Botanik
Botanik Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Particularity
In Botanik, it is impossible to directly take a tile that interests you. A tile is always recovered in two steps: you must first place it on your side of the Registry, then arrange for it to be freed by another tile... that's the whole point of the game!
Components
- 1 Meca pawn
- 1 Registry showing 5 "columns" (with a distinctive back)
- 67 tiles
The tiles are distributed as follows:
- 2 Source tiles, with distinctive backs
- 65 tiles, split across 5 colors
A symbol is associated with each color to make reading easier.
In each color, there are 7 types of tiles:
- 3x Gear tile (a pipe run topped with a small cog)
- 3x Loop tile (a curved, looping pipe topped with a wheel)
- 3x Covered-cross tile (a four-way pipe junction with a cog/vine covering its center)
- 1x Open-cross tile (a fully open four-way pipe junction)
- 1 Plant tile
- 1 Vegetable tile
- 1 Meca-Botanist tile
Some tiles feature 1 or 3 Flowers, which can earn points at the end of the game.
Setup
- Place the Registry open between the two players.
- Put the Meca pawn beside the Registry.
- Each player takes a Source tile and places it face up in front of themselves.
- Shuffle the remaining tiles and form several face-down draw piles.
- Reveal 5 tiles at random and place them on the 5 central spaces of the Registry. This starts 5 separate central stacks of tiles.
- Choose the first player however you like. They place the Meca pawn on their side, and the game can begin.
Game Phases
A game is made up of a succession of phases, all of which play out the same way:
- The player who has the Meca pawn draws 3 tiles at random and places them face up in the arrival zone.
- Taking turns, starting with the player who has the Meca pawn, each player chooses 1 tile and places it on the Registry.
- Once the 3 tiles have been placed, the Meca pawn passes to the opponent.
- A new phase begins.
Note: since there are 3 tiles, the player who has the Meca pawn at the start of the phase places 2 of them, and their opponent places 1. However, this evens out from the next phase onward, since the roles are then reversed.
Playing a Tile
On your turn, you must take one of the remaining tiles from the arrival zone and place it on the Registry. You may place it, as you choose, either on your side or on a central stack. After that, it is your opponent's turn to play.
On Your Side
There are two conditions that must be met to place a tile on your side of the Registry:
- The space must be free;
- The tile you place must have a link with the central tile of that column — that is, it must be the same color or the same type. Note: the small symbol serves as a reminder.
Attention: Plant and Vegetable tiles are of different types.
Remarks:
- It is also permitted to place a tile on your side that is perfectly identical to the central tile of the same column (same type + same color).
- It can happen that no tile is playable on your side (no possible link, or no free space). In that case, you may only place it on a central stack.
Example: Suppose only tiles A and B remain in the arrival zone, facing a row of central tiles across spaces 1, 2, and 3.
- You may place tile A on space 1, because the central tile is the same type.
- You may also place it on space 2, because the central tile is the same color.
- Space 3 is forbidden, because the central tile is neither the same type nor the same color.
- You may place tile B on space 2 (same type).
- You may not place it on space 1 or space 3 (neither the same type nor the same color).
On a Central Stack
Place the chosen tile on any central stack — there is no restriction.
Check whether any tiles present in that column (on your side and on your opponent's side) still have a link with the newly placed tile. Any tile that no longer has a link is immediately freed.
It is possible to free 0, 1, or 2 tiles with a single move.
Example: In each of the following cases, you place a yellow tile in the center of a column.
- You free your blue tile.
- You free your opponent's blue tile.
- You free only your tile (the red one remains linked by type).
- You free both tiles.
- Nothing happens.
- You free no tile.
Expanding Your Machine
When a tile is freed on your side (during your turn or your opponent's), you must immediately incorporate it into your machine, following these 3 rules:
- A tile must always be adjacent to at least 1 other tile.
- A pipe can never end its run against a side of a tile that does not also show a pipe.
- Your machine's network must never be completely closed off.
Remarks:
- Contact by corners only is not enough to count as adjacency.
- The first tile you free on your side is necessarily adjacent to your Source tile.
- You cannot refuse to place a tile that would not suit you.
- In the very rare case where it would be impossible to place the tile in your machine (even in an unlikely spot), remove it from the game.
Meca-Botanist Tiles
If you place a Meca-Botanist on a central stack, the rule does not change.
However, if a Meca-Botanist is freed on your side, it is very different: you must then immediately exchange it for a tile from the top of a central stack of your choice.
Remarks:
- This effect applies only when the Meca-Botanist is freed and you recover it, never at the moment you place it on the Registry.
- Sometimes the exchange frees another tile (on your side and/or your opponent's). You may therefore end up recovering up to 2 tiles to expand your machine (in the order of your choice).
- If your opponent recovers a Meca-Botanist during your turn, finish your play before they carry out their exchange.
- It is permitted to exchange a Meca-Botanist for the central tile that just freed it.
- You may never exchange a Meca-Botanist for another Meca-Botanist.
End of Game and Scoring
The game stops as soon as a player has taken and placed the last tile of the last arrival. Finish the turn normally, after which you may move on to the count.
Scoring
A) Remove from the game all tiles not connected to the pipe network leading to your Source.
B) Score 1 victory point (VP) for each tile that is part of a group made up of at least 3 adjacent tiles of the same color.
C) Each Flower is worth 1 VP.
Attention: the Flowers on Plant and Vegetable tiles are counted only if the tile is connected via a pipe to a tile of the same color.
Scoring Example
A) One yellow tile and a group of three red tiles are removed from the game, because they are not connected to the network leading to the Source. — 0 VP
B) A yellow group and a green group are worth 4 VP and 3 VP respectively. — 7 VP
C) The Flowers on these tiles each earn 1 VP. — 7 VP
Note: the Flowers on the green Plant tile earn nothing, because that tile is not connected via a pipe to a green tile.
Total: 14 VP
The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most tiles in their machine wins. In case of a further tie, play again!
Credits
Game design: Sébastien Pauchon, Grégoire Largey, Frank Crittin.
Illustrations: Franck Dion — director and illustrator, Franck Dion collaborates with publishing houses and magazines, creates sets for theater, and designs animations for documentaries. Starting in 2003, he directed animated short films including the well-noted Monsieur COK, Edmond était un âne, and Une tête disparaît, which received the Cristal for Best Short Film at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in 2016.
Botanik is published by JD Éditions - SPACE Cowboys, 47 rue de l'Est, 92100 Boulogne-Billancourt, France. © 2021 SPACE Cowboys. All rights reserved.