Hydrologic Cycle 2024

Hydrologic Cycle is a fast-paced, 1v1 or 2v2 player, area-control card game where players fight for control of the global water cycle. To win, players must use their knowledge and memorization skills to connect water cycle reservoirs and transport processes and end the game with more of their cards covering the game board.

Hydrologic Cycle uses simultaneous play to keep the game flowing (like water in the global water cycle!), which means players are drawing, playing, and discarding cards in real time as they attempt to match reservoirs and transport processes to claim areas of the board. Cards can be played on top of one another as play progresses, so who controls a particular location on the board will change rapidly during the game. A player can also play a card on the board more than once, so long as it is played with a directly connecting card.

The game ends immediately when every space on the board is covered with a card. The winner is determined by noting the player whose cards cover the top of the most spaces on the board.

For science educators and home schoolers, Hydrologic Cycle meets a number of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core Math standards for learning the global water cycle for grades 3-12 using the introductory side of the game board, while the advanced side of the game board is appropriate for use at the university level. A curriculum guide containing suggestions, lesson plans, optional rules, and other resources for using Hydrologic Cycle in your high school or college classroom can be purchased at the Central Michigan University Press website.