Growing Season
Growing Season Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 84 Crop Cards + 7 Events
- 24 Mining Cards
- 20 Fishing Cards
- 50 Blacksmith Cards
- 21 Farm Upgrade Cards
- 4 Decks of 15 Starter Cards
- 12 Basic Plot Cards
- 5 Double-sided boards
- 20 Watering tokens
- 70 Wooden coins
Setup
On the next page you will find a diagram with an example of preparation. If you doubt which cards make up which decks, the numbers that appear in the preparation are also indicated in the diagram.
- Shuffle all the crop cards, except the 4 starter wheat cards and the events, and place the deck face down in the centre of the table, then reveal five cards. These cards will form the store.
- Remove all Mining Cards marked with a "+" and return them to the game box. These cards are for advanced games. Shuffle the remaining Mining Cards to form the Mining Deck, then place it face down next to the Store.
- The starter decks have a hand icon in the bottom right corner, separate all the initial watering and harvesting cards and form two 15-card decks, with 5 harvesting cards and 10 watering cards each. The remaining 30 cards are for 3 and 4 player games. Keep them in the box.
- With the same back, besides the initial decks are the upgraded tools that will form the blacksmith's deck. First separate the 10 cards with the star symbol and the 3/4 Player symbol and put them in the box. These cards are for advanced games and 3 and 4 player games. Shuffle all the remaining cards and reveal 3 cards. These will form the blacksmith's shop.
- All cards with a barn icon on the back are the upgrades for your farm. Put all cards that also have the star symbol and the 3/4 Player symbol in the box, shuffle the rest of the cards and reveal 3 cards. These will form the farm upgrades.
- Form a supply between the two players with all the 1, 5, 10 coins and the watering tokens.
- Finally, give each player 3 starter plots, 3 coins of 1, one of the prepared starting decks and a basic game board.
The player who has eaten fruit or vegetables most recently starts the game, receives the game board with a star symbol on the corner, and a starter wheat of value 2 to be placed on one of the three plots. The other player receives the wheat of value 3 and plays second.
Additional Cards and Components
If you have followed the setup instructions, you will have these components leftover in the box. They will not be used in a normal game. They correspond to game variants for more or fewer players, and alternative progressions and decks for future games. The functioning of them all is detailed later:
- Advanced Farm Upgrades
- Fishing Deck
- Advanced Tools
- Variant Boards
- 1 Player Variant
- 3/4 Player Variant
Growing Season can be set up in a variety of ways to suit the space available. Here is an example of a standard setup for two players seated next to each other. However each module that makes each deck can be placed as desired as long as they are visible to all players.
Your Farm
The three plots of land you will have in front of you after setup form your farm. In the beginning it is very basic and you will have only a few plots, some wheat and your own effort, but as the game progresses it will grow and become more automated with machines and animals.
All the crops you buy must be placed on the available plots and stay there while watered. After the harvest you must remove them from the plot and collect the corresponding money.
This is an example of an advanced farm, with automated watering and harvesting, animals that generate money every turn, and multiple plots of land. When the time comes to expand the farm, you can do so in any direction and order you wish (as long as the available space allows it).
The Turn
Each turn you will draw exactly 5 cards from your deck, which will be a combination of watering cards and/or harvest cards. The turns will proceed as follows (all phases will be explained in detail later):
- Draw 5 cards from the deck
- Automatisms and Animals (if any)
- Watering and harvesting
- Mining and/or discarding (if any)
- Buying and upgrading phase
- End of turn
The player deck will be depleted every three turns, so you must to shuffle all the cards from the discard pile, and rebuild your deck.
Although these phases are not strictly defined during the game, it is important to respect them not to make mistakes. For example, you cannot buy crops or upgrades if you still have cards in your hand and you will not be able to use those cards after buying crops.
Watering cards allow you to water your crops by placing a marker on the lowest point of the crop if you are watering it for the first time, or moving the disc up as many squares as watering cards you want to use. Each watering card equals a single point of a single crop, so choosing which crops to water is especially important to get the most out of your hands. At the end of the turn, if you don't have enough watering cards to fully water and harvest a crop, it will stay as you left it. Crops never lose watering points and don't spoil.
When you reach the last watering point of any crop, if you have a harvest card in hand, you may harvest the crop, discarding the harvest card to the discard pile, and discarding the crop (without mixing it with the deck) collecting the corresponding money from the supply.
Player decks always have 15 cards, so harvested crops must be discarded into a separate discard pile next to the store.
WARNING! Some crops will give you benefits before they are fully ripe, as with lemons, for example. For this type of crop, the harvest cards will be used only in the square indicated by the sickle icon. All the squares with numbers that appear before, you will collect them immediately without spending additional harvest cards, as they correspond to the GATHERING of the first fruits.
The Mine
A day on the farm can be very productive. Still, if you have energy left over after watering and harvesting your crops, you can always use the remaining day to search for valuable minerals at the local mine.
After watering and harvesting every crop in the way that suits you best, you can head to the mine discarding TWO cards from your hand that you have not used, flipping over one of the cards from the mine deck and gaining benefits depending on the ore you find. If you find a stone, you are unlucky, and you go home empty-handed, but with luck, you might find minerals or precious stones. In that case, collect the indicated amount immediately.
The mine cards are discarded near the mining deck, and if you run out of cards, shuffle all the cards from the discard pile and rebuild the deck.
If you have four cards left over, you can go to the mine twice, repeating the process twice. Also if you have only one card in hand, you can't go to the mine and must discard it without any effect.
Advanced Rule: Mining can be highly luck-dependent. If you prefer a more balanced risk and reward experience, replace all Mining Cards marked with a "-" with their corresponding "+" versions.
Buying Phase
Once you have used all the cards in your hand in the way that benefits you the most, you can use the money you have earned to buy new crops in the shop or upgrades for your deck.
To do it, you have to pay the number of coins stated in the bottom right corner of the crops or tools you wish to purchase.
- Crops will be placed on one of your available plots on the farm. If there are no plots available, you can no longer buy crops.
- On the other hand, tools will be added to your discard pile, replacing a card of the same type. (More details on page 6).
WARNING: During the buying phase, stores will not be refilled. If you buy all available tools or crops, they will remain empty until it is your opponent's turn. Only when you have bought everything you want and passed the turn, will all the empty spaces in the shops be refilled.
Crops
The most effective way to earn money in Growing Season is with crops. Therefore, during the game you will buy them from the store and plant them on your plots of land, growing them by watering them and make a profit once they are ripe.
The purchase price of the crops is stated in the bottom right corner, which is the money you must pay to add them to your farm. After paying the corresponding money, immediately add the crop to an available plot of land on your farm.
If you have no empty plots, you will not be able to buy more crops until you harvest the crops you have planted.
A crop card shows:
- Harvesting Value — money you will earn after harvesting and discarding the crop.
- Gathering Value — money you will earn just by watering up to this level.
- Buying Price — number of coins to be paid to the bank to buy the crop.
WARNING! Once a crop is watered and harvested, it will be discarded in a discard pile next to the store, do not mix it with the player's deck. Your deck must always contain 15 cards, not one more, not one less!
Blacksmith Upgrades
The blacksmith's upgrades will replace the basic cards from your player deck, allowing you to water and harvest more crops, or crops of higher quality, each turn. To do this, you must pay the amount stated in the bottom right corner of the upgrade you are interested in and replace one of your cards from the discard pile with the new and upgraded card. You must always respect that they need to be of the same type; that is, removing a basic watering card, to introduce an upgraded watering card, or a basic harvest card, to introduce an upgraded harvest card.
The cards you remove from the deck, will not go to the discard pile; they will be removed from the game, you can keep them in the box because they will not be used again until the next game.
The number of cards is limited: so you may run out if someone invests a lot in upgrading their deck!
Upgraded watering and harvesting cards will allow you to water and harvest more, so you can split and use them as you see fit.
With a golden watering card you can water a crop three times or water several crops by splitting the watering points. Harvest cards must be used on different crops. You cannot harvest a single crop several times.
WARNING! The card illustrations show four characters. However decks can comprise any combination of these. As long as they respect the rules, the illustration of the cards in the shop will not determine who can buy which card.
Upgrading Your Farm and Winning
The main goal of Growing Season is to reach 100 coins, but it is not enough to save them; you must invest them. Every time you reach 10 coins, in the buying phase, if you want, you can invest them in developing your farm, which will also count towards your victory.
To do this, place 10 coins on the first available space on the board in front of you, and if marked, choose an upgrade card from the farm upgrades deck and immediately add it to your farm. Be careful, because not all the squares on the board allow you to upgrade your farm, so keep an eye on the marked squares to plan your turns.
When one of the players completes the board, the game ends. If the player who started the game (the one with the board marked with a star) is the one to finish, their opponent gets an extra turn. However, if it is the other player who completes the board, the game ends immediately.
In the event of a tie, the player with the most remaining coins is the winner. If there is a tie on the number of coins, the player with the most crops on their land is the winner, and if there is still a tie, the players will share the victory.
HINT: You can place several 10-value coins on the board in a single turn, so sometimes, you may want to save them to get several upgrades together, or wait for your opponent to move up a square to see what new upgrades the deck offers.
WARNING! Start by placing the first coin in the leftmost square and follow the line to the end. Don't skip any squares!
The squares with the barn symbol will give you an upgrade for your farm immediately. The white boxes will not give you anything, but you must also fill them in to win!
Upgrades Glossary
WARNING! Cards with the star symbol in the lower left corner are not recommended for beginners.
Additional Plots of Land
Add a new plot of land to your farm on which to plant fruits and vegetables. Also each additional plot generates extra benefits in the harvest of a specific crop class (on that plot) depending on the level of watering they have:
- 2 and 3 level crops, such as garlic or strawberries
- 4 level crops, such as tomatoes or melon
- 5 and 6 level crops, such as watermelon or mango
Animals
Animals are a constant source of income, but the later they are added to the farm, the less they can produce.
Animals generate profits every turn, although at different rates depending on the animal; once added to the farm, starting the next turn and before you use your cards, place a marker on the leftmost square and collect the money indicated. Then each turn, move the disc one space to the right collecting the indicated amount, once it reaches the far right, next turn place the marker on the first square again. Hens generate 2 coins each turn, so it is unnecessary to mark it.
Sprinklers
At the start of the turn, before you start using your cards, the sprinklers will water every crop planted on the farm, raising the watering level one time for them all. If any crop reaches a gathering square, immediately collect the amount indicated.
The Harvester
At the start of the turn, before you start using your cards, the harvester will harvest every crop that is at the maximum watering level, collecting the amount indicated and discarding the crop.
WARNING! If the harvester and the sprinklers are on the same farm, every crop will be watered first, and then those ready to be harvested will be harvested.
Fertiliser
Fertiliser is an upgrade that will boost the quality of the crops, making them more valuable. A fertilised farm will generate one additional coin with each harvest. It does not apply to gathering.
Quality Fodder
Quality fodder will make the animals happier and generate more profit. The quality fodder will generate one additional coin per animal per turn. Even pigs, which have an empty square, will generate an additional coin each turn.
The Pickler
The pickler allows you to get additional benefits from crops by turning them into jam or pickles. To do this, after harvesting and cashing a crop, turn it over and place it on the pickler. Then, at the start of the next turn, discard it and collect the amount stated in the pickler according to the crop level.
Every crop takes the same time to process, but depending on the level of the crop, it will yield more or less money. Several crops cannot be put into the pickler simultaneously.
Assorted Seeds
After adding the upgrade to your farm, you can buy the first card from the crop deck without looking for 1 coin.
If you don't have plots available (or the warehouse), you won't be able to buy crops in the same way you couldn't in the normal store, and if you have several plots available, you can place the crop on the one you prefer, deciding after looking which card it is.
The Seed Maker
Once you have added the upgrade to your farm, after harvesting and cashing in a crop, you can place it on top of the seed maker upside down, instead of discarding it. Then, at the start of the next turn, turn it over again and you can plant the crop on one of your available plots (or in the warehouse).
In that same turn, you can refill the seed maker with the same crop (if you manage to harvest it) or a different one. If there are no plots available, it will remain in the seed maker and you can plant it in the buying phase, but there is only room for one crop at a time, so it will remain empty that turn.
The Warehouse
Once you have added the warehouse to your farm, you can buy crops for normal planting at the buying phase, or you can also store them in the warehouse. These crops cannot be watered and harvested, because they are not planted, but they can be planted in the next turn DURING THE WATERING AND HARVESTING PHASE, and you can reuse the same plot of land several times in a row, if your hand allows you to do so.
On turns with upgraded watering cards or farms with few plots of land, having a warehouse full of crops will allow you to plant, water and harvest multiple crops in a row. In addition, just as a watering card can be split between several planted crops, it can also be split between several crops that have been planted that same turn.
Dog/Cat
- If you play with the mining deck: flip over a mining card at the start of each turn and collect the indicated amount.
- If you play with the fishing deck: flip over a fishing card at the start of each turn, if the fish that appears has 2 or fewer fish symbols, collect the amount indicated.
Mining/Fishing Equipment
- If you play with the mining deck: you can go to the mine using only one card instead of two.
- If you play with the fishing deck: all cards in your player deck gain +0.5 fishing value. (Raising the value to 1 on each basic card).
Fishing
To freshen up your games, the fishing deck can be added to the game replacing the mining deck. This deck plays differently from the mining deck, allowing you to win more money, because every fish is valuable, but adding more risk to the rewards.
All the tools you use have a "fishing value" illustrated by several fish symbols; these symbols indicate the fishing ability a card can give you.
On upgraded tools this is indicated on the side, and all basic starter tools have a fishing value of half a fish.
Cards used for watering and harvesting cannot be used for fishing, but if you have cards left over you can use them for fishing by discarding them.
Unlike the mining deck, you can go fishing with just one card or as many as you want. To do this, discard all the cards you will use at the same time and add up their fishing values. With that number in mind, flip over the first card in the fishing deck.
All the cards in the fishing deck have equivalent fish symbols at the bottom. If you turn over a card, and the number of fish that appears is less or equal than your fishing value, you will catch the fish. If the value is higher than your fishing value, it will escape.
If you manage to catch the fish, you can stop and collect the amount indicated. Still, if you want to continue, because you have a very high fishing value, you can catch as many fish as you want by repeating the process and subtracting the number on each card from your total fishing value. But be careful! If you exceed your total fishing value, the fish that exceeds it will escape, knock the boat over and cause the previous fish to escape as well.
Example: with a fishing value of 0.5 + 2 + 3 = 5.5, by exceeding the fishing value with the last fish, Tom would collect the two coins from the first fish (2 + 1 + 3 = 6, which exceeds 5.5), losing the last two fish.
In another example, with the same fishing value of 5.5, by stopping before the fish value is exceeded (3 + 0.5 + 2 = 5.5), Ana would collect the value of all the fish.
Advanced Tools
Advanced blacksmith tools are more difficult to use correctly, but they can be the difference between victory and defeat in the hands of skilled players.
Unlike standard upgrades, advanced upgrades combine both watering and harvesting in a single card, so after buying them from the blacksmith, you can replace them with either a sickle or a watering can, depending on your preference. Doing so will alter the ratio of sickles to watering cans in the deck and can lead to very explosive turns and reduce slower turns to a minimum.
There are two types of advanced upgrades, Mythril (pink) and Iridium (purple), Mythril tools will water and harvest once, while Iridium tools will water twice and harvest up to two different crops.
With these advanced tools, you can water and harvest the same crop or several crops at your convenience.
Variant Boards
Besides the standard boards, which are used for normal games and 3- and 4-player games, Growing Season includes variant boards for different games:
Quick Game
For the quick game, prepare the whole game as normal, except for the farm upgrades. Before you start you will draft and start with 3 upgrades already installed on your farm.
Draw 6 cards and secretly choose two of them, one you want to install on your farm, and one you want to discard so your opponent cannot access it. Place them face down and reveal them at the same time, first the one you will keep and then the one you discard. Then swap the 4 cards you have left in your hand and repeat the process until all the cards have been chosen and discarded.
Mix the discard pile with the rest of the deck, assemble the farm upgrades deck and you can start the game following the rest of the rules as usual.
Long Game
If you feel like playing a longer game and building much more complex farms, you can use the long game boards, which are completed by reaching 150 coins and will add 8 upgrades to your farm and 6 to your deck.
For the long game, set up the game as normal and when you place a 10 coin on a light blue square, instead of getting an upgrade for your farm, you will get the 3 tools that the blacksmith has available that turn.
If you don't have the equivalent cards in your discard pile to add all the upgrades, you will keep only the ones you can and leave the rest. To make the most of these squares, make sure that you can take advantage of all the upgrades available.
Asymmetrical Variant
If you play with a younger player or with a player who lacks experience with Growing Season, you can give them the asymmetrical variant board (there is only one). The objective is the same as the normal board, but the alternative distribution of the upgrades will give them momentum in the first half of the game.
Single Player Variant
The evil NATSUME corporation is trying to destroy rural life by all means, destroying farms and buying up all the land in its path to build cities on it, and completely ignoring the welfare of its people, animals and crops. To stop them from getting away with it, you'll have to raise enough money to buy the land in the area and get it out of their clutches before it's too late.
But be careful! NATSUME will not play fair, and they'll use all their resources to hinder your mission: they'll raise seed prices by buying up entire shops, ruin your crops with pesticides before you can sell them, wreck your farm beyond repair, or even steal all the money you've saved up.
In the single-player variant, you will compete against NATSUME in slightly shorter games and with different difficulty levels to suit your Growing Season experience.
Setup
- Start by setting up the game in the normal way, but without the second player's components.
- Instead, set up the corporation board and the 7 event cards (they have the same back as the crops).
- When you go to set up the crops deck, shuffle it and discard half of the deck, leaving exactly 40 cards.
- Set aside the first 5 cards, which will form the shop in the same way as in a normal game.
- Now shuffle all the event cards in the crops deck (mix it well, so they don't all stick together).
- You will start the game with wheat of value 2.
Difficulty Levels
The single player mode has several levels of difficulty marked by colours on the corporation board. To play on more advanced difficulty, place 10-value coins on the first few squares until you reach the desired difficulty. The more coins you place, the fewer turns you have to win the game.
The easy and normal levels are recommended for the first few games. For advanced players the hard and expert levels will offer a well-balanced challenge. If you are still looking for more difficulty, you can play with the long game board instead of the standard board.
How to Play
To win a game of the single player variant you must reach 100 coins before NATSUME does. To do this you will play following the rules of a normal game, resolving the effect of the events that appear, and every three turns the corporation will advance one square.
- If the corporation reaches the last square on its board, or if the crop deck is exhausted, you will have lost the game.
- If you reach 100 coins before either of the two losing conditions occur, you will win.
When playing the single player variant, you will pass the turn to yourself, starting a new turn immediately after finishing the previous one. Still, it is important to follow the phases and resolve all the effects in the correct order. Every three turns, your deck will be depleted, and just like in a normal game, you must shuffle the deck to build it up again. At that moment, the NATSUME corporation will advance before the next turn begins.
Fill a square on the corporation's board with a 10 coin and remove one of the available farm upgrades in order. The first time remove the leftmost upgrade, the next the middle upgrade, and the next the rightmost upgrade. Repeat the cycle with each corporation advancement. Each time you remove an upgrade in this way, fill the gap with another card from the deck. If NATSUME tries to remove one of the upgrades, but there isn't one in that slot, they will remove the next one.
Events
When you refill the store with new crops at the end of each turn, one or more of the event cards may appear. When revealed, resolve their effects immediately and discard them afterwards, then continue refilling the shop as normal. Below you will find a glossary of every event card. You can leave this page near you if you don't remember the effects:
- Natsume Advances — Move the corporation's board forward one square, removing one of the available upgrades as if it were a normal advance.
- Price Rises — Until the next corporation advance (by card or end of each turn), every crop and tool increases in price by one coin.
- Theft — Lose any money you have accumulated. If you have no money when the card appears, shuffle it back into the crop deck. Coins placed on the board will not be lost.
- Havoc — Remove an upgrade from your farm (of your choice). If you have no upgrades yet, shuffle this card back into the crop deck.
- Pesticides — Immediately discard every crop you have planted on your plots of land, if you have no crops planted, shuffle this card back into the crop deck.
3 and 4 Player Variant
Growing Season includes starter decks and boards for up to four players, although the setup and rules must be modified a little to do so. In three- and four-player games, each player will have their own seed store, and you will be buying from your opponents, moving money between players, and adding the ability to negotiate with them.
WARNING! Before playing a game with over 2 players, it is advisable to know the game and to have played at least one game before, the setup of the variant refers to the setup of the normal game. If you have doubts at any point, check page 2.
Setup
- Deal each player a starting deck of 15 cards, 3 plots of land and a game board. Note: Do not give any starting coins to players in this mode.
- Set up your farm upgrades, blacksmith upgrades, and mining or fishing deck in the same way as you would in a normal game. When setting up the Blacksmith's Deck, add all cards marked with the 3/4 Player icon.
Then set up the Mining Deck (or Fishing Deck) as normal. For a better experience, especially in 4-player games, it is recommended to include all Advanced Tool Cards and Advanced Farm Upgrade Cards marked with the star icon.
- Mix the crop deck and deal it all out. With 4 players, each player will have a deck of 20 cards. With 3 players it will be 26-27-27. Having one less card is not relevant.
- Each player will receive their deck, shuffle it again, lay it out in front of their game area facing the other players, and then reveal cards to form their store. 2 cards for 4-player games and 3 cards for 3-player games.
- The player who most recently ate fruit or vegetables starts the game. The first and second players receive wheat with a value of 3. The third and fourth players receive wheat with a value of 2.
How to Play (3 and 4 Players)
Turns will be played in the same way as in standard games, beginning with the starting player and passing the turn clockwise.
To get crops, you must buy them from your opponents, giving them the money instead of the supply and replacing the card bought from their store immediately. The discarded crops will be stacked in a common discard pile in the centre of the table.
If one of the decks runs out at any point in the game, shuffle the discard pile and reshuffle it with 20 of the cards. You may discard a card from your hand you have not used or will not use to refresh your store during your turn. By doing this, you can discard one or more of your available crop cards, replacing them with new ones.
The games with 3 and 4 players are somewhat longer, so you can agree on the number of coins needed for victory depending on your time and your desire. For games lasting about an hour, it is recommended to play up to 60 or 70 coins, although if you have time and feel like playing a little longer, you can complete the entire board with 100 coins.
Players can make deals, promises and pacts with each other, although there will be only one winner at the end of the game. In the other players' turn, don't hesitate to try to convince them of the quality and value of your fruit and vegetables so that they will buy from you. Talking and negotiating will be the key to getting your rivals' money. Make deals, promises and if necessary even discounts - it's your shop!
WARNING! If a player adds the "Assorted Seeds" upgrade to their farm, in addition to their normal purchases, they may buy the top card from their opponents' decks, without looking at it, by giving the relevant player one coin per card.
F.A.Q.
Do I have to use upgraded watering cards on a single crop? No. You can distribute the watering among your crops however you prefer.
Can upgraded harvesting cards harvest the same plant twice? No. Each plant can only be harvested once. Upgraded harvesting cards allow you to harvest multiple plants.
Can I move several spaces at once on the board during a single turn? Yes, as many as you want. However, the available farm upgrades will not refresh until the next turn.
When are the shops restocked? In 1 and 2 player games, shops are restocked at the end of the turn. If a shop runs out, you will not be able to buy more until the next turn. In 3 and 4 player games, the crop decks are restocked immediately. All other decks follow the same rules as in 1 and 2 player games.
What happens if the farm upgrades run out? If a player reaches a space that grants a farm upgrade but the deck is empty, that player does not gain a farm upgrade.
Can I replace upgraded tools with better ones? Yes. With advanced tools, you can even change the ratio of sickles and watering cans in the deck.
Can two sprinklers be purchased? Yes. The sprinkler is the only upgrade duplicated in the upgrade deck. Having both will water all crops twice at the start of the turn.