Botany: War of the Posies
Botany: War of the Posies Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 29 Garden Feature cards
- 33 Expedition cards
- 60 Flower cards
- 32 Starter Flower cards
- 4 Head Gardener cards
- 4 Basic Tools cards
Objective
In War of the Posies, each player will cultivate their own unique deck of cards, starting from the same base decks, by adding cards they purchase during the game using the coins they gain by playing cards. They will also acquire Garden Features where they can plant Flowers to earn Reputation. During the game, you will always draw cards from your own personal deck, and discard them into your own personal discard pile. As soon as a player has completed 7 Reputation worth of Garden Features, the game will end and the player with the most points wins.
Setup
Create the decks: Separate the Market deck and the Garden Feature deck based on the two different designs on the backs of the cards. Separate the following piles of cards from the Market deck:
- Basic Flower cards (1 point value and a Flower symbol)
- Starter Flower cards (0 point value and a Flower symbol)
- Basic Tools cards
- Head Gardener cards
Starting decks: Each player receives the following cards to create their starting deck: 8 Starter Flower cards (2 of each color), 1 Basic Tools card, and 1 Head Gardener card. Each player shuffles their starting deck and places it face-down in their play area. Return all remaining Starter Flowers, Basic Tools, and Head Gardener cards to the box. Each player then draws 5 cards from the top of their deck to form their starting hand.
Market deck: Shuffle the rest of the Market deck and place it face-down in the center of the table within reach of all players. Reveal 5 cards from this deck in a row next to the Market deck to form the Market.
Garden Feature deck: Shuffle the Garden Feature deck and place it face-down above the Market deck. Reveal 4 cards from this deck in a row next to the Garden Feature deck.
Basic Flowers deck: Shuffle and place the Basic Flowers deck (created earlier) face-up at the end of the Garden Feature row.
The Compost Pile sits beside the table layout (face-down Market deck, 5 face-up Market cards, face-down Garden Feature deck, 4 face-up Garden Feature cards, face-up Basic Flower deck).
Playing the Game
First player: The player who last frolicked in a field of flowers goes first.
Turns: Starting with the first player, each player takes their turn in clockwise order.
On your turn: Each turn, you may play as many cards from your hand as you like, but you may only purchase 1 card from the Market or Garden Features and may only plant 1 Flower card unless cards you have played or planted cards that grant you additional purchases or plantings. You may play, purchase, and plant cards in any order until you have played all the cards in your hand and/or reached your purchase and planting limit.
Playing a card: To play a card, place it on the table in front of you and resolve the text written on the card.
Flower cards: A Flower card shows points, a Flower symbol, a Cultivate ability, a Plant ability, and a cost. If you play a Flower card instead of planting it, resolve the Cultivate ability (not the Plant ability). If you plant the Flower card, do not resolve the Cultivate ability. Resolve the Plant ability instead.
Example turn: Poppy plays the cards in her hand, giving her a total of 6 coins with 2 purchases. She purchases the Mignonette Flower card from the Market for 3 coins and the St. George's Fountain Garden Feature for 2 coins. The Flower card goes into her discard pile and the Garden Feature goes immediately into her play area. All cards from her hand now go into her discard pile to end her turn.
Planting a Flower Card
A card with a Flower symbol in the top-left corner may be planted in a Garden Feature that shows the same Flower symbol. Each Flower symbol on a Garden Feature can hold 1 Flower card with the matching symbol. A Flower cannot be planted in a Garden Feature if the matching symbol has already been used to plant a different Flower card there. You may plant 1 Flower card per turn, or more if a card has been played or planted that allows you to plant more than 1 Flower card that turn. To plant a Flower, choose one of your Garden Features with an available matching symbol and place the Flower card below that Garden Feature. Then perform any Plant ability on the Flower card.
Poisonous Flower cards: You may plant Poisonous Flower cards (Flower cards with negative point values) in an opponent's Garden Feature with an available matching Flower symbol. You still resolve the Plant ability when you do this. If your opponent's Garden Feature is completed because you planted a Poisonous Flower there, the opponent locks their Garden Feature as normal and gains the When Completed bonus during their next turn (see Completed Garden Features).
Planting example: Poppy decides she wants to plant a Flower card instead of playing it. She decides to plant her Strawflower into her Fountain which can hold that Flower. She resolves the Plant ability on the Flower and gains 5 Coins, gets to draw a card from her deck, and gains an additional plant action, so she could plant her unplayed Sunflower card this turn as well to complete her Garden Feature.
Composting
Some card abilities allow you to "compost" a card. Composting a card takes it out of play for the rest of the game. Do not put it in your discard pile---it goes into the Compost Pile instead. Cards in the Compost Pile cannot be used in any way (unless an ability specifically allows you to).
Completed Garden Features
A Garden Feature is considered "complete" if it has a matching Flower card planted under it for each symbol on that Garden Feature. When it is completed, all Flower cards planted there are "locked" for the rest of the game by sliding them underneath the Garden Feature. Then any When Completed ability on the Garden Feature card is resolved. Locked Flower cards award victory points at the end of the game and cannot be removed from the Garden Feature, unless an effect specifically allows it. Bonus victory points equal to the Reputation value of the completed Garden Feature are also awarded at the end of the game.
A Garden Feature card shows its required Flower types, its When Completed ability, and its Reputation value. In the example, a Garden Feature with 2 required Flower types says: "When completed, lock them under the Garden Feature card"; you can plant 0-value Basic Flowers in your Garden Feature.
Purchasing a Card
Many cards will add to your coin total for the turn when played or planted. You may purchase a Market card (including Basic Flowers) or a Garden Feature if your remaining coin total is greater than or equal to the cost found in the bottom-right corner of the card you wish to purchase and you have not reached your purchase limit for the turn. Subtract the cost of the purchased card from your current coin total to get your new coin total for the remainder of the turn.
You may purchase 1 card per turn unless a card that has been played or planted grants you the ability to purchase additional cards that turn. Your coin total does not carry over to your next turn, so any unspent coins are lost at the end of the turn. To purchase:
- A Garden Feature: Place the purchased Garden Feature face-up in your play area.
- All other cards: Place the purchased card in your discard pile unless otherwise stated. Cards purchased and then placed in the discard pile do not count as being played that turn.
End of Turn
At the end of your turn, place all the cards you played and all cards remaining in your hand in your discard pile next to your deck. Do not place your planted Flower cards or Garden Features in your discard pile. Draw 5 cards from the top of your deck to create your hand for your next turn. If at any time you need to draw a card but your deck is empty, shuffle your discard pile and place it face-down to form a new deck, then continue drawing.
Game End
The game ends when one player's completed (locked) Garden Features total at least 7 Reputation at the end of their turn. Each other player (not including the player who ended the game) gets one final turn.
(Illustrated example: one player's completed Garden Features total 7 Reputation; an opponent planted a negative Poisonous Flower; Garden Features can be planted with 0-value Starter Flowers.)
End of Game Scoring
After the last player has completed their final turn, each player totals their score by adding:
- Flower cards: The total point value of all Flower cards locked under their completed Garden Features. Flower cards in your deck or planted in Garden Features but NOT locked do not count toward your score.
- Expedition cards: The total point value of all Expedition cards (cards with a point value but not a flower symbol) in their deck.
- Garden Features: The total Reputation value of all completed Garden Features in their play area. Incomplete Garden Features do not count toward your point total.
Winning the game: The player with the most total points is declared the winner! If there is a tie, the tied player with the most planted Flower cards is the winner. If there is still a tie, the win is shared.
Scoring example: The total Flower card point value is 21, the total Expedition value is 6, and the Reputation value of completed Garden Features is 7. Total 21+6+7=34.