How to Play

Introduction

Coral reefs are home to an amazing number of marine plant and animal species. But today, they are in danger because of climate change and human activity.

In EcoChains: Coral Futures, your goal is to build and keep a reef ecosystem healthy while facing these real-world environmental challenges. Manage your reef's plants and animals, respond to threats, and make conservation choices. Fulfill important ecosystem services to help the community and the environment, and try to become a Reef Champion!

An colorful underwater scene with many different kinds of coral and fish.

Goal

Your goal is to earn the highest score possible and become a Reef Champion.

To do this, you will need to build one or more healthy, diverse coral reef ecosystems. Your reef can then be used to fulfill ecosystem services. It can help people and nature by protecting shorelines from storms, supporting tourism, and providing homes for fish.

You will earn points based on the biodiversity (number of species) and health of the species in the ecosystem services you've completed.

A bunch of light grey fish with yellow horizontal stripes swimming underwater.

Parts of the game

The game board is divided into four main areas: the reef ecosystem, the environment bar, the dice, and the ecosystem services area.

Environment bar

The environment bar shows you information about your reef's foundation, and what protection and bleaching events are active. In the game, you can click on each of the three icons to learn more about them.

Reef ecosystem(s)

The ecosystem area is where you will place your cards to build your reef. In the game, you can click on the organisms in your reef to learn more about them. Depending on the difficulty you selected, you will manage either one ecosystem (beginner) or two ecosystems (advanced) at once.

Ecosystem services

This area shows the number of ecosystem services possible. When your reef meets the minimum requirements for an ecosystem service, you can assign the ecosystem to it. The game is complete once you've assigned all three ecosystem services.

Dice

Roll dice in the lower right to draw cards.

Seven cards, from left to right: The staghorn coral organism card, the sea urchin organism card, the cleaner shrimp organism card, the heat wave threat card, the moray eel organism card, and the reef restoration action card.

How to play

Roll the dice: Your roll determines the type of card(s) you draw.
Play a card: After drawing and choosing your card, play the card based on its card type.
Add ecosystem services: When one of your ecosystems has met the requirements, you can add it to one of the ecosystem services piles by clicking on that service.
Game complete: When you've added an ecosystem to all 3 ecosystem services or have run out of cards, the game is complete. You will see your total score and rank.

Dice

Below are the cards you will get based on the side of the dice you roll.

2 red sides: Threat card

1 green side: Action card

5 white sides: Choose a coral or grazer/predator card

4 crustose coralline algae (CCA) sides: Choose a coral, grazer/pedator, or CCA card

Card types

Below are the different types of cards that you will see in the game. During the game, you can click on any card to see more detailed information about it.

Organism cards

These expand your reef ecosystem. They can only be used if placement requirements are met.

If the requirements are not met, you lose the card and roll again.
You must place an organism if it can be added.
Tip: A diverse mix of organisms builds resilience and improves your final score.

THe Staghorn coral card as an example of organisms cards. There's an arrow pointing icons at the top labeled Weakness(es), and an arrow pointing to icons at the bottom labeled Requirement(s).

Threat cards

These represent real-world challenges, such as storms, heatwaves, overfishing, pollution, and disease.

Threat cards must be played immediately when drawn.
Local Threats (hurricanes, overfishing, or pollution) affect one random ecosystem.
Global Threats (ocean acidification, heat waves, severe heat waves, crown-of-thorns outbreaks, or coral disease) affect all ecosystems at once.
Note: In the beginner version, there is no distinction between local and global threats. Also, in the beginner game, only 3 of the 8 threat types are included.

The Heat wave card as an example of a threat card. There's an arrow pointing to an icon at the bottom labeled Effect(s).

Action cards

The action cards allow you to prevent or recover from threats. There are two local and one global actions.

Marine Protected Area and Reef Restoration are local actions. These affect one ecosystem of your choice.
Reducing CO₂ is a global action. It can protect or restore all ecosystems at once.
Note: In the beginner version you only have one ecosystem. So, there is no distinction between local and global actions.

The Reef Restoration card as an example of an action card. There's an arrow pointing icons at the bottom labeled Effect(s).

Special cards

These include unique organisms like crustose coralline algae (CCA) or heat-resistant corals that improve stability or aid recovery after a threat.

Some action cards will require you to make a decision (for example, choosing which reef to protect). When this happens, there will be extra on-screen prompts to help you.
If a card can't be played, you'll be prompted to roll again.

Ecosystem structure

Each ecosystem can hold the following:

Algae forming the base of the food web.
Up to 4 corals that build reef structure.
Up to 4 grazers that feed on algae.
Up to 4 predators or scavengers that feed on other animals.

Each organism has specific requirements that must be met to survive. For example, a grazer might require turf algae in its environment. A predator might require coral and a specific prey species in the ecosystem. Review the Icon reference table at the bottom of the page for more information on the icons and requirements you will see in the game.

Ecosystem services

At the beginning of the game, most or all of the ecosystem services will be locked. During the game, if one of your ecosystems fulfills the minimum requirements for an ecosystem service, it will become unlocked. When this happens, you can click that service to assign the ecosystem to it.

Once you assign an reef to an ecosystem service, the points for the species it contains are added to your score. After that, you can no longer change it. So, think carefully and make sure you're ready before you assign an ecosystem to an ecosystem service!

Tip: Sometimes, a good strategy is not to add an ecosystem to an ecosystem service right away once it becomes unlocked. You might want to add more species before you continue.

Storm protection

Healthy coral structure absorbs wave energy and helps block coastal flooding.

Any type of coral ×4

Tourism

Colorful, diverse reefs attract visitors. The money this brings helps support local economies.

At least 1 type 2 grazer

Fisheries

Reefs provide habitat for many fish and shellfish species that are important to local food webs.

At least 1 predator

Game complete

The game ends when one of the following conditions are met:

You have filled all three ecosystem services.
You have run out of organism cards.

Your final score is calculated based on your reef biodiversity (number of species) and health of the species in the ecosystem services area.

Scoring

Points are calculated as follows:

Healthy organisms

Each coral, grazer, predator, or scavenger

Bleached corals

Each bleached coral

−1

Type 1 predators

Each butterfly fish, moray eel, snapper

Type 2 predators

Each grouper, shark

Biodiversity bonus

4 different species in the same trophic level

+5 per set

Rank

At the end of the game, you will receive a final score. This determines your level of reef stewardship, showing how well you did.

0-30 points: Reef explorer
31-60 points: Reef friend
61-90 points: Reef protector
91+ points: Reef champion

Strategy tips

Focus on building diversity and adding many different species early. This will help protect your reef against future threats.
Use Action cards strategically to protect your reef before global threats occur.
Assign ecosystems to services only when they're strong enough to score well. If you assign them too early, you might miss out on points you could have earned. You can't make changes to the reef after you've assigned an ecosystem service.
Watch the environment by looking at the icons at the bottom of the ecosystem area. The environment will change throughout the game, which changes which organisms can survive in your reef.

Icon reference table

The guide below explains the symbols that appear on cards and environments in the game. Use it to better understand organism requirements, what might harm certain corals, and how global or local events can affect them.

Environment

Water

Clear water