As you play Phoenix Farm, the cost of Gold becomes different for each player.
When players cradle an elder, gold cost drops for that player by x1 Phoenix Feather each time.
(This discount remains until the end of the game).
As a result, Gold cost dwindles from: 6, to 5, to 4, to 3, to 2, to 1. (gold cannot cost less than 1 feather).
When the game ends, each player earns a bonus point for each piece of gold they could afford with their remaining feathers at the end of the game (even if no gold remains).
So, in example, lets assume a player has:
x2 Cradled Phoenixes (Gold costs: x4 feathers now), and
8 feathers left at the end of game.
This player nets: +2 bonus points.
Here is an equation to help make sense of this:
[feather total] ÷ (6 – [gold cubes]) = Feather Bonus
• Note •
Games can end in a fractional score.