Gamehelpventlife

Overview

Players build a shared deep-sea vent field from triple-hex tiles, then fill it with creatures. Each of the four species in play scores in its own way. When every tile has been placed, the highest total score wins.

Components

• Tiles: each tile has three hexes. The top hex is always a Black Smoker; the other two are Basalt Ridge, Diffuse Vents or Microbial Mat. A game uses 36 tiles with 2 players, 48 with 3 and 60 with 4.
• Creatures: each player has 6 tokens of each species in play, in their colour.

Setup

Four of the seven species are used each game. The table creator chooses how:

• First game: Tube Worms, Volcano Snails, Blind Vent Shrimp and Yeti Crabs.
• Random: four at random.
• Choose: the table creator ticks four.
• Draft: players take turns to choose, starting with the last player. With 2 or 4 players they pick the four species used; with 3 players each leaves one species out.

Each player starts with one tile, hidden from the others. The field starts empty.

Your turn

1. Place your tile

You may place it in either of two ways:

• On the seafloor: flat on the table, touching at least one tile along a full edge. The first tile of the game goes in the middle.
• Up on a plateau: on top of existing tiles, if
  • its Black Smoker sits on a Black Smoker,
  • all three hexes underneath are at the same level (no gaps or overhangs), and
  • it covers at least two different tiles.

Building up raises the field one level. Levels matter to several species.

2. Move covered creatures

If your tile covers creatures, they must move or go back to their owner's supply (see each species below). Your own creatures move first, then the other players' in turn order. When a creature has a choice, its owner decides where it goes.

A covered creature always moves to an empty hex, and never onto the tile that covered it (except Tube Worms climbing a smoker). "Level" means the level it was on before it was covered. If it has nowhere to go, it returns to its owner's supply.

3. Place creatures of one species

Choose one species and place creatures from your supply, following that species' rules. Creatures go on empty hexes, on any tile at any level unless the species says otherwise. You must place if you can; you only skip when nothing you have left can be placed.

4. Draw a tile

Take a new tile for your next turn.

The species

Species	Placement	When covered	Scoring
Giant Tube Worms	Only on Black Smokers. On a seafloor smoker you may place 2 on the same hex.	If a new smoker is stacked on theirs, all worms there climb onto it. Covered by any other hex: back to supply.	Each worm scores the level of its smoker (seafloor = 1).
Volcano Snails	1 to 3 snails on connected Basalt Ridge hexes, any level.	Move to an adjacent hex at a lower level (any terrain, smokers included).	1 point for each neighbouring hex at a different height. Empty table does not count.
Blind Vent Shrimp	Any hex that is not Basalt Ridge (smokers allowed).	Move to an adjacent hex that is not Basalt Ridge.	2 points if next to Diffuse Vents or Microbial Mat; 5 if next to both.
Eelpout Fish	A seafloor hex, or any hex next to one of your Fish at any level. Never a smoker.	Move to an adjacent hex at the same or a lower level, not a smoker.	Each shoal of your connected Fish: 2 = 5, 3 = 10, 4 = 15, 5 = 20, 6 = 25. A lone Fish scores 0.
Yeti Crabs	Any hex above the seafloor (smokers allowed).	Move to an adjacent hex at the same level.	See Plateaus below.
Deep-Sea Octopus	Any Edge hex (next to a space with no tile).	Move in a straight line, in a direction its owner chooses, to the last hex before the edge of the field. That hex must be empty.	2 points for each different species next to it (anyone's creatures, not Octopus).
Vent Sponges	Any hex, any level.	Always go back to supply.	2 points for each different terrain next to it, Black Smoker included.

Plateaus (Yeti Crabs)

A plateau is a group of connected hexes at the same level, above the seafloor. Terrain does not matter. For each plateau:

• The player with the most Crabs on it scores 1 point per hex in the plateau.
• The player with the second most scores half that, rounded down.
• If players tie for first, they all score in full and no second place is awarded. If players tie for second, they all score half.

End of the game

When the last tile has been drawn, keep playing until everyone has placed the tile in their hand. Everyone gets the same number of turns. Then score each species and add them up.

Tiebreaks: highest single-species score, then highest Tube Worm score. If still tied, the players share the victory.

Playing on BGA

• Placing a tile: click a blue position (an outline on the seafloor, or a blue-ringed Black Smoker to build up). Your tile appears in gold. Click it again or press Rotate to turn it, then Confirm.
• Placing creatures: choose a species in the status bar, click highlighted hexes, then Confirm. For two Tube Worms, click the same seafloor smoker twice.
• Moving a covered creature: click the creature, then a highlighted hex, then Confirm.
• The view: drag to move, mouse wheel to zoom. The buttons in the corner turn the field, tilt it, zoom and show the whole field. Raised hexes show their level number; the Level colours preference tints them by height.
• Hover over (or long-press) a species or a hex for its rules and level.