14 emissions quickly to win before crisis escalation (20+ emissions needed if delayed).
• Dirty Electricity Phase-Out Engine: Prioritize phase out immediately, especially for China / Minority World (starting with 8+ dirty emissions). This helps mitigate situations where key cards don't appear early to help with non-energy emissions reductions.
• Clean Energy Generation: Target 3-4 energy per discard - exceeding this is likely wasteful.
• Balance Energy Use: If energy goes negative, make sure it’s intentional—only take the hit if it leads to a major emissions cut.
• Optimized Stack Use (1 Power Generation, 1 Dirty Energy Phase-Out, 2 Card Draw Engines, 1 Non-Dirty Emissions Removal)
• CIC's Are a Currency: Don't waste resources stopping Communities in Crisis - think of them as expendable resource for the greater goal, where the team is trying to slow down Communities in Crisis instead of eliminating them entirely.
• Card Use Optimization: Most card's aren't strong on their own - tuck weak cars behind high-impact engines or use them as discards for better combos.
• Resilience is Low Priority Early: Delay resilience-building until turn 3 or later (only 2-3 total needed, as you are not stopping the accrual of CIC's.
• Play to your country's strengths - The US / Europe generate less emissions and can focus on building card engines/energy engines to help provide energy generation or extra cards for China / Minority World.

Fast Game Strategy Risks

• Crisis Snowballing: Prioritizing emissions reduction over resilience means crisis rounds can escalate quickly. If resilience is too low, a bad dice roll could generate enough Communities in Crisis (CICs) to end the game.
• Energy Deficits: Overcommitting to emissions cuts may lead to negative energy balance, which results in additional CICs—this can backfire if unchecked.
• Thermometer Mismanagement: If the temperature rises too fast before you win, additional emission reductions per turn are required just to break even, increasing the total emissions needed.
• Weak Late-Game Scaling: If you don't win by round 3, crisis events and emissions accumulation can quickly spiral out of control, requiring more cuts than planned.
• Limited Flexibility: The strategy relies on aggressive execution—if key cards don’t appear early, you may struggle to maintain progress.

1.Search the Deck for Cards Engine → Controlled card selection is key.

• ⭐Clean Energy R+D (Starting Card - US, Solo (Draw 5), 3 Copies in Deck - 1 2 3) (Energy, Innovation tags) - Discard 1, draw 3, keep 1.
• Tip: Stack multiple Clean Energy R+D cards (exhaust the first's actions prior to placing additional Clean Energy R+D on top).

2. Draw Cards - Emissions Focused

• 🥈Emissions Technology R+D (China Starting Card - Incentive tag) – Draw 2 per Incentive tag in this card's stack. Add any cards that reduce Emissions from Dirty Energy or other Emissions sources to your hand. Discard the other cards. Use until you find a better card to replace it in the stack.
• 🥈Luxury Consumption Tax (Regulation tag) – Draw 2 per Regulation tag in this card's stack. Add any cards that reduce Emissions from Dirty Energy or other Emissions sources to your hand. Discard the other cards.

3. Generate Clean Energy (No Discard) Engines

• ⭐Fourth Generation Nuclear (Nuclear & Energy tags) – +2 Clean Energy tokens for each Nuclear tag in this card's stack. Requirements: At least 1 Regulation tag and 1 Innovation tag in this card's stack. (Once Per Round)
• ⭐Integrated Planning Solar (Solar & Energy tags) – +1 Clean Energy token or each Solar tag in this card's stack. Requirements: Must have at least 2 Grid tags in this card's stack. (Once per round
• ⭐Small Scale Onshore Wind (Wind & Energy tags) – +1 Clean Energy token for each Wind tag in this card's stack. Requirements: Must have at least 2 Grid tags in this card's stack. (Once per round)
• 🥈Community Wind or 🥈Community Solar (Energy, Society, Wind/Solar tags) – Add Clean Energy & Infrastructure Resilience if you meet the following requirements: +1 Clean Energy (1-2 Society), +1 Clean Energy & +1 Infrastructure resilience (3–4 Society), +2 Clean Energy & +1 Infrastructure resilience (4–5 Regulation) in the stack. (Once Per Round)

4. Generate Energy (Discard 1) Engines

• ⭐Major Solar Program (Solar, Grid, Energy tags) - Discard 1, +2 Clean Energy tokens for each Solar tag in this card's stack. Requirements: At least 3 Grid tags in this card's stack to take this action.
• ⭐Major Nuclear Program (Nuclear, Grid, Energy tags) - Discard, +2 Clean Energy tokens for each Nuclear tag in this card's stack. Requirements: At least 2 Regulation tags and 1 Society tag in this card's stack to take this action.

5. Reduce Dirty Energy Engines

• 🥈Starting Card - Dirty Electricity Phaseout (Majority World - Energy, Europe / US - Incentive, or China / Solo - Regulation tag) - Discard 1, remove 1 Dirty Energy per Energy/Incentive/Regulation tag
• ⭐Drilling & Mining Bans or ⭐Fossil Fuel Nationalization (Regulation & Society or Ecology & Regulation tags) - Discard 1, Remove 2 Dirty Energy per Regulatory Tag
• 🥈Green Energy Transition (2 copies) (Regulation tag) – Whenever you take an action that adds 2 or more Clean Energy tokens, you may remove 1 Dirty Energy token. (Will trigger multiple times per round.)

6. Reduce Emissions

• ⭐Circular Economy (Regulation & Society tags) – Remove Emissions (of any kind) & add resiliencies if you meet the following requirements: Remove 1 Emission (2–4 Regulation tags), or remove 1 Emissions token (of any kind) and decrease your Energy Demand by 1 (5+ Regulation tags). (Once per round)

7. Local Projects to Plant Trees & Oceans → Low impact unless desperate for last emissions cuts

• 🥈Forest Restoration or 🥈Peatland Rewetting (Ecology tag) – Gain 1 Tree. (Once per round)
• 🥈Mangrove Restoration (Ecology & Infrastructure tags) – Gain 1 Ocean. (Once per round)

Fast Game - Local Project Cards Types to Avoid

• 🚫Gain Resilience→ Not needed - Resilience-building should be delayed in this strategy.
• 🚫Remove Communities In Crisis Tokens → Not avoiding CIC's - utilized as a resource to manage.
• 🚫Reduce Damage → Not needed unless the game drags on.
• 🚫Green Investment Bank (Innovation tag) – Draw cards if you meet the following requirements: Draw 1 (2–3 Innovation), Draw 2 (4–5 Innovation), Draw 3 (6+ Innovation) in the stack. Issue: Competes with Clean Energy R+D for use of Innovation tags; if possible, consider sandwiching between Clean Energy R+D cards.

Longer Game Strategy

Resilience-Based Approach, Win After Turn 3

• Slow & Steady Progression: Build energy generation, maintaining positive energy balance.
• Leveraging Card Draw: More cards in play strengthen late-game synergies.
• Survivability Focus: Resilience-building ensures long-term crisis management.
• Reduce some Emissions Early: Even in this strategy, cutting at least 1-2 emissions in turn 1 is equivalent to having cut 5-10 emissions in turn 5, thereby preventing thermometer escalation.
• Optimize Crisis Management: Avoid wasting cards solely on resilience - use only necessary resilience while keeping emissions reduction in mind.

Longer Game Strategy Risks

• Slow Start: Since this approach delays aggressive emissions cuts, the thermometer may rise early, increasing the total emissions needed to win.
• Energy Maintenance vs Overbuilding: Don’t over-prioritize energy generation at the cost of missing emissions cuts.
• Wasted Cards: Over-investing in crisis mitigation may use cards that could have been spent cutting emissions directly, making victory harder.
• Energy Efficiency Trade-offs: While maintaining positive energy balances is useful, sacrificing too many plays for resilience can slow down emissions reduction.
• Crisis Overconfidence: While resilience helps mitigate crisis effects, it doesn’t directly contribute to winning—focusing too much on it can lead to endgame stalls where CIC accumulation limits options.
• Look Ahead: If crisis events start piling up, check for opportunities to flip back to emissions reduction mode rather than playing too defensively.

Longer Game Best Local Project Cards to Look For

1.Search the Deck for Cards Engine → Controlled card selection is key.

• ⭐Clean Energy R+D (Starting Card - US, Solo (Draw 5), 3 Copies in Deck - 1 2 3) (Energy, Innovation tags) - Discard 1, draw 3, keep 1.
• Tip: Stack multiple Clean Energy R+D cards (exhaust the first's actions prior to placing additional Clean Energy R+D on top).

2. Local Projects to Draw Cards → Sustained card advantage helps adaptation

Draw Tag Specific Cards – Once per round, draw cards from the top of the deck and keep all cards of a certain tag. Discard the others. Once per round.

• ⭐Energy Infrastructure R+D (Grid & Energy tags) – Draw 7 – Add all Grid and/or Innovation tag cards to your hand.
• ⭐Nuclear R+D (Nuclear & Energy tags) – Draw 9 – Add all Nuclear and/or Innovation tag cards to your hand.
• ⭐Solar R+D (Solar & Energy tags) – Draw 8 – Add all Solar and/or Innovation tag cards to your hand.
• ⭐Wind R+D (Wind & Energy tags) – Draw 8 – Add all Wind and/or Innovation tag cards to your hand.
• ⭐Geoengineering R+D (Geoengineering tag) – Draw 8 – Add all Geoengineering and/or Innovation tag cards to your hand.
• ⭐Soil Education (Ecology tag) – Draw 8 – Add all Ecology and/or Innovation tag cards to your hand.

Draw One, Two or Three Cards – Based on Tag Requirements in the Stack – Once per round.

• ⭐Green Quantitative Easing (Incentive tag) – Draw cards if you meet the following requirements: Draw 1 (2–3 Regulation), Draw 2 (4–5 Regulation), Draw 3 (6+ Regulation) in the stack.
• ⭐Fossil Fuel Subsidies Ban (Regulation tag) – Draw cards if you meet the following requirements: Draw 1 (2–3 Regulation), Draw 2 (4–5 Regulation), Draw 3 (6+ Regulation) in the stack.
• ⭐Clean Energy Investments (Energy tag) – Draw cards if you meet the following requirements: Draw 1 (2–3 Energy tags), Draw 2 (4–5 Energy tags), Draw 3 (6+ Energy tags) in the stack. Competes with stacks that have Energy tags (typically stacks to gain Clean Energy).

3. Generate Clean Energy (No Discard) Engines → Consistent scaling is key.

• ⭐Fourth Generation Nuclear (Nuclear & Energy tags) – Add 2 Clean Energy tokens for each Nuclear tag in this card's stack. Requirements: At least 1 Regulation tag and 1 Innovation tag in this card's stack. (Once Per Round)
• ⭐Integrated Planning Solar (Solar & Energy tags) – +1 Clean Energy token for each Solar tag in this card's stack. Requirements: Must have at least 2 Grid tags in this card's stack. (Once per round)
• ⭐Small Scale Onshore Wind (Wind & Energy tags) – +1 Clean Energy token for each Wind tag in this card's stack. Requirements: Must have at least 2 Grid tags in this card's stack. (Once per round)
• ⭐Community Wind or ⭐Community Solar (Energy, Society, Wind/Solar tags) – Add Clean Energy & Infrastructure Resilience if you meet the following requirements: 1 Clean Energy (1-2 Society), 1 Clean Energy & 1 Infrastructure resilience (3–4 Society), 2 Clean Energy & 1 Infrastructure resilience (4–5 Regulation) in the stack. (Once Per Round)

4. Local Projects that Reduce Emissions / Dirty Energy / Energy Demand → Needed but gradual.

• ⭐Circular Economy (Regulation & Society tags) – Remove Emissions (of any kind) & add resiliencies if you meet the following requirements: Remove 1 Emission (2–4 Regulation tags), or remove 1 Emissions token (of any kind) and decrease your Energy Demand by 1 (5+ Regulation tags). (Once per round)

• ⭐Green Energy Transition (Regulation tag) – Whenever you take an action that adds 2 or more Clean Energy tokens, you may remove 1 Dirty Energy token. (Note: There is no benefit to having more than 2, but you can trigger this multiple times per round.)

5. Local Projects to Gain Resilience → Vital for long-term survival.

Plus 2 Resilience – Once per round – no requirements.

• ⭐Systemic Risk Planning (Society tag) – Add 2 Social Resilience tokens. (Once per round)
• ⭐Pollution Reduction (Ecology tag) – Add 2 Ecological Resilience tokens. (Once per round)
• ⭐Distributed Energy Storage (Infrastructure tag) – Add 2 Infrastructure Resilience tokens. (Once per round)

Gain resilience based on number of tags in a stack.

• ⭐Special Drawing Rights (Regulation tags) – Give any type of resilience to 1 player of your choice if you meet the following requirements: 1 resilience (2–3 Regulation), 2 resilience (4–5 Regulation), 3 resilience (6+ Regulation) in the stack.
• ⭐Wilderness Protection (Ecology tag) – +1 Ecological Resilience token per Ecology tag in the stack.

Gain Energy + Resilience

• ⭐Community Wind or ⭐Community Solar (Energy, Society, Wind/Solar tags) – Add Clean Energy & Infrastructure Resilience if you meet the following requirements: 1 Clean Energy (1-2 Society), 1 Clean Energy & 1 Infrastructure resilience (3–4 Society), 2 Clean Energy & 1 Infrastructure resilience (4–5 Regulation) in the stack. (Once Per Round)

6. Local Projects to Remove Communities In Crisis Tokens → Vital for game longevity.

• ⭐Scale Up Recovery Support (Society tag) – Remove Community in Crisis Tokens from any 1 player if you meet the following requirements: Remove 1 CIC (2–3 Society tags), or Remove 2 CIC's (4+ Society tags). (Once per round)

7. Local Projects to Plant Trees & Oceans → Supports long-term emissions control

Gain Trees/Oceans based on number of tags in a stack

• ⭐Tree Farms or ⭐Indigenous People's Tenure (Ecology & Regulation/Society Tags) – Add Trees if you meet the following requirements: 1 Tree Token (3-4 Ecology), or Add 2 Trees (5+ Ecology) in the stack. (Once per Round)
• ⭐Wetland Restoration (Incentive & Ecology Tags) – Add Oceans if you meet the following requirements: 1 Ocean (3-4 Ecology), or Add 2 Oceans (5+ Ecology) in the stack. (Once per Round)

Gain 1 Tree/Ocean – Once per round – no requirements

• ⭐Forest Restoration or ⭐Peatland Rewetting (Ecology tag) – Gain 1 Tree. (Once per round)
• ⭐Mangrove Restoration (Ecology & Infrastructure tags) – Gain 1 Ocean. (Once per round)

8. Local Projects to Reduce Damage → Viable for mid to late game temperature mitigation - (Always confirm with team before using).

• ⭐Stratospheric Sulfur - (Geoengineering tag) - Roll the Geoengineering die and +1 to the result for each Geoengineering tag in this card's stack. The following occur based on the sum of the Geoengineering tags in the stack + the roll of the geoengineering die: remove 1 Temperature Band and draw 2 additional unknown Crisis cards.(2-4 sum total), remove 1 Temperature Bands and draw 1 additional unknown Crisis card. (5-6 sum total), If the sum is 7 or more, remove 2 Temperature Bands. Important! This is a temporary effect. Return the Temperature Bands to the Thermometer at the end of the round (after increasing Energy Demand). (Once Per Round) . Risks: With minimal resilience, having additional unknown crisis cards picked can tank the game.

Hybrid Strategy

Balanced Adaptability- Cut Emissions while Producing Clean Energy & Boosting Resilience in Key Moments

• Adaptability Is Key: The ideal strategy adjusts based on available cards.
• Balance Emissions & Resilience Proactively - Emissions Reduction First, Then Resilience: Reducing emissions early prevents crisis snowballing - resilience matters only once emissions are controlled. Begin with aggressive emissions reduction, then gradually pivot into resilience after turn 2-3.
• Stacking Strategy Matters: Ensure key stacks (power generation, draw engines, dirty phase-out) are well-built early so resilience doesn’t take away critical card slots.
• Keep a Thermometer Check: If rising temperature is forcing extra emission reductions, speed up the game or pivot to resilience strategies.
• Plan for Turn 3-5: If winning by turn 3 isn't realistic, have a backup plan for emissions cuts in rounds 4-5 without losing too much momentum.
• Strategic Card Selection: Card draw accelerates better choices (use Clean Energy R&D for quick deck cycling).
• When no direct emission-reduction cards are available, invest in resilience, trees, or ocean tokens.
• Avoid Split Strategies Between Players: Having one player rush emissions and another focus on resilience creates imbalances. Coordinate an adaptable approach.
• Monitor Thermometer Trends: If temperature is rising too fast, shift gears earlier—don’t assume it’ll stabilize naturally.

Hybrid Strategy Risks

• Balance Challenges: Striking a balance between emissions reduction and resilience-building requires constant adaptation—misallocating resources to one area can weaken the other.
• Stacking & Synergy Issues: If stacks are not optimized, cards may spread thin, reducing the effectiveness of key engines.
• Team Coordination Struggles: If one player leans heavily into Fast Game while another plays Longer Game, their strategies may conflict, leading to suboptimal synergies.
• Late-Game Instability: This method relies on adjustment mid-game, and if adaptation isn't handled correctly, the wrong strategy might be pursued for too long before realizing the need for change.

When Cards Shine (or Don’t):

• The usefulness of a card often depends on the context. Some cards, for instance, reduce emissions but increase energy demand. These can be very effective if you already have strong energy generation or can easily meet the demand—but without that infrastructure or synergy, they may end up hurting more than helping.
• Cards that let you draw additional cards are generally valuable. They help build synergy, give you more options, and can often be reused in future rounds. Even spending an extra card to bump a stack from 3 to 4 can be worth it. While these cards are almost always helpful, they’re more supportive than game-changing on their own.
• Then there are the cards that tend to perform well in almost any game. These usually work well even without combos and are often strong enough to keep in play for the entire game. When building a stack around a single card, these are typically the best foundation.

Thoughts on each type of tag's use/usefulness.

1. Grid: every nation starts with a card that lets you gain one energy per power grid you have. If you don't have a good source of energy, keeping the option of having two power grids to produce 2 energy per card discarded is pretty good. You have some cards that add one power grid while doing something else, and they are nice to transition into cards that require 3 power grids.
2. Energy: the worst color in my opinion. There is one good card that lets you remove a building, then a car, then factories, but it requires some social icons (blue/purple). I would recommend you mostly ignore it.
3. Nuclear: most of the nuclear cards are an alternative way to produce energy. Most of them require two nuclear power to be good, so they are more situational. The nuclear project is very expensive for what it does.
4. Wind/Solar the main source of energy. When you begin the game, it's very nice to have a stack to produce at least 3 energy per card discarded, but you don't have to have that to get good energy generation. Cards that produce energy over time are free, so you don't have to discard cards to generate energy.
5. Regulation: best color in my opinion, the pink project is amazing, and the great cards can remove emissions, add resilience, or draw more cards, and they both synergize really well with that color.
6. Social: the primary focus for social resilience. Outside of that, it has lots of support, which is pretty nice, as many nations start with that tag. The community cards let you slowly gain the number of infrastructure resilience you want in most games while giving you one energy per round too.
7. Ecology: the primary focus for environmental resilience. Many cards can produce one tree per round, which are really good alone on a stack. Contrary to many other colors, it has some ability to reduce emissions that
don't make other cards less impactful. I really advise you to build one green stack if you can.
8. Infrastructure:: the primary focus for infrastructure resilience. They never shine, but they let you increase some resilience and remove emissions.
9. Incentive: USA starts with a stack that can draw cards depending on your coin, which isn't bad to play around. Outside of that, many cards are pretty cheap and require 2 to 3 gold. So it's not usually something you play around, but in the right circumstance, it can be pretty good.
10. Innovation: the orange stack focuses on two different things: managing the crisis and getting to see new cards. I would not advise that beginners use it, but as you became better at the game, having a stack that lets you see 6 or 9 extra cards every round to find what you need is really powerful. The crisis ones aren't that good in my opinion.
11. Geoengineering: Stratospheric Sulfur is amazing. Cloud Brightening is nice on a stack by itself. Ocean Fertilization requires ecological resilience or a stack of clouds. But overall, it's pretty good. I advise you to get used to other stuff first though.

Example Hand / Round

When looking at my hand, I would use any card that gives me at least 0.6 points:

* +1 point per energy produced I need (0.5 point if you lack one energy OR if you lack two and don't have the most dirty energy)

* +0.5 per resilience you gain below what you will need next round (less if you don't have much time left, or more if you don't produce much carbon per round)

* +1 point per net carbon removed (i.e.: minus emissions, tree, sea, and (1 energy produced and 1 green dirty energy removed)

* global projects

* same number of points for what you would gain next round

* +0.5 per extra draw next round

* for experienced players +0.5 for each choice between 3 cards next round (note that doing that can make you gain 1 point this round thanks to the new card and 0.5 next round)

If I don't have any of those, I would ask for help, look at global projects, or find creative ways to make it work (like using two cards to remove one factory every round. That gives 1+0.5 points with my ranking, so +0.75 per card). And if I still find nothing useful, I will keep my cards, hoping for a better round later. Having more cards gives more possibilities too, so it's very unlikely that you won't be able to do anything next round. It could happen if you go for energy (because you don't have a power grid or you covered your first stack, which I would only do for a good reason i.e. it gives you at least +1.5 points for one card or a secondary way to produce energy).

Don't hesitate to keep some cards at the end of the round. It's not ideal, but you may have more options to use them on your next round, as you draw 5 extra cards each round.

Having -1 energy isn't a big deal. I personally prefer early on to have -1 energy (so +1 star) but -1 emission if I'm sure I will be able to produce energy in my second round.

You sometimes have the option to go for a big reduction in energy to be at exactly -1 emission and end the game at the end of the round.

If reducing your carbon by 1 or 2 would make you not reach the next threshold, it's usually really good to try to do so. It's similar to making all players gain +1 on all resilience for the round. For that reason, you should try to produce at least -1 emission during the first round.

If you only gain 1 house per round, you shouldn't try to force trying to get energy. In the worst case scenario, you should gain 1 star at the end of the second round and 2 more at the end of the third one, which is totally manageable. You have lots of other cards that let you produce energy or remove energy demand. If you are playing USA or have a way to give a card that could produce energy, it's usually better to give it to someone else who gains +2 or +3 energy demand each round.

Symbol Reference Guide / Terminology

To help reduce jargon, this is a brief guide so players can use CTRL+F to find a term. A full list and visible symbols can be found at daybreak's website (it's on the first page of the downloadable PDF rule book as well).

Card Tag Symbols - (Colorful Circles on the Cards)

Symbols that appear on cards that are used as part of stacks are referred to as "tags" by the game.

Pictures of all tag symbols can be found here: https://www.daybreakgame.org/tag-descriptions

Card Tag Term	Color	Symbol Description	# Unique Cards in Deck	# Cards in Deck
Grid	Blue	☨- Power Grid	10
Energy	Green	🔌- Outlet Plug	27
Nuclear	Dark Blue	⚛️ - Atom	5
Wind	Light Blue	🌀 - Pinwheel	8
Solar	Yellow	🟨⠿⠿ - Grid of Yellow Dots (Solar Panel)	8
Regulation	Pink	📄 Piece of Paper	23
Society	Light Purple	🤝 - Two hands gripping	25
Ecology	Green	🌱 - Plant / Sprout with Leaves	18
Infrastructure	Brown / Brick Red	🌉 - Suspension Bridge	17
Incentive	Gold	🥞💰 - Money / Stack of Coins with $	20
Innovation	Orange	💡 - Lightbulb with light emitting	11
Geoengineering	Gray	☁️🔧 - Wrench in the middle of a cloud	7

Resilience Symbols

Symbols that are in the shape of a shield are known as resilience's. They are collected per person. They are used as part of local projects and to mitigate crises.

Pictures of resilience symbols can be found here: https://www.daybreakgame.org/resilience

Resilience Symbol Term	Color	Shield Description
Social	Purple	🛡️ ✊ - Shield with a fist
Ecological	Green	🛡️ 🌿 - Shield with a leaf
Infrastructure	Brown / Brick Red	🛡️❌- Shield with two roads crisscrossed
Any Type / Wild	Light Blue	🛡️ ☀︎- Shield with an Asterisk

Emissions Tokens / Energy

The following are shaped like rectangles with a symbol inside.

Pictures of emissions & dirty energy can be found here: Emissions sources

Emission Token / Energy Term	Color	Symbol Description
Transportation	Gray	[🚘] - Car
Industry	Gray	🏭] - Building with Smokestack
Agriculture	Gray	🐮 - Cow Head
Buildings	Gray	🏢 - Office Buildings
Fuel Extraction	Gray	🗼- Oil Rig
Waste	Gray	🗑️- Trash Can
Any Type / Wild Emission	Gray	[☀︎] - Rectangle with Asterisk
Dirty Energy	Gray	[⚡] - Gray Lightning bolt
Clean Energy	Green	[⚡] - Green Lightning bolt

Other common symbols

Common Symbol Term	Color	Symbol Description	Information
Energy Demand	Blue / or Blue with Yellow windows	🏠 - House (with +/- number)	Number of energy needed to cover demand; cards will indicate if they are increasing or decreasing energy demand. A decrease means you need less energy that round.
Communities in Crisis / CIC Token	Multicolored	✿ 🧑‍🤝‍🧑👬🧍 - 5 people holding hands in a pentagon shape. Each person is a different color.	Bad to have. Obtained by failing to meet energy demand at beginning of round or by a crisis card. If you have 4-7 communities in crisis, you will draw 1 fewer card each round. If you have 8-11 communities in crisis you will draw 2 fewer cards. If you obtain more CIC's, you lose and the game ends. There are cards that remove CIC tokens.
Direct Air Capture	Gray	⚙️ - Fan symbol	Similar to Trees and Oceans, Captures (sequesters) emissions to avoid being added to net carbon.. Only visible on BGA if added by a player through a card; will appear next to trees / oceans.
Tree Token	Green	🌲 - Pine Tree	Captures (sequesters) emissions to avoid being added to net carbon.
Ocean Token	Blue	🌊 - Wave of Water	Captures (sequesters) emissions to avoid being added to net carbon.
Carbon	Grey/ Black Outlines	🧊 - Grey/Black Cube	Carbon (to add to net carbon).