FAQ
40 answered questions24 official
Rules questions from the BoardGameGeek forum. Answers marked Official were confirmed by Game Brewer or the designers.
Common mistakes
- Using a free move unlocked by a base camp in the same turn — free moves are counted when your turn starts. Ruling · Rule
- Debunking with different limbs — debunking needs identical tokens (4 wings), publishing needs different parts. Ruling · Rule
- Thinking a paper needs the skull and limb shown on the card — any 2–4 different parts will do. Ruling · Rule
- Publishing a species whose archive envelope is full — you cannot, unless the publication itself frees the space first. Ruling · Rule
- Scoring the values on the papers — credibility counts only the shelves that hold papers. Ruling · Rule
- Moving an award marker to a better space later — once placed, it stays. Ruling · Rule
Showing 40 of 40
Do newly unlocked free movement points (from placing a base camp) apply in the same turn? Official
No. Your free moves are set at the start of your turn. Extra free moves unlocked during the turn, by building a base camp, can only be used from your next turn. The designer noted this is how the game is meant to work even though the rulebook does not say it.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Can a placed base camp be removed and moved to a different site later?
No, a base camp stays where you built it. If there is no site left where you have no camp, you may build a second camp at a site — a line found in the printed English rulebook but not in the web version.
Source: BGG thread
Can I Dig Deeper at a dig site that has no bone tokens or species card left?
The rulebook only says to clear the site and refill it. One forum answer holds that you can only dig deeper while there are bones to dig there, since sites are otherwise refilled at the end of the round. Not an official ruling.
Source: BGG thread
Which bone tokens do I need to discard to publish a research paper? Official
Any 2, 3 or 4 different parts out of torso, tail, skull and limb. The skull and limb shown on the species card are not compulsory: a torso and a tail make a 2-paper. If you do use a skull or a limb, it must be of a kind the card allows.
Source: BGG thread
Can I publish a research paper if my archive for the matching symbol is already full? Official
No. You cannot play the card at all unless you first make room or can archive it elsewhere. A bonus of the same publication counts: a prize bonus that moves an archived card triggers before you archive the new one.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
What is the correct order when resolving publication bonuses? Official
Left to right as printed on the action space: loyalty first, then the prize bonus, then the round bonus, then archiving, then the paper on the bookshelf. So you can gain loyalty with Cope, flip your patron with a bonus, and shelve the paper for Marsh.
Source: BGG thread
Can I publish two papers in one action, and switch patrons between them?
Yes. You resolve each publication completely before the next, so a bonus from the first can flip your patron before the second.
Source: BGG thread
If a paleontologist card gives a bonus when publishing and I publish two papers, does it apply twice?
No, once — the rulebook's footnote limits these card bonuses to one paper per turn.
Source: BGG thread
Do bones have to be different types or identical tokens for publishing versus debunking? Official
Publishing uses different parts. Debunking uses identical tokens: 4 wings, 4 paws, 4 claws or 4 flippers — not one of each limb.
Source: BGG thread
Do papers need to be added to the bookshelf in a specific order? Official
Bottom to top: fill a shelf before the one above it. Within a shelf, any order. (Official — publisher confirmed: designer Wim Goossens)
Source: BGG thread
What is the horizontal printed book under each patron's portrait for?
It marks the overflow shelf: when a patron's half is full, extra papers go there. They can still be debunked but never count as a shelf for scoring.
Source: BGG thread
Can papers on the small top shelf slide down when a gap opens below? Official
Yes. A gap is filled from any higher shelf, the small top shelf included; which paper slides down does not matter.
Source: BGG thread
Do the numerical values (2, 3, 4) on papers affect scoring? Official
No. Scoring counts only the shelves with papers. Higher papers are harder to debunk, so they keep helping their side for longer.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Can I perform the Claim an Award and Make a Minor Find actions more than once per round? Official
Yes. "Once" means once each time you take the action: move your paleontologist elsewhere, then come back on a later turn. Publish Papers, by contrast, lets you publish several papers in one action.
Source: BGG thread
Once I place an award marker on an award tile, can I move it later? Official
No. It stays for the rest of the game. You have 3 markers, at most one on each award tile.
Source: BGG thread
Can I make a minor find just for the envelope bonus when no matching minor find tile is left?
Most likely not: the rulebook says the action cannot be performed, and every paleontologist action has a requirement. Not an official ruling.
Source: BGG thread
When drawing a paleontologist card as a reward, can I choose from the display or take from the deck? Official
Either, the designer says. The rulebook itself mentions only the face-up display.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
What happens to the species cards in my archive at the end of a round? Official
Nothing: they stay. Only species and paleontologist cards played into action slots are discarded.
Source: BGG thread
Can I upgrade a team card that is already in an action slot? Official
Yes. The played basic card leaves the game and the advanced card goes to your hand, ready for a later turn; a specialist on the old card returns too. The emptied slot cannot be used again this round.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
How many upgraded action slot tiles can I have next to my player board? Official
No limit.
Source: BGG thread
When does a specialist's bonus trigger?
Before or after the team actions of the card it rides on — your choice. (Official — publisher confirmed: designer Wim Goossens)
Source: BGG thread
When a profession space lets me remove a cover tile, do I also get its $2 or 1 reputation? Official
Yes: removing a cover tile always gives $2 or 1 reputation.
Source: BGG thread
When I pass onto a grant where another player's grant marker already sits, what happens? Official
Both markers stay and both players keep the ability; theirs lasts until they pass and pick a new grant.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
How long does a grant ability last? Official
As long as your grant marker is on the tile — a player power until you pass and move it.
Source: BGG thread
What does "the X small find icon counts as any small find icon" grant actually mean? Official
It works on the icon on your species cards. With the hammer grant: a hammer card goes in any envelope, triggers its prize in any action slot, and lets you take any minor find tile. It does not let other cards into the hammer envelope or trigger prizes in the hammer slot.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
With a wild grant, which minor find tile do I take — the card's icon or the envelope I archived it in? Official
The envelope: archive the card as a plant and take a plant tile.
Source: BGG thread
The “move to a dig site with another team” grant ability: do I earn $1 per other team or per dig site? Official
Per dig site: entering a site with two other teams pays $1. It pays every time teams meet during movement, also when you only pass through, and when another team moves into yours.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread · BGG thread
The printed grant tiles differ from the online rulebook. Which is right?
The printed tiles: the online rulebook shows an older set.
Source: BGG thread
Is the rare bones display refilled when I take a rare bone?
No. And when it is empty, a rare bone reward gives you nothing — you do not draw from the bag.
Source: BGG thread
When I exchange a bone for a rare bone, where does my bone go? Official
Into the rare bones display, so an exchange never changes how many it holds. (Official — publisher confirmed: designer Wim Goossens) Rewards that just give rare bones take them without an exchange.
Source: BGG thread
Where does the bone from the “draw 1 bone token from the bag” dig site action go?
Into your crates, if you have room.
Source: BGG thread
Why are there two spaces per row on the profession track?
You must move to a different row and column when you pass, so the columns alternate each round and show who has already passed.
Source: BGG thread
Does Theodore need to discard a paleontologist card to perform a paleontologist action?
No. He discards one only when it matches the action he performs, for 1 loyalty.
Source: BGG thread
How many paleontologist actions does Theodore perform per turn?
Only the first one he can perform, skipping those he can't — unless the card shows 2×. When he publishes or debunks, he does as many papers as he can.
Source: BGG thread
Does Theodore gain the loyalty bonus when passing?
Yes, as a player would — and he also takes the bonuses of the profession he moves to.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
If none of Theodore's team actions can be done, does he switch to the paleontologist half?
No. He keeps following the arrows; every card has a move, so he ends up spending his action points on movement.
Source: BGG thread
Theodore has a matching species card for his slot, but its prize does nothing for him. Does he still discard it? Official
Yes, by the rules. The designer is happy for you to house-rule it.
Source: BGG thread
Two of Theodore's species cards match his slot. Which one does he use? Official
Use his usual order: a card an award needs (A, B, C), then one for his right-most archive slot, then the first alphabetically.
Source: BGG thread
Does Theodore use all his free moves even when he has no action points left? Official
The rulebook says his turn ends as soon as his action points run out. Asked later, the designer said he would take his remaining free moves, as they may put him in a better spot. (Official — publisher confirmed: designer Wim Goossens) He is fine with either.
Source: BGG thread
Theodore has a wild grant and his matching envelope is full. Where does he archive?
Not covered by the rules. Following his reclassify rule, the right-most free slot is a sensible choice.
Source: BGG thread