Overview

Parks is played over the course of 3 rounds called Seasons. Each Season, your two Hikers will make their way down the Trail, stopping at Trail Sites along the way, collecting Resources to visit Parks, taking Photos of the beautiful vistas, and encountering Wildlife (from a safe distance). Along the way, you’ll gain Gear and Canteens to improve your hiking experience. Once all Hikers reach Trail’s End, it’s time to set up for the next Season. At the end of the third Season, the hike (and the game) is over! Count up your points and see who enjoyed the parks the most.

Starting a Season

Trail Site Tiles

Shuffle the 8 Trail Site Tiles and randomly place them face up on top of each empty Trail Site.

Weather

Beginning with the 2nd Trail Site, place a Weather Token at each site, alternating between Sun and Water .

Shutterbug Token

Roll the Trail Die and place the Shutterbug underneath the matching Trail Site. Place the Shutterbug Badge off to the side of the board, within reach of all players

Taking turns

HIKING

To begin each Season , the player with the First Hiker Token moves one of their Hikers as far as they want down the Trail, stopping at a Trail Site and taking the Trail Site action. Then, each player in clockwise order moves one of their Hikers any number of spaces down the Trail, stopping at a Trail Site and taking a Trail Site action, which will include gaining Resources, taking Photos, visiting Parks, and more. Play continues around the table, with each player selecting one of their two Hikers and moving it down the Trail. There is no backtracking. Your Hikers must always move from left to right, towards the Trail’s End. Eventually, you’ll move your Hikers to Trail’s End, the last space on the Trail. Once a Hiker reaches Trail’s End, it stays there for the rest of the Season.

CAMPFIRES

Sometimes, you’ll want one of your Hikers to stop at a Trail Site occupied by another Hiker. To share a site with another Hiker (including your own), extinguish your Campfire, flipping it face-down near your Player Board.

TRAIL SITE ACTIONS

A big part of your journey will be spent visiting Trail Sites. Here are all the Trail Sites in Parks and the action you take at that site:

• Gain a Forest

• Gain a Mountain
• Gain 2 Sun
• Gain 2 Water

• [Yellow Die] Roll the Trail Die and gain the benefit

• [Shoe] Purchase Gear

• Take a Photo or Gain a Canteen

• Trade 1 Resource for a Wildlife

• [Parks] Reserve a Park or visit many Parks

Wildlife

Wildlife are wild, appearing all over the game! They can be used in place of any other Resource to visit Parks, purchase Gear, and take Photos. Note: they cannot be used to fill a Canteen

Parks

Visiting Parks is what we’re here for, and it’s the best way to earn points in the game. Whenever you encounter the icon in the middle of the Trail or at Trail’s End, you can either reserve a Park, or visit one or more Parks. Whenever reserving or visiting Parks, replace cards in the display after your turn has completely ended.

• Reserve A Park: Choose 1 Park Card from the display or draw the top Park Card from the deck and add it to the Reserved Parks area on the left side of your Player Board. Parks you reserve are available for you to visit with a future Parks action. Only you can visit Parks in your Reserve.

• Visit Parks: You can visit as many Parks as you’d like and are able to from the Parks Display and your personal Reserve. To visit Parks, trade Resources from your Backpack matching the Resource requirement on the Park Card and place the Park Card in your visited Parks area on the right side of your Player Board. Resources you spend are returned to the Resource Trays. Once you are done visiting Parks for your turn, slide Park Cards in the display to the right to fill the gap. Then refill on the left with cards drawn from the Park Deck.

• Instant Action Parks: Parks with a symbol have instant actions or benefits, which you’ll immediately gain when you visit the Park. These benefits include gaining Resources, a Canteen, the Shutterbug Badge, or rolling the Trail Die.

PHOTOS

Photos are another great way to earn points. To take a Photo , trade one Resource from your Backpack for a Photo Token in the Resource Tray—worth 1 point each—that you’ll place above your Player Board. When one of your Hikers lands on the Trail Site with the Shutterbug , gain the Shutterbug Badge in addition to the other benefits of that site. If it has already been gained by another player, take it from them. Leave the Shutterbug on the Trail for others to encounter all Season long.

• The Shutterbug Badge: If you take a Photo while you have the Shutterbug Badge, once per turn, you may spend an additional Resource to take a second Photo.

• The player with the most Photos at the end of the game earns the Photo Bonus

CANTEENS

• Gaining a Canteen: It gets hot out there on the Trail, and filling your Canteen will give you lots of benefits in addition to keeping you hydrated. You have three Canteen rows on your Player Board, each of which can hold two Canteen Tokens with space for Water between them. When you gain a Canteen, choose one of the three available Canteen Tokens in the display or take the top token from the Canteen stack and place it in any empty space in the Canteen area on your Player Board. If you took one from the display, draw a token to replace it.
• Using a Canteen: Whenever you gain a Water Token, you choose whether you want to add it to your Backpack or place it in a Canteen to gain the benefits from the tokens in that row. Water in your Backpack cannot be used later to fill a Canteen. Each row may be activated with Water once per Season. You can activate a Canteen row with only one token in it. If you add a Canteen to a row after it has Water in it, you do not gain the benefit that Season.

GEAR CARDS

If you want to go the distance, you’re going to need a good pair of boots. Having Gear packed in your bag will set you up for greater rewards when you visit Trail Sites and take other actions in the game. Grab Gear as early as you can to enjoy its benefits during your hike.

Purchasing Gear

When you purchase Gear, you may buy one Gear Card. Choose one of the two ways to purchase Gear:

• Spend Sun equal to a Gear Card’s cost in the Gear Market (in the upper right). Then place the purchased Gear below the Gear area of your Player Board.
• Spend 2 Sun to draw the top card of the Gear Deck and place it below the Gear area of your Player Board.

If you purchased a card from the Gear Market on your turn, slide the remaining Gear to the right, and refill on the left by drawing cards from the Gear Deck.

Using Gear

• Gear you buy is ready to use immediately. Gear may activate when you visit a Trail Site or when you take a specific action. Gear is active while hiking and between Seasons.
• It is possible to gain the benefit of multiple Gear on your turn. Gear benefits may be gained in any order after you take your Trail Site action.

Gear benefits may be gained only one time per turn.

ROLLING THE TRAIL DIE

Life on the Trail can sometimes be unpredictable—you never know what Mother Nature is going to throw your way. When you land on the Trail Site or encounter on a Park, Gear, or Passion Card, roll the Trail Die and gain the benefit

[1 Forest], [1 Mountain], [2 Sun], [2 Water], [1 Wildlife], [Gain a Canteen]

PASSION CARDS

You love the great outdoors, but that’s not the only reason you’re on the trail. Explore your Passion to enjoy the Parks in new and unique ways. Each Passion Card has an objective on one side. Start with the objective face up. You will complete the objective on your turn by taking specific actions. As soon as you complete your Passion’s requirement, flip it over and choose either:

→ Gear Effect will give you a unique Gear ability for the rest of the game

→ End Game Bonus will give you a unique scoring bonus at the end of the game.

Indicate your chosen bonus by tucking your Passion Card under your Player Board so that only the chosen bonus is visible.

It is possible that completing your Passion in the middle of your turn will earn you a benefit for another action in the same turn.

Trail End

When you move a Hiker to the Trail End, choose one of the three areas to place your Hiker: (any number of Hikers can be on each area). You do not relight your campfire when your first hiker reaches the end.

Take a Parks Action

• Reserve a park
• Visit Parks
• The first player who uses this space each season takes the First Hiker Token

Take a Photo

The first player who uses this space each season gains a Wildlife. The player with the Shutterbug Token may do this action twice.

Buy Gear

The first player who uses this space each season gains a Sun.

End of a Season

Once a player’s two Hikers reach the Trail End, they will no longer take turns for the Season. When only one Hiker is left on the Trail, the player must move the Hiker to the Trail End on their next turn and choose an action there. Then, it is the end of the Season.

At the end of a Season:

1. Season Scoring: Award the Season Bonus. Then, if it’s the end of Spring or Summer, flip over the Season Tile.
2. Player Steps: Empty your Canteens by discarding all Water from your Canteens back to the Resource Tray. Relight your Campfire if it’s been extinguished, flipping it face up. Return all Hikers to the Trailhead.
3. Trail Steps: Reshuffle the Trail Sites and randomly place them back out on the Trail face up. Add new Weather to the Trail, beginning at the 2nd Trail Site, alternating Sun and Water on each site. Roll the Trail Die and place the Shutterbug under the corresponding Trail Site. Discard the rightmost Gear Card from the Gear Market back to the box. Slide the remaining Gear Cards 1 spot to the right and draw a new Gear Card.

At the end of the game:

After the 3rd Season, It’s time to reflect on the peaks and valleys:

1. Award the Season Bonus Determine who earned the Fall Season Bonus and award them the points. In the case of a tie, all tied players receive the points.
2. Score Visited Parks Total the points across all your visited Parks.
3. Score Photos The player who took the most Photos gets the Photo Bonus, scoring:
   1. 3 points in a 2-player game
   2. 4 points in a 3–5-player game, with 2 points for the player with the 2nd-most Photos
   3. Then, all players score 1 point per Photo
4. Score Passion Cards If you chose the End Game Bonus on your Passion Card, score those points now.
5. First Hiker Token The player with the First Hiker Token gains 1 point.

WINNER and Tie Breakers

The player with the most points wins! In the case of a tie, the tied player who visited the most Parks wins. If still tied, the tied players share the victory.

FAQ

Error Messages

Why isn't my campfire lit in the first season?

Your campfire does not start the game lit with certain player counts.