Tabletop games
Cascadia
Alderac Entertainment GroupRandy Flynn2021
- players
- 1–4
- minutes
- 45
- years
- 10+
In the box
85 Habitat tiles and 5 starter tiles · 100 Wildlife tokens · 25 Pine cone tokens · 21 Wildlife scoring cards · 1 cloth bag
Official rules (PDF, publisher's site)
Box details
- Designer
- Randy Flynn
- Artwork
- Beth Sobel, Ferd Torres
- Publisher
- Alderac Entertainment Group
- Mechanics
- ChainingHexagon GridLine of SightOpen DraftingPattern Building
- Expansions
- Cascadia: Landmarks · 2023
Where to buy it
Near you and online
In a shop
Within 50 km.
Online
Affiliate link: Marquoir may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
The basics
Each player puts together habitat tiles and wildlife tokens, each species being scored according to a randomly drawn scoring card. On your turn, take a pair of one tile and one token from the four on offer, place the tile against your environment and the token on a tile showing that species; a nature token lets you choose freely. After twenty turns each, score the species, your largest area of each habitat with the majorities and the remaining nature tokens: the highest total wins.
Checked against the official rules · October 2026
The rules, step by step
Setup
1 starter tile, 1 card per species, 4 pairs in the centre
- The 100 wildlife tokens go into the bag. Take at random, without looking at them, 43 habitat tiles with two players, 63 with three, 83 with four (20 per player plus 3), shuffled into face-down stacks.
- One scoring card is drawn for each of the five species: bear, elk, salmon, hawk, fox (the A cards are recommended for a first game).
- Each player receives a starter habitat tile (a block of three hexes).
- In the centre, reveal four tiles and pair each with a wildlife token drawn from the bag. The nature tokens (pine cones) form a supply.
- The player who most recently saw one of these animals starts, then play goes clockwise.
How to play
Take 1 pair, Place tile then token, Nature = free choice
- Overpopulation: if the four tokens on offer are identical, they are replaced automatically; if three are identical, the active player may replace them (once per turn).
- On your turn, you take a pair of one tile and one wildlife token from the four on offer.
- Place the tile against at least one side of your environment; the terrains do not have to match, but matching is what scores.
- Place the token on any tile of your environment that has no animal and shows that species; otherwise, or if you prefer, it goes back into the bag.
- An animal placed on a keystone tile (a tile with a single terrain) earns a nature token.
- Before choosing, spending a nature token lets you take any tile with any token, or replace the wildlife tokens of your choice; there is no limit per turn.
- Then refill the market with a new tile and a new token.
Scoring
Species by their card, Largest area, Nature token 1 point
- Each species is scored according to its scoring card: proximity, lines or isolation.
- Habitat areas: for each of the five habitats (mountain, forest, prairie, wetland, river), 1 point per tile in your largest continuous area.
- Majorities, with two players: 2 points for the largest area of each habitat, 1 each in a tie. With three or four: 3 points for first and 1 for second; two players tied for first take 2 each, three or four tied take 1 each, and nobody takes second place; a tie for second place scores nothing. Solo: 2 points per habitat that reaches 7 tiles.
- Each unspent nature token scores 1 point.
- In a tie, the most nature tokens wins; otherwise, the victory is shared.
End of the game
Tiles run out, 20 turns each
- The game ends as soon as the tile taken can no longer be replaced, because the stacks are empty: everyone has played exactly twenty turns.
Going further
Frequently asked questions · Rules on video · In the same family
Frequently asked questions
How does a turn go?
You take a tile–token pair from the four on offer, place the habitat tile against your landscape, then put the animal on a compatible tile. Simple, but every choice commits you.
How do you score the animals?
Each species has its own scoring card (chosen at the start of the game), which rewards a pattern: lines, pairs, groups, neighbours… You score separately for each of the five species.
What are nature tokens for?
They let you break the constraint: spending one lets you choose any tile and any animal in the market, without having to take a set pair. You gain them by placing an animal on a keystone tile.
How do you score the habitats?
Each tile in your largest continuous area of each habitat (mountain, forest, prairie, wetland, river) is worth 1 point. On top of that, the largest area of each habitat earns a bonus: 2 points with two players, 3 points for first and 1 for second with three or four, shared according to the rulebook's scale in case of a tie.
When does the game end?
When the tile supply runs out: everyone has then played twenty turns and placed 20 tiles, on top of their starter tile. You add up animals, habitats and remaining nature tokens.
Rules on video
- Rules video 1 · Ludomaniaque
- Rules video 2 · Professeur Board Game
- Rules video 3 · Je vous explique les règles
Videos in French, hosted on YouTube.