The Restoration Game

DIRECTIONS for THE RESTORATION GAME

OBJECTIVE: Be the first player to perform all three actions of a restoration technique to all three habitats AND supplement each of the three habitats each with three plant species found in the habitats.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 to 6

AGES: 8 +

DURATION: 40 minutes

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: This game was created, in part, to introduce people to the marvelous diversity of plants in nature. Plants are often overlooked or all blend together and therefore get ignored. We hope this game will inspire people to learn about the vegetation present at a variety of habitats, teach people that different plants grow in different areas, and give people a fun and interactive way to learn about and enjoy the amazing plants of north-eastern Illinois. The laminated cards are durable and water resistant, so the game can be played anywhere!

CONTENTS: 218 game cards

HABITAT CARDS: The game is loosely designed around the plant communities of the Chicago Region and contains several habitats that are applicable to that area. However, it includes many plants and habitats that are applicable to a number of physiographic regions in the Midwest.

There are 18 habitat cards, each representing a natural community in the Chicago Region: 4 forest types, 1 savanna, 2 coastal lake plain, 5 wetland types, and 6 prairie types, listed below. Image on the back of the habitat cards is of the Gravel Prairie at Shoe Factory Road Prairie in Cook County. 

ACTION CARDS: includes wild cards, consequence cards, and restoration cards

Restoration cards: There are 3 restoration techniques that can be applied to each players’ habitats: herbicide treatment, prescribed fire, and tree and shrub removal. 

• Each restoration technique is divided into 3 aspects: training, equipment, and a volunteer. 

  • Herbicide treatment includes herbicide license, backpack sprayer, and steward cards.

  • Prescribed fire includes fire training, PPE (personal protective equipment), and expert cards.

  • Tree and shrub removal includes chainsaw use training, chainsaw, and novice cards.

• These cards can be played in any order, but only one card can be played per turn. 

• You can swap out restoration techniques if you begin one but find you get more cards for another. (started with chainsaw, then discarded and added backpack sprayer, then herbicide license, etc.)

• Once a technique has been completed, by having all three cards present, the technique is completed. 

• Turn the cards over; they are now safe from any consequence cards. 

• You can play any of the restoration techniques for any habitat, as long as you complete one technique - no mixing of techniques.

• You can use the same technique for more than one habitat.

• You can also replace a technique in play with another one if you find you have more cards of another kind. You would use your turn to remove a restoration card to the discard pile and put a new restoration card in its place.

Consequence cards: these can be played against your opponent(s) during your turn to slow down their restorations. These consequence cards represent real-world scenarios that present challenges to restoration. The consequence card, and the card it removes, are both placed in the Action cards discard pile. 

Wild cards: agency biologist, legislator, mayor, replace your hand, and natural disaster. 

• The agency biologist can be used for any plant card or restoration card. 

  • If it’s being used for a Plant card you do NOT need to name a plant it represents.

  • If it’s being used for a restoration action, you do NOT need to identify which card it represents.

  • Once chosen as a replacement for a Plant or restoration card, it cannot be moved(from restoration to plant, or from habitat to habitat)

• The legislator allows you to draw an additional plant card during each turn. To play this card, lie it down next to your Habitats - do not discard. Only one legislator can be played at a time (i.e, you cannot play 2 and draw 4 plant cards per turn). The legislator cannot be removed by a consequence card if the mayor card is in play. 

• The mayor allows each player to avoid most consequence cards - except ones that specifically remove the mayor. 

• The replace your hand card allows the player to discard and replace as many Action cards from their hand as they want. This completes the Action for the turn.

• Natural disaster cards are played against another player. Playing one means all the receiving player’s restoration cards in play for techniques not fully completed (having all three cards for a given technique) are discarded. 

PLANT CARDS: Each plant card includes the family for the species and a C value, which is the coefficient of conservatism. C values close to 0 represent species that occupy badly damaged habitats, whereas species closer to 10 only occur in high quality natural areas. 

SET-UP: All cards are labeled and color-coded so you don’t need plant knowledge to play. There are three types of cards: Habitat, Action, and Plant.

• Deal each player 3 Habitat cards and put the rest aside. Each player announces the habitats they received and places them face up in front of themselves. 

• Deal each player 5 Action cards.

• Place the remaining Action cards in a draw pile. Leave space for a discard pile.

• Place the Plant cards in a separate draw pile. Leave space for a discard pile.

Alternatives: 

• To make the game shorter, remove the plant cards belonging to the habitats that were not drawn by any players.

• Remove the consequence cards for a less strategic, but friendlier game.

GAME PLAY

The player whose birthday is closest to Charles Darwin’s  (February 12) goes first.

Each turn starts by playing or discarding an Action card. 

• If the Action card is a restoration card, place it above one of your Habitat cards to show the restoration technique being performed on that habitat. 

• If you wish to play a consequence card against another player, the opponent’s restoration card is discarded, along with the consequence card.

• If you wish to play a wild card, place it to the side of your habitat cards and it remains in play until it is removed by another player’s consequence card. 

• After playing one Action card, replace it by taking an Action card from the draw pile and adding it to your hand. You should always have 5 Action cards in your hand. 

Next, draw a Plant Card.

• If the species is found in one of your habitats, place it below the associated habitat card. 

• If it doesn’t match any, put it in the discard pile. If you have a legislator card and therefore can draw two Plant cards, discard in the order drawn. 

This completes one turn.

Each player is allowed to replace their entire hand ONCE during the game. This = one full turn.

Just like with the restoration cards for each habitat, once you have 3 plant cards for your habitat, you’ve completed that action. Turn them over; they are safe from any consequence cards. 

If a plant card is discarded at the end of a player’s turn, and another player wants it, that player can take the discarded card if they:

• discard a restoration card from their hand OR forfeit any action for that turn

• then, add the discarded plant card to their matching habitat. 

• If a player has discarded two cards ONLY the TOP card is available to be picked up. 

  • The player discarding must do so in the order drawn

In a multi-player game, anyone can take a discarded plant card, but the option is available first to the person to the left of the one who discarded it, and continues in that order. Even if the player who chooses the card is not the next to play, the taking of the plant card voids their next turn.

Discarded Action cards cannot be obtained in any way.

COMPLETING THE GAME: The first player to have all 3 parts of one restoration technique and 3 plants that belong in the habitat, for each of the three habitats, wins! 

ALTERNATE GAME PLAY

Only use Habitat cards and Plant cards.

• Lay out the Habitat cards with 3 columns of 6 cards (6 rows of 3 cards) by habitat type, prairie habitats in the first 2 rows, wetland habitats in the next two rows, along with the mesic savanna habitat card, then the forest habitat cards and the coastal plain habitat cards in the last 2 rows. 

• Assign a dealer and deal 1 plant card to each player in a clockwise direction and the player with the highest C value goes first.

  • In case of a tie, the player who was dealt first gets to go first.

• Put the Plant cards back in the deck and deal 5 plant cards to each player.

• Find a small household item (button, rock, bottlecap) to represent each player’s unique marker and place in front of each player.

• Each turn consists of 2 moves:

  • Move your marker, play a Plant card, draw a Plant card

• Earn points by playing a Plant card while your marker is placed on the corresponding habitat. 

  • This means you observed that plant in the habitat.

  • Place it aside face-up for all to see.

• The object of the game is to observe one plant species in each community class (prairie, wetland, forest, savanna, coastal plain) and score the most points.

• Once a player has observed a plant in each community class, each other player gets one more turn and then the game ends.

• Add up the C values on the Plant cards played by each player; the winner is the player with the highest score.

• Note: It is possible to observe a plant in each community class, thereby ending the game, and still lose based on points. This is why the Plant cards observed are placed face up so players can see how many points other players have.

Species nomenclature follows Flora of the Chicago Region (Wilhelm and Rericha. 2017) and C values are statewide (Taft, J.B., G.S., Wilhelm, D.M. Ladd, and L.A. Masters. 1997. Floristic quality assessment for vegetation in Illinois: a method for assessing vegetation integrity. Erigenia 15: 3-95).

All photos copyright © Christopher David Benda (except the photo on the fire expert card, courtesy of Charles Ruffner).

HABITAT CARDS (1 of each) = 18 total

ACTION CARDS = 110 total

PLANT CARDS = 90 total

Contact botanizer@gmail.com for questions/suggestions regarding the instructions for this game.