Description

You are a Storm Chaser in Tornado Alley. Get pictures of the twisters to earn money, upgrade, and expand your Storm Research Vehicle fleet. The player with the most money at the end of Tornado Season wins.

StormChasers takes place over 10 rounds or at the end of the round in which all tornadoes have dissipated, whichever comes first. Each round starts with the Tornado Phase, in which tornadoes are spawned and moved according to the Tornado Deck. Following the Tornado Phase is the Action Phase in which players spend action points to move vehicles and take pictures of tornadoes. Money is gained from taking pictures with the first pictures earning the most money, and further pictures earning successively less. Following the Action Phase is the Upgrade/Cleanup phase. Here you must balance end game money with upgrading to better protected and faster vehicles.

Gameplay occurs on a 20x20 hexagonal grid. The board is littered with many different type of "Landscape" tiles [house, barn, and field tiles] that inhibit movement, but also provide bonus points if a picture is captured during destruction. These tiles are placed randomly during setup. Road tiles are also included and provide bonuses to movement. Road tiles are placed either according to scenario rules or by each player in turn order.

The tornadoes are spawned and moved via the "Storm Deck" which is built during setup. The game's speed is dictated by the number of spawning cards, with the higher ratio equaling a faster game. Tornadoes dissipate randomly via dice and time track mechanic.

At the end of the game, players count only money on hand. The player with the most wins, ties are broken in favor of the player with the most pictures taken.