Overview

Daybreak is a cooperative game about stopping climate change. Each player takes the role of a World Power (China, Europe, United States, or Majority World) and must collectively reduce carbon emissions before global temperature rises too high or too many communities fall into crisis. Players play Local and Global Project cards to remove Dirty Energy and Emissions, add Clean Energy, and build Resilience. The game is won when players reach Drawdown — the moment they collectively remove more Carbon than they produce.

Components

• 1 Central Board with Thermometer, map, round tracker, and Global Project slots
• 4 Player Boards (one per World Power) with extenders
• Current Round token
• 6 Planetary Effects tokens
• 8 Temperature Bands
• Planetary Effects die and Geoengineering die
• Tree tokens, Ocean tokens, Direct Air Capture (DAC) tokens
• Carbon cubes
• Dirty Energy, Clean Energy, and Emissions tokens
• Resilience tokens (Social, Ecological, Infrastructure)
• Community in Crisis tokens
• Energy Demand tokens
• Active tokens
• Local Project card deck, Global Project card deck, Crisis card deck
• Challenge card deck (advanced variant)
• 4 sets of 5 starting Local Project cards (one set per World Power)
• Reference cards

Setup

1. Place Central Board. Put Current Round token on space 1 (clock side up).
2. Place 6 Planetary Effects tokens on starting locations.
3. Place Temperature Bands, Planetary Effects die, and Geoengineering die on Thermometer bulb.
4. Add Tree and Ocean tokens to the board per player count chart.
5. Shuffle Global Project, Crisis, and Local Project decks separately.
6. Do not use Challenge cards in first game.
7. Distribute player boards per player count: 4P = all; 3P = Majority World, Europe, US; 2P = China & US; 1P = any (see Reference card).
8. Each player gets their 5 starting Local Project cards placed faceup in Play Area above player board.
9. Set Energy Demand, Dirty Energy, Clean Energy, Emissions, Resilience, and Community in Crisis tokens per Reference card values.

Turn Structure

All players play simultaneously. Rounds have 5 stages:

1. Global Stage

• Add Crisis Cards: Draw Crisis cards equal to the number shown next to current Temperature Bands on the Thermometer (1 faceup as Forecast, rest facedown as Unknown).
• Start a Global Project: Draw 2 Global Project cards, collectively choose 1 to keep (place in a slot on central board), discard the other. Max 4 active Global Projects.

2. Local Stage

Players independently draw 5 Local Project cards to hand (public), then perform actions in any order:

• Take a Local Action: Use a card’s action in your Play Area. Actions use tags from all cards in that stack. May cost discarding cards from hand.
• Start a Local Project: Play a card from hand to the front of any stack in your Play Area (covering the previous front card’s action but stacking tags).
• Support: Tuck a card from hand behind a Local Project (adding tags), a Global Project (meeting its requirement), or a Crisis card (reducing its effects).

3. Emissions Stage

• Check Energy Demand: Total Dirty + Clean Energy must equal or exceed Demand. Shortfall adds Communities in Crisis.
• Add Emissions: Each player counts Dirty Energy + Emissions tokens; takes that many Carbon cubes to Recent Emissions.
• Sequester Carbon: Cover Tree, Ocean, and DAC tokens with Carbon cubes; return sequestered cubes to supply.
• Add to Thermometer: Remaining Carbon cubes go onto the Thermometer. When a row fills, add a Temperature Band (representing +0.1°C).

4. Crisis Stage

• Roll Planetary Effects: For each Temperature Band, roll the Planetary Effects die. Results may remove Trees/Oceans, add Carbon, or trigger other effects.
• Resolve Crisis Cards: Resolve all face-up Crisis cards. Crises can put Communities in Crisis, remove ecological tokens, or cause other negative effects.

5. Growth Stage

• Check for Victory: If total Carbon produced this round ≤ total sequestered, players reach Drawdown and win.
• Increase Energy Demand: Each player increases their Demand by 1.
• Advance Round marker.

Actions

Actions during the Local Stage are the main player decisions:

• Play in front: Add a card to the front of a stack, making its action available.
• Tuck behind: Support a card by adding tags to its stack.
• Discard: Pay costs for actions by discarding cards from hand.

Card actions typically: remove Dirty Energy/Emissions tokens, add Clean Energy tokens, gain Resilience tokens, or help other players.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Win Condition

Players win by achieving Drawdown: in the Emissions Stage, if total Carbon cubes produced this round (from all players combined) is less than or equal to the total sequestered by Trees, Oceans, and DAC tokens.

Lose Conditions (any one)

• Temperature: 8 Temperature Bands are placed on the Thermometer.
• Communities in Crisis: Any single player has 12 or more Communities in Crisis tokens.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Tags: Each card has 1-3 tags (Society, Ecology, Energy, Grid, Solar, Wind, Nuclear, Geoengineering, Innovation, Incentive, Regulation, Infrastructure). Tags in a stack power the front card’s action.
• Limit: Some actions can only be taken a limited number of times per round (indicated on the card). Use Carbon cubes as trackers.
• Energy Demand: Cannot go below 0. If Demand exceeds 30, use player board extenders.
• 4+ Communities in Crisis: Reduces the number of Local Project cards drawn each round.
• Geoengineering: Some cards use the Geoengineering die, which provides variable carbon sequestration.
• Challenge Cards (advanced variant): Add additional difficulty and objectives.
• Solo play: Remove cards marked with the “Not for Solo Play” symbol from all decks.
• Hands are public — players discuss strategy openly.
• Card QR codes link to real-world information about each technology/policy.

Player Reference

Round Stages:

1. Global (Crisis cards + Global Project)
2. Local (Draw 5 cards; play/tuck/discard)
3. Emissions (Check demand → Add emissions → Sequester → Thermometer)
4. Crisis (Planetary Effects → Resolve Crises)
5. Growth (Check Drawdown → Increase Demand)

Lose if: 8 Temperature Bands OR any player has 12+ Communities in Crisis Win if: Drawdown (emissions ≤ sequestration)

Starting Crisis Cards by Temperature Bands: | Bands | Crisis Cards | |——-|————-| | 0-1 | 3 | | 2-3 | 4 | | 4-5 | 5 | | 6-7 | 6 |