Beginner's Questions about base Phylomon Rules.

There are posted rules variations for Phylomon, but I am only asking in regards to the initial rules.

-Is it true that location cards (habitat) are placed in a grid arrangement, and not just a horizontal line?

-I notice that per a fixed #foodchain number, and even a fixed #diet colour (and identical habitat requirements,
there seems little difference between setting a lower point or a higher point animal into play. Are there
presently any two functionally identical species, or am I imagining things?

-How does eating between different species happen? A Level 3 will be placed in a common environment/weather
habitat, and will require a level 2 at the same to have food to eat. Do lower cards get discarded as they
would be eaten, or do they just remain on table, and food requirements are just a placement and habitat
option condition? Can cards attack, or just eat, other cards to make them get discarded?

-Does a creature need to have their lower level food species at a compatible weather and environment habitat,
or does compatible food only need to be somewhere on the table?

-Is the winning the game condition the player who has the largest total points? What happens if this is a tie at the end?

-What different Home cards (starting cards are there)? Are they even really needed, could you get away with
just ignoring home cards and use habitat cards on their own?

-Can duplicate cards of the same species get placed on table, or at the same habitat?
What is the rule about this, and how are repeat species cards limited to make sure they
don't overpopulate, from wolves, to bacteria and such? How many species cards,
even identical species cards, can be put into play per turn?
There is a phenomenon associated with the SPREAD keyword.
There is also a card called Overpopulation.
What can be played to stop this Overpopulation card, or "SPREADing"?

-Can you particularly play without event cards? With the standard rules, how big should the game deck be?
60 cards (the starting example mentions 25) ?

-In terms of printing one's own cards, the help for this mentions card stock. What type of card stock
should I be after, ie. card dimensions for the 6 per A4 sheet that will get printed off the site,
what should one ask for, and where can one look? Will printing from the site do card backs as well?
There should be a better image for card backs than the black and white one offered now. (?)

-Does the card "habitat loss" play on or effect water habitat?

-How does the first dot point on "protected area" work? Is it like an event and a habitat?

-On the card "bottom trawling", what is an "adjacent card"? Does it include habitat cards themselves?
Is adjacent the same habitat or one next habitat?

-Is there a file list of all the names of all internet available cards to date?

-What state is the game in? Is there development happening, what is the present plan?

Hi Zachary,

Firstly, the initial rules are largely unused, because of some of the limitations with the use of "habitat" cards. That being said, here are some answers to your questions below!

Habitat cards are placed as other cards (within a grid system). No need for a particular row, column, or set arrangement.

Usually a species is worth a certain number of points because of playability. Two organisms with the same trophic (food chain) value will tend to have different point values if they have different terrain and climate needs. It mostly follows this (http://phylogame.org/2011/05/15/phylo-card-points-algorithm/), but depending on when the card was created there is likely some variation.

Eating requires cards being placed adjacent to a card that it needs (i.e. a herbivore needs to be placed next to a plant, a carnivore needs to be placed next to a prey, which in turn needs to be placed next to its food source, etc). In other words, a card with a food chain value of 1 is inherently required, and chains can build outwards in any direction (including turning corners). In essence, as long as any played card can connect back (all the way) to a primary producer, then it's good to go. This is also why carnivores are worth more points than photosynthetic organisms. Basically, carnivores need existing chains to be played.

Having compatibility "elsewhere" on the table does not count. Compatibility must exist in any adjacent card.

Equal points would be a tie game!

There is a link for "starter" cards on the card page. You could start with a habitat card instead that would limit what cards could be placed down at the beginning (home cards have the benefit of being essentially wild cards in terms of terrain and climate).

Duplicate cards can be played. This is something that others have discussed, in that with certain event cards, it makes sense to have a rule where there are limits when considering the game under the deck building mechanic. No-ones formally worked this out yet though. Note that having repeats is logistically preferably for folks who wish to commission art to make their own decks (i.e. if you have can have multiples of a card in the deck, that less funds needed to get the art).

Also note that the SPREAD function has been largely phased out. Folks playtested it and essentially found that it was seldom (if ever) used so was determined to be unneccessary and just complicating the rules further.

Yes, you can play without event cards. This would make the game more like a straight up domino mechanic. The event cards tend to make things much more interesting though.

Size of deck depends on how long you want to play, and how big your table is! In general, a game with 50ish cards (i.e. 25 cards each) will take about 20 to 30 minutes to play, and will fit on most coffee tables.

Habitat loss event cards usually have specific instructions on what cards they effect. Alternatively, in the earlier version, they have terrain and climate info telling you what you can play it on.

Choice of card stock is really dependant on user preference. The the heavier stock is nicer, but more expensive. We've heard some folks will print on normal paper and insert into card sleeves.

When you play the bottom trawling (on top of a species), adjacent cards mean literally cards next to it (technically all four sides).

Unfortunately, there isn't a file with just a list of all the cards. There is however access to the sites API, so I'm sure that data is easily extractable by a knowledgable coder.

The last question implies not having looked through the site thoroughly. It's come quite a long ways since the first edit of the rules!

phylomonadmin wrote:There is however access to the sites API, so I'm sure that data is easily extractable by a knowledgable coder.

What does API stand for?