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SPLASH
DOWN
AN OCEAN EXPLORING CARD GAME
CONTENTS
Intro
INTRO
Ahoy traveler! Welcome aboard the Shadow of Endurance, a replica ship based on Ernest Shackleton's pioneering vessel. We're setting sail for the Antarctic waters -- hope you brought a camera and attentive gaze. This adventure will be full of animals that breach the ocean surface.
As seafaring guides, we like to up the stakes from time to time. Every trip includes a contest that challenges passengers to spot animals along the way and log them in a ship journal. Creatures earn different points based on rarity, from common species like Krill and Crabs to uncommon species like the mighty Blue Whale. The passenger who logs the highest scoring animals will have contributed the most sightseeing value to the trip, and thus earns the title of Breach Master.
Obtaining this title will not be easy! Animals don't surface predictably and your shipmates are looking for sneaky ways to claim your discoveries for themselves. It's all light-hearted fun until we enter the depths of the deck, where sea monsters dwell and environmental degradation is seen.
Think you have what it takes to win the battle of the breach? It's time to play Splash Down!
Components
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COMPONENTS
Splash Down has 89 playing cards and 1 reference card. We recommend looking through the deck before playing for the first time, then starting with the quickplay version to learn the basic rules through experience. Once the flow makes sense, there are several rules variants to spice things up.
30 WHALE CARDS
These are defined by a half (left or right) tail. When correctly paired together, a full whale is formed, and a two-digit point total is revealed in the corner. Species: Minke (x4), Humpback (x4), Sperm (x4), Fin (x4), Right (x4), Sei (x4), Bowhead (x4), Blue (x2).
4 ENDGAME CARDS
These are distinct because of their red and white design and corner X symbols. They cannot be played intentionally, but if any of them are exposed by rule, the game immediately ends. Types: Monster (x1), Warming (x1), Spill (x1), Waste (x1).
29 NON-WHALE CARDS
These are defined as single cards that belong to a species set and contain a “5” or “?” in the upper right corner. Note how most non-whales share a color with a whale. Species: Krill (x5), Crab (x5), Seal (x5), Seabird (x4), Squid (x4), Penguin (x4), Orca (x2).
26 ACTION CARDS
These are distinct because of their black and white design and action-oriented text. Players elect to use them strategically to affect the game. Types: Breach (x5), Block (x4), Study (x4), Scavenge (x4), Net (x3), Steal (x3), Current (x3).
Objective
OBJECTIVE
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Be the player with the most points on the table when the game concludes. This player earns the title of "Breach Master." See scoring for more details. There are 2 ways the game can end:
ANY 1 ENDGAME EXPOSED
This condition only happens if a player causes it to surface during the game
ALL 5 BREACHES PLAYED
Eventually, this condition will happen, but an endgame card may be exposed first
Quickplay
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QUICK PLAY
Sort through the deck and remove the following cards from play: 4 Endgame, 4 Study, 4 Bowhead, 2 Orca, 3 Net, 2 Blue, and 1 Breach. Temporarily pull out the remaining 4 Breach cards, shuffle the deck, deal 4 cards to each player, and shuffle the Breach cards back into the deck. Breaches are scoring cards and cannot be held in any player’s hand. Place the deck in the center of play. Players may pick up and look at their cards.
REMOVED CARDS
DRAW
PILE
PLAYER 1
SCORING
AREA
PLAYER 1 HAND
PLAYER 2
SCORING
AREA
PLAYER 2 HAND
DISCARD
PILE
SHUFFLE 4 BREACHES INTO DECK AFTER DEAL
Starting with the person who most recently went swimming, players draw 1 card from the top of the deck. Whenever a Breach card is picked, it must be immediately played. Otherwise, fellow players have 2 options:
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Say nothing and the next player draws a card, or
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Yell “Fluke!” to indicate that the Drawer just picked a Whale card, forcing them to expose it to the group. The first person to say Fluke is called the Fluker.
DRAWN
CARD
IS IT A WHALE?
Exposing a card has several potential outcomes:
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If it’s actually a Whale card, the Fluker gets the card for their hand
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If it’s an Action card, the Drawer must immediately use the action
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If it’s a Non-Whale card, the Drawer keeps the card and gets to blindly pick another card from the Fluker. If that penalty card is an action, it's immediately played. If that penalized player is out of cards, then the Drawer may take a scored card on the table. If there is no scored card, then the Drawer instead gets 3 additional cards from the deck.
DRAWER'S CARD;
FLUKE CALLED
FLUKER'S HAND;
PENALTY SELECTED
PENALTY CARD IS ACTION; PLAYED IMMEDIATELY
When a Breach card is played, it’s time for players to score points. They do so by putting cards from their hand into the area in front of them. Every Breach allows a player to score any color card that they have already scored plus 1 additional new color.
For example, if Player A had previously scored pink Minke Whale and Krill cards, then they can add to that color and score another color, such as purple Right Whale and Squid cards. The catch (pun intended) is that players can only score cards from their hand in response to a Breach. Cards left in hand earn nothing.
During the game, players may use Action cards in their hand whenever they choose by placing them in the discard pile. Each has a strategic value, and longer descriptions of what they mean are in the Gameplay section. Upon scoring the 4th and final Breach card, the game ends and players calculate their totals. Whales require both tail halves (left and right) to make a two-digit number when matched. Unmatched whales score nothing. Non-Whale cards score 5 points for each card, and earn a bonus 10 points if a player has a set (3 or more) of a particular species. Examples shared in the Scoring section.
The winner is considered the Breach Master. Keep the Breach cards out, reshuffle the deck, and re-deal to play again.
Full Setup
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FULL SETUP
Building off the quickplay section, follow the same instructions but add the omitted species and desired endgame cards into the deck. There should be 5 Breach cards shuffled in after the deal.
DISCARD
PILE
DRAW
PILE
PLAYER 1
SCORING
AREA
PLAYER 1 HAND
PLAYER 2
SCORING
AREA
PLAYER 2 HAND
SHUFFLE 5 BREACHES INTO DECK AFTER DEAL
Actions
ACTIONS
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As an adventurer at sea, identifying creatures at the right time will make you a popular travel companion! Others may be envious of your status, so they will look to compete for attention by taking certain actions throughout the game.
With the exception of a Breach card that plays immediately upon drawing or when someone incorrectly claims “Fluke” on an Action card, players may hold and play Actions at any time during the game. Each type of action leads to a different outcome:
STEAL. Player may take (and expose) any one card from another player's hand or scoring area, as long as that card isn't part of a set (any complete whale or 3 of the same species).
SCAVENGE. Player may look through and take any one card from the discard pile. If this card is an Action Card, it is immediately played. Any species card goes into the player's hand.
NET. Player may call out one species to be eliminated from play. All matching cards in hands and scoring areas are placed in the discard pile, with the exception of sets (any complete whale or 3 of the same species).
CURRENT. Player may request 1 card from each opponent's hand. The player has no power over what cards they get, unless an opponent only has one card. These cards are delivered in secret.
STUDY. Player may look at and reorder the top 3 cards in the draw pile. This is often done in private, but there is nothing against verbally or physically sharing other players how the cards are reordered.
BLOCK. Player may negate the effect of any one Action Card. A Block used against a Block would reactivate the original action played, unless a third Block was played...
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As the game progresses, a player may never begin any turn (when the next card Drawer is about to pick) with more than 10 cards. If this happens, they must discard until they have 10 cards. Because Action cards can be played regardless of whose turn it is, remember that the players’ drawing order always remains consistent throughout the game. The next card cannot be drawn until all actions have been resolved.
ENDGAMES
ENDGAMES
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There are 4 endgame conditions. Each introduces a different strategic element. See Alt Ending variant for different interpretations. These cards are independently optional for gameplay:
MONSTER. The game ends immediately. Scores are calculated.
WARMING. The game ends, and the lowest scorer is the winner. This player didn’t see as many species, so they are less emotionally affected by changing conditions.
SPILL. The game ends and the best score wins, but players only count 1 color of species. Each may choose which color strategically. Ocean spills are awful for biodiversity, and players will only have time to save one species from the disaster.
WASTE. The game ends, and every unused Action card in a player’s hand costs -10 points. The best score wins after this deduction is calculated. While pollution continues to build up in our waterways, inaction becomes more and more costly. We recognize certain Action cards aren’t necessarily good (i.e. net), but in this game, players who prioritize action show willingness to change the status quo sooner rather than later.
Scoring
SCORING
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Whenever a Breach is exposed, all players have an opportunity to score species in their hand of any 1 color. Action Cards and Endgames cannot be scored. If players are curious or have a hard time distinguishing colors, there is a small symbol at the top of Whale cards that matches the corner icon of Non-Whale cards. All species have a matching color except the Blue, Bowhead, and Orca. These three are quite powerful on their own.
ALLOWED -- Colors and symbols match
NOT ALLOWED -- Colors and symbols different
As shown above, 3 orange cards make a correct breach, while 1 yellow, 1 purple, and 1 green do not. Also worth noting that whales require two cards -- a left (L) and right (R) tail -- to form a set and score any points. They do not need to be played on the same Breach. When eventually joined together, a two-digit number is formed. Depending on the species, Whales score between 10 and 55 points. The orange Sei whale pictured would score 30 points.
The trickiest Whale to comprehend is the Bowhead. This species, when completed, takes on the highest scoring left and right whale cards in all players' scoring areas. The whales do not have to match colors or be complete, meaning the Sei left tail and Fin right tail above could earn 35 points. However, if no full whale can be made from all scored cards, the Bowhead scores 0 points.
Similarly, scoring the Orca depends on non-whale species that are not in sets. These are called “singletons,” and each opponent singleton is worth 5 points per scored Orca. So if 7 species were not in sets, then an Orca earns 35 points. If no singletons exist, then it scores 0 points
PLAYER 1 HAS 5 POINTS FOR THE PENGUIN
PLAYER 2 HAS 30 POINTS FOR THE BOWHEAD (MAX LEFT & RIGHT TAILS SHOWING)
PLAYER 3 HAS 10 POINTS FOR THE CRABS
If a player has scored 3 cards of the same whale, they may choose what combination makes the best set value. The leftover whale card is not a part of that set.
For non-whale species, each card in the scoring area is worth 5 points, regardless of how many are played. If a player scores 3 cards of the same species, they have made a set and earned an additional 10 points. For example, Player 3 above would score 25 points (5 x 3, plus 10) if they collected another crab.
PLAYER 1 WINS WITH 90 POINTS: Blue (50) + Seal (10) + Penguin (5) + Sei (0, not complete) + Seabird (15 + 10, set)
PLAYER 2 HAS 60 POINTS: Humpback (20) + Minke (10) + Krill (10) + Seal (5) + Orca (5 x 3, Player 1 singletons)
When the game ends (all Breach cards played or any Endgame exposed), players total their scoring areas to determine a winner. In the case of a tie, the player with the highest scoring species wins. If it’s still a tie, both players earn the title of Breach Master.
Variants
VARIANTS
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EXTINCTION. To shorten the game, players can remove species from the deck. This should happen before the deal. We suggest removing Whale and Non-Whale color pairs together (i.e. Minke Whale and Krill cards, which are both pink). This can also be the repercussion of netting species or playing certain Endgame cards in previous games. Get creative to tell the story of why a species is no longer in the deck.
INACTION. To reduce the number of transactions during the game, players can remove Action cards at their discretion. This should also be done before the deal. We suggest trying different setups to find the most fun gameplay.
UTOPIA. By removing Endgame cards from the deck, players can avoid the threat of sudden moments. Like the Quickplay, only exposing all 5 Breach cards would stop the game. A lack of endgames often leads to more risk taking Flukers because the timeline is more predictable. It's also possible to keep any number of endgames in the deck to lessen the risk, but not completely remove it.
ALT ENDING. Instead of Endgame cards all stopping the game, each type does strictly what it says. For the Monster, the game does end, but the player who exposed it also gets to remove any 1 species from the scoring area. Nothing is off limits EXCEPT when the attacked player is holding a Block card. Narwhals are always looking out for ways to protect their sea friends.
WILDCARD. Want to really open up the game's scoring? Declare Bowheads and Orcas as wildcards that automatically match any other Whale and Non-Whale card, respectively. Whale pairs must still match a left (L) and right (R) tail. Remember though, Bowheads score 0 points if no other whales have been scored. Orcas count as 5 points when played as part of a different species set.
MONOPOLY: If a player collected two sets of the same color, reward them by doubling points for that color. For example, if a player scored 3 Penguins and had a 30 point Sei Whale (both Orange), they would get 110 points! 3 Penguins are 5 points each, plus a 10 point set bonus equals 25. Add that to the Sei Whale and double the entire color to score. 55 x 2 = 110. That's definitely worth the concentrated effort!
BREACH PARTY: Flip the Breach cards face up in the deck so players know when they’re coming.
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