Gardens of Mars
Gardens of Mars Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Material
- A board representing a Martian garden (91 hexagonal spaces) and a scoring track.
- 60 flowers in 6 different colours (10 each)
- A carrying case.
- 6 black Martians in 3 types (2 each)
- 4 white Martians in 2 types (2 each)
- 6 dice
Game Setup
Place the board in the centre of the table. Place the dice next to it.
The player that lost the previous game, or the youngest one starts. The game is played in turns in anticlockwise order.
Each player in turn order chooses a type of Martian and takes the 2 Martians of that type (the colour of the Martian is not relevant). Then he places one of them next to space '1' of the scoring track (as if it were on space '0'). This is the 'scoring Martian'. Then he places the other one in any empty hexagon of the garden except the central one. This Martian is the 'gardener'.
Keep all the flowers in the carrying case. Now each player draws out of the bag at random a quantity of flowers according to this table:
| Players | Flowers drawn |
|---|---|
| 2 players | 30 flowers |
| 3 players | 20 flowers |
| 4 players | 15 flowers |
| 5 players | 12 flowers |
... and he places them in groups by colour before him, so that all the players can see them.
How to Play
Every player, on his turn, must do the following things in order:
-
If there are no available dice on the table, then count the number of spaces adjacent to his gardener that have no flowers in them, then he grabs that many dice from the case (The centre space counts as a space with no flowers for these purposes). Then, he must roll all those dice and set them before himself, on the table. If the gardener is completely surrounded by flowers, the player will not roll any dice (thus ending his turn). He's stuck until someone leaves dice for him to use.
Example: Player 'A' starts by rolling 6 dice, because his gardener is surrounded by 6 empty hexagons.
-
If there is at least one available die on the table — that is, if he's just rolled some dice or if there are some dice remaining from a previous roll — he will chose one of them and he will use it in the following way (In any of the below situations, if his scoring Martian would end up in a square occupied by another Martian, then it continues in the same direction to the next unoccupied scoring space.):
a. He will move his gardener a number of spaces equal to the die value, in any of the 6 directions (straight line, no turning). Restrictions:
i. The central space can't be occupied.
ii. The gardener cannot go through or onto a space already occupied by another gardener.
Example: Player A chooses the die '3' and moves his gardener 3 hexes.
b. If the gardener can't move, he will lose 1 point (move the scoring Martian 1 position backwards).
c. If the gardener ends its movement in a hexagon occupied by a flower, he will lose 1 point (move the scoring Martian 1 position backwards). Score can't go below zero.
d. If the gardener ends its movement in an empty hexagon (no flower), he will plant any one of his remaining flowers there. He will receive as many points as the number of flowers of the same colour as the one he's just planted that are connected to it, forming a group (move the scoring Martian forward as many squares as points).
Example: Player 'A' scores 4 points.
e. Finally, he will discard the die he's used by placing it inside the case. He will leave the rest of the dice (if any) on the table. The turn passes to the next player.
Finally he plants a red flower (not scoring this time because there are no adjacent red flowers) and discards the die he's used by placing it on the case.
Note: The dice will not be rolled again until all of them have been used.
Variant: Special Actions
Agree on this before the game starts.
If a player plants the last of his flowers of a given colour, he will receive an extra turn, but only if there is at least 1 unused die remaining.
Example: Alfred has 1 red flower, 1 green, 2 pink, 3 yellow and 5 blue. There are 3 available dice left. He moves his gardener and plants his last red flower (his last one), so he gets an extra turn using another die. Then he moves his gardener again and plants his last green flower. An extra turn again using another die. Finally he moves his gardener and plants a yellow flower. His turn ends.
If a player moves his scoring Martian to a space above 25 points that is occupied by another player's scoring Martian, he will get an extra turn, but only if there is at least 1 unused die remaining.
Example: Alfred plants a blue flower and scores 6 points. By moving his scoring Martian, he lands on square 36, which is occupied by another Martian. He gets an extra turn.
End of Game
The game ends when one of the players runs out of flowers or when none of the players can move or roll any dice (rare). The player with the highest score wins the game.
Optional Variant for 2 Players
In a 2 player game, each player can use 2 gardeners instead of one (one player should be white, while the other is black). You can choose which one to move.
Cooperative Variant (2-5 Players)
In this variant, the group score is the score of the lowest scoring martian. What is the highest score that you can achieve?