Herbaceous
Herbaceous Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
Players: 1-4 Time: 20 minutes Ages: 8+
Objective
Players try to score the most victory points by collecting and potting various herbs from the Community Garden and their Private Garden.
Contents
- 63 Herb Cards — 7 different (x9)
- 9 Special Herb Cards — 3 different (3x)
- 16 Container Cards — 4 different Containers in 4 player colors
- 1 Bun Reward Card
- 4 Quick Reference Cards
Game Setup
- Each player receives 4 Container Cards, the back of the card is the player's color.
- Shuffle the Herb Cards and Special Herb Cards (72 cards) together into a deck.
- Without looking at them, remove cards from the game depending on the number of players:
- 4 players – 0 cards
- 3 players – 12 cards
- 2 players – 24 cards
- Place deck face-down as a Draw pile.
- Designate an area for cards in the center for the Community Garden (a) and an area in front of each player as their Private Garden (b).
- Place the Bun Reward Card to the side of the playing area within reach of all players.
Gameplay
The player who most recently cooked or planted herbs is the starting player and takes the first turn. Players take turns clockwise until the game end conditions are met (see Game End), and perform the following steps in this order:
Step 1: Pot Herbs (optional)
As an optional action, at the start of a turn a player may decide to pot herbs. To do so, a player:
- Chooses 1 of their 4 Container Cards to use.
- Collects a set of Herb Cards specified by the chosen Container Card and then tucks them under the Container.
- Herbs may be taken from the Community Garden and/or a player's Private Garden.
- Each Container Card may only be used once per game.
- Only one Container may be used in a turn.
Special Herbs may ONLY be potted in the Glass Jar Container.
Step 2: Plant (mandatory)
After Step 1, which is optional, a player must perform Step 2 if there are still cards in the deck. In this step, the player plants herbs into the Private Garden or Community Garden by doing the following:
- Draw the top card from the deck and immediately decide where to place it:
- Into the Private Garden in front of the player OR
- Into the Community Garden in the center
- Then draw a second card and place it into the location not chosen by the first card. In other words, if the first card was placed in the Community Garden, the second must be placed in the player's Private Garden (and vice versa)
If All Containers Are Used
Even if a player has used all of their Containers, they still participate in the Plant step on their turn.
Containers
There are 4 different containers, each of which MUST follow its own requirements when potting:
- Large Pot (Identical Herbs) — For this container, collect 1 to 7 Herb Cards of the same type. For example, 6 Lavender.
- Wooden Planter (Different Herbs) — For this container, collect from 1 to 7 different Herb Cards. For example, 1 Bay, 1 Saffron, 1 Rosemary, 1 Dill, and 1 Tarragon.
- Small Pots (Pairs of Identical Herbs) — For this container, collect from 1 to 6 pairs. Each pair must be different from the others. For example, 2 Sage, 2 Dill, and 2 Bay.
- Glass Jar (Regular and/or Special Herbs) — Any 3 Herb Cards can be potted into this container. They can be the same or different. This container may include both Special and regular Herbs.
First Turn - No Potting
On the first turn of the first player, Step 1: Pot Herbs is not available because there are no cards played yet to pot.
Tips for Potting
The gardens begin to grow as players plant (see Step 2). Be mindful of what Herbs your opponents have in their Private Gardens and what is in the Community Garden.
Bun Reward Card
If a player pots each value of Special Herb (1, 2, and 3) into the Glass Jar, that player immediately earns the Bun Reward Card, which is tucked under the Glass Jar container. It provides bonus points at the end of the game. Only one player can be awarded the Bun in a game.
Game End
After the deck is exhausted, players keep taking turns collecting Herbs. Once a player cannot pot any more herbs, that player stops. Continue until everyone has either used all of their container cards or until it is not possible for anyone to pot anything.
Scoring
- Each Container Card lists at its bottom how many points are earned for the number of cards collected.
- For the Glass Jar Container, each Special Herb scores an additional bonus of the amount shown on the card. Also, earning the Bun Reward Card adds 5 points.
- Players score 1 point for each unpotted Herb still in their Private garden.
The player with the most points wins. In the event of a tie, the player whose Glass Jar container has a higher total wins the tie. If there is still a tie, those players all win and should break bread together.
Credits
Game Production: Eduardo Baraf Game Design: Steve Finn Illustration: Beth Sobel Graphic Design: Benjamin Shulman
A Flavorful Game by Steve Finn, Eduardo Baraf, and Beth Sobel. Copyright © Pencil First Games, LLC 2017.