Gloomies Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Setup
• Overview
• Phase 1: Growing
  • A turn in detail
    • 1. Playing cards and growing flowers
    • 2. Receiving a bonus
    • 3. Drawing cards
  • End of stage 1
• Setting up stage 2
• Stage 2: Harvesting
  • A turn in detail
    • 1. Play cards and harvest flowers
    • 2. Receiving a bonus
    • 3. Draw cards
  • End of phase 2
• End of Game

Game Components

1. A board consisting of the game box with insert and 2 layers.
2. A flower storage bowl consisting of 3 parts.
3. 60 wooden flowers (18 × moon lily, 15 × orbit flower, 15 × sun thistle, 12 × galaxy poppy).
4. 60 flower cards (14 × moon lily, 12 × orbit flower, 12 × sun thistle, 8 × galaxy poppy, 14 × jokers with 2 flower types each).
5. 16 order cards.
6. 24 double-sided round bonus tiles (purple/turquoise).
7. 20 "little helpers" (Note: The different shapes have no meaning in the game. All little helpers are used in the same way).
8. 12 "Stardust" counters.
9. 48 victory point chips (with the values 1, 3, 5, 10, 25 and 50).
10. 4 double-sided game aids (purple/turquoise).

Setup

A. Take all the components out of the box. Then assemble the board in the box: Place the layer without holes into the box insert first. Then place the level with holes on top. For more variety, you can rotate and turn the lower layer as you wish for each game.

B. Place all 60 flowers in the storage bowl and place it next to the board.

C. Turn all 24 bonus tiles to purple and form 8 stacks of any 3 tiles. Place these stacks (purple sides facing up) in the 8 indentations on the purple edge of the board. The indentations on the turquoise edge opposite remain empty.

D. Shuffle and stack the 16 order cards face down. Place 3 orders face up next to the stack.

E. Shuffle the 60 flower cards and stack them face down. Place 3 cards face up next to the stack.

F. Take 1 game aid each and place it in front of you with the purple side facing up. Decide who will go first (e.g. who gave the flowers last). Depending on where you sit in the order of play, you draw a certain number of flower cards from the face-down stack and receive little helpers as follows:

	1. Person	2. Person	3. Person (if available)	4. Person (if available)
Flower cards	4×	5×	4×	5×
Little helpers	1×	1×	2×	2×

Keep your flower cards hidden in your hand. Store the little helpers next to your playing aid.

G. All the remaining components—the remaining Little Helpers, victory point chips, and stardust counters—should be set to one side as a general supply pile.

Overview

A game of Gloomies consists of two stages. In the first stage, "Growing", you play cards to place flowers in the holes on the board. The stage ends as soon as every hole in the board before the white line is filled. You then receive victory points for the flower cards you have played to grow flowers. The more cards, the more points!

This is followed by the second stage "Harvesting". You can use your previously played cards again to remove the flowers from the board. As soon as the board has been harvested up to the line, the stage ends and so does the game. You then receive points again, this time for your harvested flowers and completed orders.

You also have the chance to receive a bonus every turn. Among other things, this will give you access to orders and stardust counters, which can earn you additional victory points.

Whoever has collected the most points after both stages wins!

Phase 1: Growing

You take turns. Each turn consists of three steps:

1. First, you play up to 3 cards from your hand to grow flowers in the holes on the board.
2. You can then receive a bonus, depending on the last flower you planted.
3. Finally, you take 1 or 2 new flower cards from those placed face up.

Then it is the next person's turn in clockwise direction. You take turns until all the holes on the board have been filled up to the white line. Then phase 1 ends and the first scores are counted.

A turn in detail

1. Playing cards and growing flowers

The board is divided into 6 rows of flowerbeds, each with 8 holes. Each turn, you select exactly 1 row in which you want to grow flowers. Then you play up to 3 flower cards from your hand to plant the same number of holes in this row. The cards played must match the types of flowers that can be seen in the holes.

You always start at the edge of the board with the arrows (see illustration). From there, plant the first free holes in a straight line in the direction of the arrows.

Important: Switching between rows or skipping holes is not permitted.

Notes:

• You can use the jokers as one or the other type of flower when playing, but only for 1 hole at a time.
• The white line on the playing field is not an obstacle. Holes behind the line can be filled in the same way as those before it.
• You can always play fewer cards if you do not have or do not want to play 3 matching cards. If you do not play any cards in a turn, skip step 2 on your turn and go straight to step 3. To compensate, you receive 1 little helper from the pile.

The little helpers - Part 1: You can put as many little helpers back into the pile as you like when growing flowers. You may play 1 additional card for each helper you put back in this way to plant another hole in the selected row. Of course, these additionally played cards must also match.

Example 1: You have two orbit flowers, a galaxy poppy and a moon lily in your hand. In row 1, you could plant the first two holes by playing an orbit flower and the poppy. You cannot play in row 2, as you need a sun thistle for the first hole. In row 3, you could play the maximum number of cards (moon lily and 2× orbit flower) and plant 3 holes. If you use a little helper, you could even play your fourth card (galaxy poppy) and plant the fourth hole as well. There are already flowers in row 4. If you choose this row, start at the first free hole after the flowers. You could play an orbit flower and then the moon lily. You cannot play in row 5. Two of your cards must match in row 6 again. The fact that you play beyond the white line is irrelevant.

Example 2: On your next turn, you only have two cards in your hand: a galaxy poppy and a joker, which you can use either as an orbital flower or as a sun thistle. In row 1, you could plant 2 holes if you use the joker as an orbit flower. Rows 2 and 4 require moon lilies next, you cannot play there. In row 3, your joker is useless, but you could play the poppy. In row 5, you could play your joker as a thistle. However, it would not be possible to plant a second hole in the row, as you can only use the joker for 1 hole. You could also play the joker in row 6.

Once you have decided on a row and played up to 3 cards, fill the planted holes with matching flowers from the storage bowl. Place your played cards sorted by flower type at the bottom of your playing aid. In the first round of scoring, you receive victory points for these cards.

Important: Played jokers must be placed with the type of flower you planted with the joker.

2. Receiving a bonus

If you have grown at least one flower, you can receive a bonus. To do this, check the position of the last flower you placed on the board during your turn (= the one furthest away from the edge of the board with the arrows). The bonus you receive depends on the column of the hole in which you placed this flower. If there is a flower in same column there is at least one purple bonus tile on the edge of the board, you receive the bonus of the top tile. If all 3 tiles in the column are already gone, you get nothing.

The purple bonus tiles:

• Stardust: Take 1 stardust from the pile. You can collect as many as you like. The more stardust counters you have, the more victory points you receive in the two scorings (see game aid).
• 1 or 2 little helpers: Take the number of Little Helpers shown on the tile from the pile. You can collect as many as you like and use them on the same turn in step 3 "Draw" (see next section).
• Order: Take one of the 3 face-up order cards of your choice. Then refill the display. Collect the orders you have taken face up in front of you.

Example: On your turn, you have planted a moon lily and a sun thistle in row 4. As you always fill the holes in the direction of the arrow, you placed the thistle last. You now receive the bonus for this column: "2 little helpers". If you had decided to plant only the moon lily, you would have received a different bonus ("1 order").

After you have received your bonus, flip this bonus tile over to the turquoise side, and move it to the opposite side turquoise bonus space in the same column. If there are already tiles there, place the new tile on top of the stack.

3. Drawing cards

At the end of your turn, you take new flower cards from the cards displayed face-up. Drawing from the face-down stack is not permitted. You may take either 1 joker or 2 regular cards - provided the corresponding cards are available. After each card you take, immediately turn over a new card from the stack and lay it face up. If you run out of cards during the course of the game, continue playing as normal and simply skip step 3 in your turn.

Tip: In phase 1, each card is worth one point, but in phase 2, the four flower types have different values: Moon lilies count for 1 point, Sun thistles and Orbit flowers 2 each, Galaxy poppy 3. The more valuable a type of flower is, the rarer its cards are. To plan ahead as cleverly as possible, not only collect rare cards, but also pay attention to your orders: You need matching flower cards to be able to fulfill them later.

End of stage 1

Stage 1 ends after the turn in which the board area between the arrows and the white line has been completely filled with flowers. It does not matter how many flowers are already beyond the line. Whoever ends the stage completes the entire turn (including receiving bonuses and drawing cards).

The little helpers - Part 2: When picking up cards in step 3, you can also return any number of little helpers to the supply. You may take 1 additional (regular) card for each little helper you put back. You can also return 2 little helpers at once to take 1 additional joker.

Notes:

• A mixture is also allowed: You can put back 1 little helper to pick up another joker after taking a regular card.
• After each card you take, you can decide again whether you want to put back more little helpers to take even more cards.

This is followed by the first round of scoring:

• Each person receives 1 victory point for each flower card played that is attached to their game aid. Cards remaining in your hand are not worth any points, but you keep them for stage 2. Important: With 4 or more cards played of one type of flower these count double. All cards of this flower type are then worth 2 victory points. If you are playing with two players, then you need 6 or more cards of one type of flower so that they count double.
• In addition, each person receives victory points according to the amount of stardust counters they have collected. You can also find the corresponding table in the game aid: 1 stardust = 1 victory point, 2 stardust = 3 victory points, 3 stardust = 5 victory points, etc.

Take victory point chips from the pile to match the value of points you have collected. Store the chips next to your game aid. You can keep them hidden if you like.

Scoring example: In a three-player game, you played the following cards in phase 1: 2× galaxy poppy, 4× sun thistle, 3× orbital flower and 5× moon lily. Your thistles and lilies count twice, as you have four or more cards of both colors on display. This gives you 23 victory points for your cards. Add the points for your stardust counters to this. You take victory point chips worth 28 from the pile according to your total (5 cards = 10 points, 4 cards = 8 points, 3 cards = 3 points, 2 cards = 2 points, 3 stardust = 5 points = 28 points total in phase 1).

Setting up stage 2

After you have got your score, carry out the following steps.

1. Remove all materials from the game that are no longer needed in phase 2: all remaining purple bonus tiles that are not on the turquoise side turned to the turquoise side; the remaining flower cards in the stack and the remaining orders in the supply.
2. Turn your game aids over to the turquoise side.
3. Now create your personal flower card stack for stage 2. Your stack consists of the cards that were placed next to your game aid and the cards remaining in your hand. Shuffle these cards and place them in a face-down stack to the left of your game aid.
4. Finally, draw the top 4 flower cards from your personal stack into your hand. Now stage 2 can begin! Keep your little helpers and collected stardust for stage 2.

Stage 2: Harvesting

You continue playing in clockwise order, starting with the person whose turn would have been next in stage 1. In stage 2, each turn also consists of three steps that are similar to the previous phase:

1. First, you play up to 3 cards from your hand to harvest flowers from the board.
2. Then you can receive a bonus, depending on the last flower you harvested.
3. Finally, you draw 2 new cards from your personal stack.

Stage 2 ends when all the flowers up to the white line have been harvested. Then the second scoring follows, the game is then over.

A turn in detail

1. Play cards and harvest flowers

You harvest flowers in the same way as you planted them in phase 1. Select exactly 1 row each turn and also start at the edge of the board with the arrows (not opposite!). Just as in phase 1, you can play up to 3 matching cards to harvest the first available flowers one after the other. Even in phase 2, you are not allowed to change rows or skip flowers.

Hint: The jokers work in exactly the same way as in phase 1. Of course, you don't have to remember which type of flower you used them for before, but can choose again when you play them. Place the cards you have played as a face-up discard pile to the right of your playing aid. They do not play a role in the second scoring, so you do not have to sort them.

The little helpers - Part 3: They also help you harvest flowers. For each little helper you put back into the supply when harvesting, you may play 1 additional card to harvest another matching flower from your chosen row. As in phase 1, if you have not played a single card in your turn, you may take 1 helper from the supply to compensate.

Take the harvested flowers from the holes on the board. You must immediately decide where you want to place each individual flower. If you harvest several flowers at once, you can place them anywhere you like.

Either: On your collected orders. Each order requires the combination of flowers shown on it. You do not have to deliver all the flowers in one go and can work on several orders at the same time. Place the flowers on the indicated dots to decorate the Gloomies. In the second scoring phase, you receive the victory points (top left) of all orders that you have completely filled with flowers. However, if an order is not completely filled, it scores 0 points.

Or: On your game aid. Don't have any orders or don't want to take any risks? Then you can place harvested flowers on your game aid and decorate yourself with them. You can stack any number of flowers of each type on your playing aid. At the end of the game, each flower that you have placed here scores victory points according to its type (moon lily = 1 point, orbital flower and sun thistle = 2 points each, galaxy poppy = 3 points).

Important: Once you have placed flowers, you may no longer move them. Neither from one order to another, nor to your game aid or vice versa.

2. Receiving a bonus

You can also receive a bonus in phase 2. As in phase 1, this depends on the position of the last flower you harvested in your turn. Is there at least one turquoise bonus tile in the same column? Then you receive the bonus of the top tile. Then remove the tile from the game.

The turquoise bonus tiles:

• Stardust: Take 1 stardust from the pile. In the second scoring, you will once again receive victory points for your collection. Note that you do not need more than 6 stardust to score the maximum points.
• Bonus flower: Receive an additional flower of the depicted type from the storage bowl. Just like your harvested flowers, you must immediately place them on an order or your game aid. If there are no more flowers of this color in the supply, you are out of luck and receive nothing.
• Joker flower: Gain 1 flower of your choice from the supply bowl.

Example: You start your turn with the cards shown. As you do not have a moon lily, you cannot harvest anything in rows 3 and 6. You can only harvest 1 flower in rows 4 and 5. In addition, your bonus would no longer apply, as there is no turquoise bonus tile in either column. Consequently, rows 1 and 2 are probably your best options. If you were to play an orbit flower, the galaxy poppy and your joker as a sun thistle in row 1, you could harvest 3 flowers, but you would not receive a bonus either. You could therefore decide to play only 2 cards here. You would then plant the galaxy poppy as the last flower and receive an additional poppy from the supply as a bonus. In row 2, on the other hand, you would still have a selection of different bonuses at your disposal. Depending on whether you want to secure stardust or more flowers, you could play two or three cards here. If you still have little helpers, your hand cards would even allow you to play the joker as a thistle.

3. Draw cards

At the end of your turn, you draw exactly 2 cards from your personal deck and take them into your hand. It does not matter whether you draw jokers or regular cards. If your deck is empty, you skip step 3 in your turn and continue playing with the cards remaining in your hand.

The little helpers - Part 4: You can also return any number of little helpers to the supply when drawing in phase 2. For each little helper you put back, you may draw 1 additional card from your pile. After each card you draw, you can decide again whether you want to put back any more little helpers you want to put back.

End of phase 2

Phase 2 ends after the turn in which the area between the arrows and the white line has been completely harvested (i.e. there are no more flowers there). It does not matter how many flowers are still behind the line. Whoever completes the phase still receives the bonus, but can skip step 3 "Draw cards".

Notice: In rare cases, you may not be able to play or draw cards during your turn because your pile has already been used up. In this case, you receive 1 helper as usual to compensate and must hope that the playing field changes before your next turn. If all players are unable to play any more cards in succession, phase 2 also ends.

This is followed by the second scoring phase:

• Each person receives victory points according to the flowers on their game aid. Each moon lily on the playing aid is worth 1 point. Orbit flowers and Sun thistles are worth 2 points each, each Galaxy poppy 3.
• The victory points of supplied orders are added to this. If flowers are still missing from an order (or the wrong ones have been placed on it), neither the order nor the flowers on it are worth any points. There is no penalty for orders that you have not started.
• Each person then receives victory points again according to the stardust they have collected. Count both your stardust from phase 1 and any newly collected stardust from phase 2. The scoring table is identical to the first scoring. Reminder: If you have collected more than 6 stardust, you will still only receive the maximum 15 victory points.
• Finally, each person receives 1 victory point for each helper that was not returned to the supply.

Take more victory point chips from the supply and add up your points from the first scoring.

Scoring example: First you receive victory points for the flowers on your game aid: 6 points for your orbit flowers, 6 points for the galaxy poppy and 1 point for the moon lily. You have completed two orders and receive a total of 20 points for them. You do not receive any points for the third order as you have not fully supplied it with flowers. Finally, you receive 8 points for your stardust (3 from phase 1 and 1 from phase 2) and 2 points for your other little helpers. You have now scored 43 points in the second scoring phase. Together with your 28 points from the first scoring phase, this gives you a respectable total of 71 victory points.

End of Game

The player with the most victory points wins!

In the event of a tie, the player who has completed more orders wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the most valuable order wins. If there is another tie, the players involved win together.