Rewild: South America

Rewild: South America is a game entirely dedicated to the complex and fantastic ecosystem of South America.

The central theme of Rewild: South America is the flora and fauna of the South American ecoregions of the Caatinga, Gran Chaco, Cerrado, Pantanal, Amazon Rainforest, and Atlantic Forest. These six ecoregions and all their inhabitants have diverse interrelationships and dependencies. One of the main concerns of the game's author, Bruno Liguori Sia, who himself lives in Brazil, was to represent and convey this complex network in a game.

In terms of game mechanics, Rewild: South America is based on a simple principle. Each player takes turns playing a card and choosing one of the two actions depicted on it. After performing this action, the player can attract the animals and plants shown in their ecosystem. As soon as a player has 8 (or 9) animal cards face up in front of them, the end of the game is triggered.

However, don't be fooled by this essentially simple premise, as each game of Rewild: South America involves countless decisions and plays differently each time due to the enormous variety of cards. Players are faced with questions such as:

• How can I generate enough resources (water, minerals, seeds) to develop my ecosystem? Where should I place biomes so that their effects optimally promote the development of my ecosystem? Should I focus on a single biome or on several? Is it wise to improve my existing biomes?
• When should I retrieve all my action cards in my hand so that I have more options and resources available again? Should I do this once, twice, or even three times, and what are my opponents planning? Will I still have enough time to play all my cards in time for them to count towards the effects of my animal cards?
• Which animal and plant cards should I incorporate into my ecosystem to create an optimally connected ecosystem that generates as many victory points as possible? Are there any cards with immediate effects that would be interesting to trigger again? Should I keep an animal species until the end, or should I generate points immediately by turning it into prey for a predator?

The player who best answers all these questions and masters them in a game of Rewild: South America earns the most victory points and wins the game.

Includes all stretch goals unlocked during the Kickstarter campaign.