Daybreak as played on Board Game Arena

This document describes how Daybreak is played in the digital BGA interface. The card dealing, resolving of actions, effects, and crises, and the end-of-round tallying are all done automagically by BGA, such that the rules explanations about these elements in the tabletop version don't all apply in this environment. Additionally, this document explains the screen layout as it differs considerably from the tabletop game. If you have played the tabletop game, you will have no trouble adapting to online play. But if you've never played the tabletop version, you may be a bit overwhelmed at first with all that is going on on the screen interface.

Overview

This is a co-operative game in which the players collectively need to work together to sequester more carbon than they produce and then survive an ever-increasing number of crises over 6 (or fewer) rounds of play. Having too many communities in crisis, too high a temperature increase, or not reaching Drawdown by the end of Round 6 means your group has lost the game! By strategically completing Global Projects, working together to complete Local Projects, and mitigating against impending crises, the World Powers can achieve Drawdown and win the game!

Before you start

Take time to study the iconography. Understanding the many symbols is important to grasping the game flow and will contribute to a smoother experience. The PDF of the game rules (for the board game) available on BGA has very nice images of the icons. There are five categories of icons: tags, resilience, emissions, energy, and other (tokens and other miscellaneous). Note also that three icons in the tags and resilience categories work together (they are pairs): Society (tag)/Social (resilience), Ecology (tag)/Ecological (resilience), and Infrastructure (tag)/Infrastructure (resilience).

Start of game

Players are each assigned a world region/country (called a World Power). Each World Power has its own starting values (climate scenarios) and Local Projects. BGA sets these up automatically.

IMPORTANT: Review the tabulation areas on the right side of the screen. These are: World Power scorekeeping areas, thermometer, and carbon emissions/sequestration. You will need to pay attention to the status of each World Power's energy demand vs availability and its Communities in Crisis as keeping these in balance is critical. The thermometer tracks the temperature, the planetary effects, and the rounds. The carbon emissions tell you your progress towards Drawdown.

Stages in a Round

Each round consists of these five stages:

Global Stage: You find out what crisis awaits you and decide on a Global Project

Local Stage: You work on completing the local projects of your World Power and support your fellow players in completing their own local projects. This is where the cooperative play takes place.

Emissions Stage: The emissions produced are calculated and added to the board.

Crisis Stage: This stage has two components: 1) The planetary effects of your actions are determined by a roll of the die and 2) the crisis or crises for the round are executed.

Growth Stage: Daybreak assumes that growth (economic? population?) happens at the end of every round. This is reflected via an increase in energy demand calibrated for the respective World Powers.

Global Stage

Crisis Cards: In the first round, BGA will draw three crisis cards and randomly putt one face up and other two face down. In future rounds, the number of crises you will "draw" is determined by the current level on the Thermometer. (BGA does the drawing for you.) Study the Crisis Card or Cards, as it represents the crisis that will befall all of you at the end of the round. Remind each other that you need to prepare during the round to do all you can to mitigate against it (mitigations are explained on the card).

Global Project Cards: BGA will display two Global Project cards. As a group you will decide on which one to keep/use by voting. Each World Power has one vote. In the event of a tie, BGA will break the tie and choose a Global Project for you. Here too, study the card so that you all understand what is needed to activate the card. In the next stage, you should discuss which World Power is best poised to activate the Global Project. If no World Power has the necessary card(s), stay alert to whether any of you acquire those cards via opportunities to draw more cards. Activating the Global Project should be a priority as it offers helpful support in achieving your goals toward reaching Drawdown. Activating is achieved by "tucking" the required Local Project card or cards behind the Global Project card. Once a Local Project card is used in this manner, it can never be played again and will be discarded at the end of the round.

SUGGESTION: Each round, make note on paper outside of BGA regarding what is needed to mitigate against the coming crisis and what is needed to activate the Global Project. This can help you not lose sight of it as it is out if sight in the base play area of the game on your screen (scroll down to read it). The old "Out of sight, out of mind" can be deadly in this game!

Local Stage

The first round is different from all of the others. In the first round, BGA will provide each World Power with five project cards and place them in the Local Projects area. These five starting projects are different for each World Power. You can see any World Power's projects by clicking on the player's BGA name in the tabs in the play area. To see all Local Projects, click "View All".

In each subsequent round, BGA deals each World Power more cards. Typically, this is five cards, but this will vary, depending on other circumstances as the game progresses. Some World Powers will receive fewer than five cards but none will ever receive more than five.

Players take actions at the same time as described below. There is no turn taking. Work together to determine the best actions each of you should take. The three available actions are described below:

Start a Local Project

It is through local projects that you can effect some of the change required to win the game. You can either activate an existing project if you have the requisite tags (either with some of your own cards, or with cards shared with you by other players).

This action allows you to play a new card on top of a pre-existing card or card stack. The ability of the old card is no longer available, but its symbols (tags) remain visible and available to use (they count toward requisite tags needed to take an action). (You don't have to meet a card's requirements to play the card onto a stack, only use to its action.) During the game, players can strengthen their projects by adding/stacking cards on their projects.

Take a Local Action

At this point, you can choose to complete the action(s) on the top of one or more of your project cards - assuming you have the correct tags on that project stack that are required to complete the action. Some cards become stronger/more powerful the more of a particular symbol (tag) is in their stack, and some cards require certain symbols to be in the card's stack in order to use them.

You may take/use the top action on any stack as many times as you can, even coming back to it later, up to limits on the card. (The game will track this for you, using carbon cubes.)

Notes:

1) You can complete a project's action, then cover the project with a new one, and then complete the new project's action in the same round. This allows you to take several actions in one turn with the same stack. Additionally, you can discard a project card to reveal the card beneath it and - if allowed by the card's rules - complete this newly re-exposed card again.

2) Be on the lookout for cards you can share with others to support the success of their Local Projects.

3) Some project actions require you to discard. You may choose any card -- not just the top one in a project stack. If you do discard the top one, this allows the newly exposed card (and its effect) it to be used again (within the limits set forth on the card, if any).

HINT: Use the discard + draw project cards strategically to extend the round and allow you to generate more clean energy, capture carbon, provide resilience, etc.

Support a Project

You can tuck a card behind an existing project to contribute to its tags. This can be used on Local, Global, and/or Crisis cards. On Local cards, it may make the available action(s) stronger. On Global cards, it helps unlock the ability. On Crisis cards, it will reduce or cancel the effect.

End of Stage

This stage ends when all players agree that all actions that the group wants to complete have been done. As they determine whether or not it is time to end the round, players should be mindful of energy supply vs energy demands in each of the territories, the numbers of communities in crisis in each territory, the currently active crisis card, and the Global Project

Emissions Stage

Check energy demand and add emissions

First, if any player's Energy Demand is more than their Total Energy count (Clean + Dirty), they must take Community in Crisis Tokens equal to the difference (in BGA, this is automatically done).

Then, each player adds Carbon cubes to the Recent Emissions area equal to their Dirty Energy + Emissions. (This is unaffected by meeting or failing to meet your Energy Demand.) You must count all of your Dirty Energy tokens each round, even if you can meet your demand more efficiently with Clean Energy tokens. (BGA does this is automatically).

Sequester carbon

Remove Carbon cubes from the Recent Emissions area based on the value of Trees, Oceans, and Direct Air Capture (DAC) tokens on the central board (shown on the lower right side in BGA). (DAC tokens are added by certain cards and function exactly like Trees and Oceans in sequestering Carbon.) This is Carbon that was successfully sequestered and will not lead to rising temperatures.

Check for Drawdown

After you Sequester Carbon, if you have 0 Carbon cubes in the Recent Emissions area, and there is remaining unused value in your Trees, Oceans, and/or DAC tokens, you have reached an important milestone: Drawdown!

Continue sequestering Carbon onto the board, but instead of taking cubes from the Recent Emissions area, take them from the Thermometer, breaking Temperature Bands into Carbon cubes as needed. (Removing these cubes may help you survive the Crisis stage later this round.)

If you trigger Drawdown, you only need to survive one final Crisis stage to win!

If you did not trigger Drawdown, adjust temperature

If Drawdown did not trigger, BGA adds any remaining Carbon cubes to the thermometer.

Note each Thermometer space has room for 5 Carbon Cubes, stacked like a pyramid. When a row is completely filled (i.e. 5/10/15/20 Carbon Cubes) the cubes are wiped off and replaced with a Temperature Band. More temperature bands means more dice rolls, more hazards, and possibly stronger crisis effects. (If you complete a row that shows more Crisis cards, BGA will add a new face down Crisis card to be resolved.)

Crisis Stage

Planetary Effects

BGA will roll the Planetary Effects die once per temperature band, and resolve the die roll by adding a token to the corresponding row/effect (depicted on the die in the tabletop version). If this token "lands" on a tipping point (shown by a fulcrum in the board game) (or the row is already full), an additional hazard occurs for that effect:

• Change in Major Weather Systems: Draw 2 more Crisis Cards to reveal
• Desertification: Remove 1 tree per player
• Dieback of the Amazon: Add 1 Carbon Cube per player AND Remove 1 tree per player
• Loss of Arctic Sea Ice: Add 2 Carbon Cubes per player DIRECTLY to Thermometer
• Thawing Permafrost: Add 2 Carbon Cubes per player
• Ocean Acidification: Remove 1 Ocean per player

Crisis Cards

Deal with all Crisis cards in order (BGA does this). Examples of Crisis effects:

• All players must discard one card per temperature band (reduced by resilience)
• All players gain 1 community in crisis per temperature band (reduced by resilience)
• All players lose 1 social resilience
• The player with the most pink symbols must discard two cards with them
• Passive: Players may not remove dirty energy (tuck to remove this)
• Passive: No crisis cards may be revealed/forecast (tuck to remove this)

Resolving Crisis Effects

Resilience can be gained through individual local projects. Note each person reduces the crisis effect individually according to their own resilience. Resilience level is not used up when decreasing a crisis's effect.

If you need to lose a card, token, resilience, and don't have one, take a Community in Crisis token instead.

A player with 4 or more Community Crisis cards will be dealt one fewer Local Projects Card, and a player with 8 or more will be dealt 2 fewer Local Projects Cards.

When discarding a card from your play area, you may choose any card -- not just the top one in a project stack. If you do discard the top one, this allows the newly exposed card (and its effect) it to be used again (within the limits set forth on the card, if any).

Growth Stage

If you achieved Drawdown earlier and didn't lose during the Crisis stage, then you win!

If not, advance the round tracker (if this was round 6, you lose), Then advance your energy demand based on your society (U.S. & Europe +1, China +2, Majority World +3) (BGA will do this for you, but pay attention to it on your respective country/region scorekeeping areas!

HINT: Before moving on to the next round, scroll down to review the results of the crises and the planetary effects (on the right side of the screen). You need to know what your "trouble areas" are so that you can work to fix them in the next round. For example, are any of the planetary effects close to a Tipping Point (seesaw/fulcrum icon)? The Crisis Stage "resolution" happens very quickly on BGA and it is easy to miss all that has happened (this is a bit unfortunate, as taking stock of the effects of all of the actions is important for learning the dynamics of stopping/mitigating climate change).

End of Game

Everyone wins during Growth if you reached "Drawdown" and survived the Crisis stage.

Everyone loses if any of the following are reached:

• The Thermometer reaches 8 Bands
• Any country/region has 12 or more communities in crisis
• You haven't won at the end of the Crisis Stage in Round 6