VOLCANIC
DISASTER
Ages 8 and up
2 to 5 players
TM
The Eruption Prediction Game
Volcanic eruptions have wreaked havoc
throughout history. Thanks to the work of
generations of scientists, the behavior and
hazards of volcanoes are now better understood
and warning systems are much improved. Many
countries have Volcano Observatories, whose
purpose is identifying the precursors to an impending
eruption and warning the public. But volcanoes are
tricky and the unexpected can always happen, sometimes
leading to disasters despite best efforts. In this game, you
head a Volcano Observatory that is racing to predict the next
big eruption and save as many lives as possible. Good luck!
CONTENTS
122 Cards
42 Volcano Cards:
34 Volcanoes, orange
6 Disasters, red
2 Reference Cards (set aside - for information only)
80 Observatory Cards:
43 Monitoring, green – 32 Precursors, 1 Wild Card
– 10 False Alarms
23 Action, blue
RULES OF PLAY
OBJECT:
To be the player with the most points (lives saved) when the game ends.
SETUP:
A. Sort the cards into two decks, identified on their backs as Volcano cards and Observatory cards, and shuffle
each deck thoroughly. Place the Volcano deck face down to one side.
B. Deal each player seven cards from the Observatory deck and place the deck face down in the center as the
draw pile. Played and discarded cards will sit face up in a discard pile next to the draw pile. Players should
look at their cards. Check the bottom of all green Monitoring cards so you can tell a true Precursor from a
False Alarm.
BASIC GAME PLAY:
A. The player to the left of the dealer begins by laying one or more cards face up on the discard pile. There are
four ways to play your card(s) on each turn:
1. PREDICT AN ERUPTION. Lay down three Monitoring-Precursor cards and take a Volcano card. This is
how you gain–and lose–points (see box below).
2. ADD A HAZARD CARD to a Volcano card (see box below).
3. PLAY AN ACTION CARD. Most of these will be played against another player–any player. Follow the
instructions on the card (see box on reverse).
4. DISCARD one card if you can’t do any of the above. This is one way to get rid of Monitoring-False
Alarms.
B. Draw enough cards from the Observatory deck to bring your hand back to 7 cards. If you took a card from an
opponent, she will need to draw a new card. If both players need to draw, the one who played first should
draw first.
At the end of every turn, all players should have seven cards.
C. Play continues to the left (clockwise). If the draw pile runs out, reshuffle the discard pile and start a new draw
pile.
1. PREDICT AN ERUPTION
(Earn Points)
When you have collected three green Monitoring-Precursor cards, each from a different
category, you lay them on the discard pile and predict an eruption. Categories: Earthquakes, Geology, Ground Deformation, Volcanic Gases. There is one WILD CARD that
can substitute for any category Precursor. Watch out for False Alarms: if you’re caught
trying to predict an eruption with one you forfeit your turn! Take back your cards; don’t draw
any new ones.
Next, state “I’m predicting the eruption of...” and draw a Volcano card, say its name, and
lay it face up in front of you. If you have drawn a Disaster card, your turn ends. If you have
drawn a Volcano, look at the bottom of the card for its associated “Hazards.” If you have any
matching yellow Hazard cards in your hand, lay
Points
them on the Volcano card for extra points.
St. Helens
Washington, USA
2
Type: Stratovolcano
Eruption: Plinian
Last Major Eruption: 1980
HAZARDS: Pyroclastic Flows,
Ashfall, Lahars
HAZARD
2
Pyroclastic Flows
Fast-moving (50 to 100 mph),
superheated flows of gas, ash and
rocks from collapsing ash columns.
Evacuate ... NOW !
2. ADD A HAZARD CARD
You may add as many
Hazard cards to your
Volcano card as there are
hazards listed on the card,
but no duplicates are
allowed.
MONITORING
Geology
Mt. Ambae, Vanuatu
MONITORING
Ground Deformation
MONITORING
MAP
HAZARDS
Volcanic
Gases
nature
the timing,
Establishes
and extent of past eruptions.
ORING
MONIT
es
INFLATION
PRECURSOR
hquak
Magma’s moving up, making
the volcano swell. Be ready!
Eart
PRECURSOR
SO
Increasing
2
Sulfur dioxide gas typically
increases before and during
an eruption. Be ready!
m
is
Telese
e, but
a larg
from rthquake.
Signal
tant ea
is
d
very
PRECURSOR
ALARM
FALSE
(Earn Points)
If you draw a Hazard card later in the game that matches with one of your Volcano cards, on another turn you may lay
it on and get the extra point(s). This counts as your turn. Add only one Hazard per turn.
3. PLAY AN ACTION CARD
STEALING A VOLCANO
Several of the Action cards allow you to steal another player’s Volcano card. If the
other player can immediately play a blocking card (the Medals) by laying it on the
discard pile, nothing happens. If the other player has no blocking card, you choose
which Volcano to take. Any associated Hazard cards stay with the Volcano and
come to you. You must wait until another turn to add any new Hazards.
ACTION
s
Eruption die
off suddenly
r player put
Make anothe
CANO card
back one VOL
LOSING A VOLCANO
ACTIO
!
-over
Taked of Volcano
kes
Hea
ry ta
New
rvato
Obse
credit
rd
NO ca
OLCA
r
one V
playe
STEAL another
from
There is one “Eruption dies off” card which you play to make another
player lose one Volcano card, returning it to the bottom of the Volcano
card pile. There is no blocking this card. The other player gets to
choose which Volcano is discarded. Any associated Hazard cards go
to the discard pile. Disaster cards are never put back, but can be
shifted to another player by a Weasel card.
DRAW UP TO 2 CARDS
ACT
N
Pres
M
ION
iden
tial
eda
For
l
serv contrib
ice t
u
o yo tions in
ur c
oun
BLO
CKS
try
VOL theft o
CAN
O ca f a
rd
ACTION
Weasel card
Shi
ft the blame
to someon
e else
Pass DISAS
TER card to
another pla
yer
Several Action cards allow you to draw up to two cards. When you play this card, you may then immediately draw a card and
decide whether to keep it or discard it. If you keep it, your turn ends. If you discard it, you may draw another card and keep it.
TAKE ONE MONITORING CARD
If you play one of these cards, choose a player who must give you one of his Monitoring cards. Some of these cards are
category-specific (Geology, Earthquake, Deformation, Gases). If the card is not specific, you choose the category. But beware,
the other player may give you a False Alarm. He will then need to draw a card. If the other player has no monitoring card from
the right category, you simply draw a card and your turn ends.
WINNING
When one player has successfully predicted five eruptions (that is, collected five Volcano cards, not including Disaster cards),
play stops and each player counts up the total number of points in their Volcano collection. When counting points, include
Volcano, Disaster, and Hazard cards. The player with the most points wins.
If time is limited, you may wish to end the game when one player collects four cards or after a set amount of time (we recommend at least 20 minutes). Alternately, play two or more games and add up points from all games to find the ultimate winner an honorary Volcanologist.
SIMPLIFIED PLAY
For faster learning time - good for beginners, younger players, and classroom use - remove the blue ACTION
cards from the Observatory deck and deal only six cards per player. Then follow the instructions for basic game
play, but there will be only three options for play: predicting eruptions, matching hazards, or discarding a card.
Each player should have six cards at the end of every turn.
Play is faster and easier, so the draw pile will run out more quickly. Simply reshuffle the discard pile. When one
player has collected five Volcano cards, each remaining player gets one more turn, then the game ends. The player
with the most points wins. Alternative ways to end the game are described above under “Winning.”
For more information on volcanoes and definitions of terms used,
see our website: www.volcanicdisastergame.com
ABOUT THE GAME
While “Volcanic Disaster” is primarily a game of strategy and luck, our goal in producing this game is to introduce
you to a sampling of the world’s volcanoes and their various hazards, and to give you a sense of what it takes to
successfully forecast volcanic eruptions and save lives. It isn’t as straightforward as you’d think.
The points assigned to each volcano basically rank how deadly this volcano has been in the past, or how deadly it
could potentially be given its history and the number of people living near it. The higher the number, the more
dangerous the volcano. Past eruptions with death tolls higher than 1000 are listed in bold on the cards. Some of the
world’s most active volcanoes rank at the low end either because of their style of eruption (Mauna Loa and Etna
mostly put out lava flows, less dangerous to human life than pyroclastic flows, for example) or because not many
people live nearby (Augustine, Ruapehu). Several volcanoes got high points even though they shouldn’t erupt
anytime soon, because if they did, the results could be catastrophic (Yellowstone, Crater Lake).
Volcano Video Productions
Game by: Drs. Cheryl Gansecki & Ken Hon
PO Box 5150, Hilo, HI 96720
With help from Emma & Mara Hon & friends,
Tel & Fax: 808-959-3885
plus colleagues from the Univ. of Hawaii-Hilo and
E-mail: [email protected]
the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
©2010 Volcano Video Productions. All worldwide rights reserved.
www.volcanicdisastergame.com
Thanks to all the wonderful people who donated their volcano photos!
Volcano Photos: Arenal: Eliecer Duarte, OVSICORI-UNA; Augustine: Game McGimsey, AVO-USGS; Crater Lake: Willie Scott,
USGS; El Chichón: Martin Jutzeler; Cotopaxi: public domain; Etna: NASA; Fuji: Alexander Mirochnik; Galunggung: R. Hadian,
USGS; Kilauea: USGS; Klyuchevskoy: Yuri V. Demyanchuk, Inst. of Volcanology & Seismology FED RAS; Krakatau: Volc. Surv.
Indonesia; Laki/Grimsvötn: Freysteinn Sigmundsson, Nordic Volcanological Center; Lassen: Russell Virgilio, NPS; Mauna Loa:
NASA/NOAA; Mayon: Chris Newhall, USGS; Misti: Anthony Finizola; Nevado del Ruiz: USGS; Nyiragongo: J.P. Lockwood; Pelèe:
Lee Siebert, Smithsonian; Pinatubo: Dave Harlow, USGS; Piton de la Fournaise: Paul-Edouard Bernard de la Jartre; Popocatépetl:
Matthew Bennett, Bournemouth Univ.; Rabaul: USGS; Rainer: Lyn Topinka, USGS; Ruapehu: New Zealand GeoNet project and
sponsors EQC, GNS Science and LINZ; Santa Maria: John Lyons, MTU; Soufrière Hills: David Lea; St. Helens: Robert Krimmel,
USGS; Stromboli: Bernard Chouet, USGS; Taal: H. Gaudru, SVE Geneva; Tambora: NASA; Unzen: Setsuya Nakada; Vesuvius: Jeff
Matthews; Yellowstone: LANDSAT image, NASA; Yellowstone geyser: Jim Peaco, NPS; Volcano Card Back: Sarychev: ISS
Expedition 20 crew/NASA
Hazard Photos: Lahar: Ruapehu, Horizons Regional Council, NZ; Ashfall: Rabaul, USGS; Ashfall (airplane): Pinatubo, R.L. Rieger,
USN; Pyroclastic Flow: St. Helens, P.W. Lipman, USGS; Pyroclastic Flow: Soufrière Hills, Monserrat, Anthony Finizola; Lava
Flows: Kilauea, J.Griggs, USGS; Lava Flows: Kilauea, J. Judd, USGS; Starvation: Pelèe, J.C. Wilson; Tsunami: Katsushika Hokusai;
Lava Dome: Novarupta, CG Reyes, USGS; Lava Domes: Santiaguito, R.W. Sanderson; Observatory Card Back: Monitoring Mt.
Augustine: T.A. Plucinski, AVO-USGS
Box Cover Photos: Redoubt (top photo): R. Clucas, USGS; St. Helens (background): R. Kimmel, USGS; Kilauea: J. Griggs, USGS;
Rainier: L. Topinka, USGS; Bromo & Semeru: Roger Olivier; Yellowstone geyser: George Marler, NPS; All monitoring photos:
USGS.
Hazard Maps: Rainer, Lassen, Kilauea & Mauna Loa: all USGS; Ambae, Vanuatu: the UN OCHA-ROAP Inform. Management
Unit; Merapi: Geol. Survey of Indonesia; Kilauea (Infrared): HVO-USGS; Popocatépetl: Mike Sheridan, SUNY-Buffalo & Nat.
Univ. of Mexico (UNAM); Ubinas, Peru: INGEMMET, Peru. Volcanic Gas: Augustine: monitoring, MC. Coombs, by sea (2 photos),
C. Read, both AVO-USGS; Kilauea: Pu`u `O`o, J. Kauahikaua, summit, T. Orr, both HVO-USGS; Gas monitoring, Mageik, Alaska:
USGS. Deformation Radar Images: Three Sisters & Yellowstone, C. Wicks; Mauna Loa, M. Poland; Mt. Peulik, Z. Lu; all USGS,
with data from the European Space Agency.