How to play
Everyone is on the same team, against the island. Claim the four treasures (Moon Pearl, Sun Feather, Ember Egg and Wind Shell), then meet on the Landing Pad and play a Lift card to escape.
On your turn take up to three actions, in any order: move to a tile beside yours (not diagonally), shore up a flooded tile beside or under you, give a treasure card to a duck on your tile, or claim a treasure by handing in four of its cards while standing on one of its two tiles (marked with its picture).
Then draw two treasure cards. A Rising Water card raises the water level, and every tile that has flooded so far goes back on top of the flood pile, so it will come up again soon. Last, turn over as many flood cards as the water level shows: a dry tile floods, and a flooded tile sinks for good. Anyone on a sinking tile swims to the nearest safe tile.
You can hold five cards; discard the rest. Lift (fly everyone on one tile anywhere) and Sandbags (shore up any tile) can be played at any time, by anyone, without using an action.
The ducks
Gull: flies to any tile once a turn. Beaver: shores up two tiles for one action. Heron: moves and shores up diagonally too. Otter: swims through flooded and sunken tiles. Pigeon: gives cards to anyone, anywhere.
Losing
The island wins if the Landing Pad sinks, both tiles of a treasure you haven’t claimed sink, a duck can’t swim to safety, or the water reaches the skull.
Tips
Keep the Landing Pad and the tiles of unclaimed treasures dry. Pick one duck to collect each treasure and pass cards to them early; a full hand means throwing cards away.