Overview

Pelican Cove (originally published as Uluru) is a real-time puzzle game where players simultaneously place 8 colored bird pawns on their personal boards to fulfill dream request cards. Each bird has a specific wish for where it wants to sit. Players race against a sand timer to satisfy as many requests as possible, earning penalty points for each unfulfilled dream. The player with the fewest penalty points after 6 rounds wins.

Components

• 5 player boards (each with 8 spaces arranged in a circle/pattern)
• 1 game board (double-sided for different variants)
• 1 sand timer
• 40 penalty point glass stones
• 80 request cards (8 at Level 1, 16 at Level 2, 24 at Level 3, 24 at Level 4, 8 at Level 5)
• 40 bird pawns (5 sets of 8 colors: black, white, yellow, orange, red, blue, green, pink)

Setup

1. Place the main board in the center.
2. Each player takes a player board and a set of 8 different colored birds.
3. Place the timer and penalty stones nearby.
4. Shuffle the 80 request cards and place face down as a deck (for first games, use only Levels 1-3).

Turn Structure

The game plays over 6 rounds, each with 4 steps:

1. Place Request Cards

A randomly chosen starting player draws 8 request cards and places one face up on each space of the main board. Each card shows the dream/requirement for the corresponding colored bird.

2. Place Birds (Real-Time)

The starting player flips the sand timer. ALL players simultaneously arrange their 8 bird pawns on their player boards, trying to fulfill each bird’s dream as shown on the request cards. When time runs out, no more birds may be placed. Any unplaced bird earns 1 penalty stone.

3. Evaluate

Check each bird’s request card from left to right. For each bird whose dream is NOT fulfilled on a player’s board, that player takes 1 penalty stone. (Maximum 1 stone per bird per round.)

4. New Round

Discard the request cards; draw 8 new ones.

Actions

The only action is placing bird pawns on your board during the timed phase.

Request Card Types

Level	Dream	Description
L1	Any position	Just be placed on the board
L2	Specific spaces	Be in one of the designated positions shown on the card
L3	Adjacent/Across	Be next to, across from, or share a corner with a specific colored bird
L4	Avoidance/Distance	Not be next to or across from a color; be at least 2 spaces away; copy another bird’s request
L5	Opposite	Fulfill the opposite of another bird’s request

Scoring / Victory Conditions

After 6 rounds, the player with the fewest penalty stones wins. Tied players share the victory.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• A neutral-colored pawn on a request card represents the color of the bird whose space that card occupies on the main board.
• “Opposite” requests (L5) reverse the meaning: opposite of “next to” = not next to; opposite of a specific space = any non-designated space.
• Players should not look at other players’ boards during the timed placement phase.
• Each bird can only incur 1 penalty maximum per round (if already penalized for not being placed, no additional penalty for unfulfilled dream).

Variants

1. Longer game: Include all cards and play 10 rounds.
2. Harder game: Remove Level 1 cards (play 9 rounds) or remove Level 1 and 2 cards (play 7 rounds).
3. Mixed skill levels: Use the 16-space board side; deal easy cards to one row and hard cards to another.
4. Double requests: Use 16-space board; assign 2 request cards per bird for advanced players.
5. Solo play: Compare your score against previous games.

Player Reference

Step	Action
1	Deal 8 request cards onto the main board
2	Flip timer; all players place birds simultaneously
3	Evaluate each bird; take penalty stones for failures
4	Discard cards; prepare next round

Win condition: Fewest penalty stones after 6 rounds.