Xenofera consists of 4 decks of cards, 5 sets of Battle cards, and 5 Player Turn cards.
The Hunstman deck
This deck contains the greatest huntsmen in the galaxy. Each player will have one huntsman who will represent them in the game.
Each Huntsman card lists the huntsman's name, their special ability, the number of build points they contribute, and the number of capture points they contribute.
A huntsman's special ability can be used at any time, as appropriate, for no cost. A huntsman may be used in the building of one cage or item or in the capturing of one creature each turn, but not both.
The Xenofera deck
This deck contains the various alien creatures that can be captured during the game.
Each Xenofera card lists the creature's common name, its scientific name, its size, its capture cost, its planet of origin, its value at the end of the game, and various other characteristics of the creature.
Each creature's value is based on it's appeal, not necessarily the difficulty in capturing it.
The Collection deck
This deck contains the special collections that will give bonus points if a player completes them, or cost points if they don't.
Each Collection card lists the collections name, it's completion requirements, it's success bonus, and it's failure cost.
There are two basic types of collections, planet based and characteristic based. The success bonus or failure cost of each collection is directly related to the number of creatures in the deck that can be used to complete the collection.
The Utilty deck
The Utilty deck contains the various cards that will be used to make up a player's hand. There are 6 basic types of cards in the deck: Crew Member, regular Action, Cage, Item, Reaction, and Immediate.
- CREW MEMBER CARDS
Crew members assist players in building cages and capturing creatures. There are two types of Crew Member cards: basic Crew Member and special Crew Member.
All Crew Member cards list the crew member's job title, the build points they contribute, the capture points they contribute, and the phase they can be played in. Special Crew Member cards also list the special ability that the crew member can do, usually in lieu of building or capturing.
Similar to huntsmen, crew members, can only be used in the building of one cage or item or the capturing of one creature, though some special abilities can affect this. Crew Member cards are considered Action cards and are played during a players Action phase.
- ITEM CARDS
Item cards help players defending their cages and creatures.
Each Item card lists the name of the item, what the item protects, the build cost of the item, and any other special conditions related to its use.
- REGULAR ACTION CARDS
Regular Action cards either provide assistance to a player during the game or allow them to sabotage another player.
Each regular Action card lists the name of the action, describes how the action works, and the phase the card can be played in.
A few examples of regular Action cards are:
Salvage - Search the Discard pile for any card and put it in your hand.
Steal - Take one creature from another player's cargo bay and put it in a cage in your cargo bay. Cage must be the correct size.
Mutiny - Play on any player, including yourself. They discard their leader card and randomly draw a new leader from the remaining available leaders.
- REACTION CARDS
Reaction cards offer another line of defense for players. They are played in response to an Action card played against another player and trigger a Battle between the two players.
Each Reaction card lists the name of the card, when the Reaction card can be played, and it effect. It also clearly labels it as a Reaction card.
- CAGE CARDS
Players must have cages before they can capture a creature. Cages come in 2 types, those capable of holding a single creature and those that can be used to hold either on larger creature or 2 smaller creatures.
Each Cage card lists the name of the cage, the build cost of the cage, the size of the creature or creatures the cage can hold, and the phase the card can be played in.
- IMMEDIATE CARDS
Immediate cards are played immediately when drawn. Currently there is only 1 type of Immediate card in the deck, Stampede. When this card is drawn all creatures currently available for capture are discarded and replaced with 5 new creatures. A new card is then drawn to replace the Immediate card.
Battle cards
There are 5 sets of Battle cards. Each set consists of 6 cards: one 3-point card, one 2-point card, 3 1-point cards, and a Decoy card worth zero points.
Player Turn cards
Each player receives one Player Turn card. The card outlines the phases of a player's turn on one site and has a legend for the various icons depicted on the Creature cards on the other side..
