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In Tideward, players hatch eggs and guide baby green sea turtles on their journey from the sand to the open water and out to the safety of the Algal Mat. Each player has their own beach of unhatched eggs and wooden turtle tokens to represent hatched turtles. They also receive a secret Tide Quest card specific to the Algal Mat in play.
On your turn you can hatch eggs, move turtles, and fuel up on food. Spend food tokens to hatch eggs or boost your turtle’s movement further. If your turtle ends their movement on a food token space, add a food token to your storage. Be sure to avoid the ghost crabs waiting at the shoreline; if you end your turn with a turtle on a ghost crab space, that turtle perishes and is worth -1 point at the end of the game.
At the end of each round, two events occur: 1) all hatched turtles on the beaches move forward one space and 2) the circular tide board that surrounds the Algal Mat rotates 90° clockwise. Any turtles on the tide board move with the rotating tide. You can use the rotating tide board to reach further spots on the Algal Mat.
When one player gets all their hatchlings to the water, the game ends! If needed, continue the current round until everyone has had an equal number of turns. Players score points from their secret objective Tide Quest cards and from how they’ve arranged their turtles on the Algal Mat. There are four different Algal Mats, and each Algal Mat scores differently and comes with its own Tide Quest cards. The player with the most points wins.