Lawnarchy
Lawnarchy Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
§1 The grand prize
Whoever collects enough jury cards first is the winner.
- With two players, you win with 5 jury members.
- With three players, you win with 4 jury members.
- With four players, you win with 3 jury members.
§2 Prepare your gardens
2 player setup: If you are 2 players, your 4 starting cards are each placed opposite a neighboring card.
3 or 4 player setup: If you are playing with 3 or 4 players, 2 starting cards are opposite the 2 left and 2 right neighboring cards.
A. Shuffle the starting cards and form your gardens. Starting cards form your puny allotments at the beginning of the game. Shuffle all 16 starting cards (marked with a symbol in the lower right corner) and distribute them randomly as shown in the picture. You will thus each get one garden that consists of 4 random starting cards, lying face up next to each other and each opposite a card of a neighboring garden. Do not sort your starting cards. Replace the starting cards with other garden cards as the game progresses, cultivating your gardens. Of course, you'll put up fences to better define your property!
B. Compost unneeded starting cards. All cards discarded in the game are composted and put on the stack. Put any starting cards you don't need on the compost stack. (Yeah, right! I guess there's no proper waste separation in this colony! Complaint!).
C. Shuffle all other cards and form the association pile. Shuffle all 28 garden cards, 9 squabble cards, and 11 jury cards well and place them in a face-down association pile. (The source prints "und" here, a German word in the English text; it is read as "and".)
Garden cards can be selected for growing in your own garden. Vegetable beds are purple, lawns are green, flowers are yellow, and trees are marked in blue. You can use red squabble cards to get one over on your opponent. White-gray jury cards indicate what you should plant next.
Garden pro tip: To shuffle especially well, make 6 small piles each containing two jury cards, shuffle them separately, and then put them on top of each other to make one pile.
D. Draw cards and form the garden center. Now draw cards from the association pile to fill up the garden center that is face up. Place drawn garden and squabble cards in the garden center, which always consists of 4 cards.
E. Drawn jury cards form the examination board. As soon as you draw a jury card from the association pile, don't put it in the garden center, but instead put the card face up on the examination board. These are the jury members that are currently inspecting your gardens. The number of jury cards allowed on the examination board is unlimited.
F. Get the garden gnomes ready. With garden gnomes you can protect your gardens or secretly collect points. Place all 12 garden gnomes face down and shuffled in the garden center. You can get garden gnomes from certain garden cards.
Example: Draw 4 cards from the deck to fill up the garden center. These 4 cards consist of 1 squabble card, 2 garden cards and 1 jury card. Put the squabble and garden cards in the garden center and the jury card on the examination board. Since there is still one card missing in the garden center, draw more cards. You draw another jury card and then another garden card, so the garden center is now full and you can stop.
§3 Garden points
To determine who starts, first count the points in your gardens. Points are also important for many jury cards. Each of the garden cards you grow gives you points, as well as a condition you must meet to earn those points. This condition can be a certain position of the card in the garden, a certain color of a garden card directly next to it or on the opposite side.
- Seeds give you a point if they are directly on the marked position in your garden.
- Beets and Poofs give you a point if they are laid directly next to a card of the specified color in your garden.
- Weeds give you a point, if they are opposite a card of the specified color in your neighbor's garden.
Example: Your garden here is currently worth 2 points: your Seeds on the left are in the wrong place and therefore do not count. Your Weeds are worth 1 point because they are opposite a blue card. Your Beets are worth a point because a green card is next to them. Your Poofs do not count, as there is no yellow card next to them. The garden of your neighbor is currently worth 1 point, since only one of the opposite Seeds count.
§4 A gardener's turn
The gardener with the fewest points starts. If there is a tie, you argue and bicker. And then play clockwise.
Each turn you take exactly 1 card. You have one of three options:
- Convince the jury: Take a fulfilled jury card from the examination board.
- Do some gardening: Grow a garden card from the garden center in your garden and compost the old card.
- Squabble with your neighbor: Play a squabble card from the garden center and then compost it.
1. Convince the jury
If at the beginning of your turn you fulfill the condition of a jury card from the examination board, you may take it and place it in front of you. You keep this card until the end of the game – the jury member has voted for you and sticks with that decision, even if you do not fulfill the condition later on. If you have fulfilled a jury card, but have already taken a card to do so, you must wait until your next turn. See §7 at the end of the statutes for a detailed explanation of all jury cards.
Example: Manny Points votes for your garden if it is worth at least 8 points. Your garden is currently worth 7 points, so you can't convince Manny Points yet. Your opponent, on the other hand, already has 8 points. Sometimes you don't need points, but have to fulfill other requirements. Carla Ful wants to see all four colors in your garden, which you fulfill in the example above! Rowdy Dendron will vote for you if you have a destroyed card opposite yours (you can certainly take care of that...).
Garden pro tip: You can forgo the jury card to squabble or do some gardening instead, for example when you're sure you will still get a jury on your next turn and want to prevent your neighbor from getting one.
2. Do some gardening
To do some gardening, pick a garden card from the garden center and place it in the position of one of the 4 cards of your garden. The condition on the card may or may not be met. Put the replaced card on the compost.
Example: Put the Hammock in the second position in your garden. Compost the Weeds that you replaced. To the left of the Hammock, you have Seeds (blue card), so the condition of the Hammock is fulfilled (blue card next to it). If there had been no blue card in your garden, the Hammock would not count at the moment, but you would still be allowed to put it there.
Gardening effects: Some garden cards have an effect as soon as you grow them. This effect is symbolized on the bottom left of the garden card. These effects are performed immediately and only once. Effects give you new garden gnomes, allow you to rearrange your garden, or let you destroy opposite cards. See §7 at the end of the statutes for a detailed explanation of all garden cards and effects.
Garden gnomes
Garden gnomes enhance your garden or protect it from destruction. Get garden gnomes from garden cards. Draw garden gnomes face down and place them on one of your garden cards (not necessarily the one you got the gnomes from). Only you can have a look at your garden gnomes. There are two types:
- Point gnomes give you 1 or 2 points. You reveal point gnomes to achieve the condition of a jury card – the gnome increases the value of the underlying garden card by 1 or 2 points for that turn. It doesn't matter if the condition of that garden card is met. Afterwards, put your point gnomes face up out of the game.
- No-gnomes protect your garden. Reveal them if the card under the gnome would be destroyed – your card remains unharmed as well as any point gnomes on it. Then put your no-gnome face up out of the game.
When a garden card is replaced while gardening, place the garden gnomes from the old card onto the new card. Any number of garden gnomes can share a card. You may not place a garden gnome on a destroyed card.
Example: You grow Potatoes and replace your Zen Garden with them. Through the gardening effect of the Potatoes you get a new garden gnome from the garden center and put it on your Neuroses. Put the old gnome from the Zen Garden on the Potatoes.
Example: In this example you would like to take the jury card P. Dantic (condition: at least 1 point on each card). The Box Tree card is not fulfilled, so you uncover your 2-point gnome and come up with the required points and can convince P. Dantic. Put your 2-point gnome face up out of the game. Since you do not need your other garden gnomes they remain unrevealed on their cards.
3. Squabble with your neighbor
To squabble, take a (red) squabble card from the garden center and smash it onto the table (your maniacal grin is entirely optional). The effect is immediate. For example, you destroy cards in the neighbor's garden or rearrange them. You do not put squabble cards into your garden like garden cards, but you put them directly on the compost pile. You can also compost squabble cards directly when there would not be an effect, for example when you want no one else to play that card. See §7 at the end of the statutes for a detailed explanation of all squabble cards.
Example: In this game of three, you play Goal! to destroy the opposite Neuroses and Petunias. Cards that are not opposite yours, like the Narcissisms here, are off limits. Your neighbor on the left flips the Neuroses, this marks the card as destroyed. Your opponent on the right reveals a no-gnome on the Petunias. The Petunias thus remain unharmed. Discard the no-gnome and put the Goal! squabble card on the compost.
Destroyed cards
Destroyed cards do not give points and have no color. Destroyed cards are not composted, but remain in their position. You cannot place gnomes on destroyed cards. You can compost destroyed cards just like any other card if you grow a new garden card in their place. If a card is destroyed that has only point gnomes on it, put all the card's point gnomes face up out of the game.
Example: You replace a destroyed card with the Manicured Lawn. Destroyed cards can also be useful however. The Forget-Me-Not was worth 4 points next to the destroyed card before placing the Manicured Lawn.
§5 Refill the garden center
As in Step D+E of §2 Prepare your gardens, after each turn, refill the garden center to four cards. If you draw jury cards, put them directly on the examination board. If there are no cards left in the association pile, you continue playing with less than 4 cards in the garden center.
Example: You fill up the garden center. First you draw the jury card Moni Chrome and then the Nudist Zone. The garden center is now full.
§6 Winning the grand prize
The game ends as soon as one player convinces enough jury members of the examination board (game of two: 5 members, game of three: 4 members, game of four: 3 members) – Congratulations! You have the garden of the year!
The game also ends at the beginning of a turn when the garden center is empty and the player cannot take any card from the examination board. In that case, the winner is the person who has convinced the most jury members. In case of a tie, the points in the gardens are counted. If there is still a tie, you fight, bicker and argue (or play another round).
§7 Card symbols
Note: the card icons in the source are graphics. The labels in bold below are short descriptive headings added for readability; the wording after each label is the statute's own text for that card. The jury-card point figures (for example "5 +") are the printed icon values, shown in parentheses.
Garden cards
- 0 1 2: The card is worth 0 or 1 or 2 points. There are no conditions.
- 1 2 3 (color condition): The card is worth 1 or 2 or 3 points, but only on the condition that at least one of the two cards to its left or right in your garden has the shown color. Destroyed cards do not count.
- 3 4 (opposite color condition): The card is worth 3 or 4 points, but only if the opposite card in your neighbor's garden has the shown color. If the opposite card is destroyed, this condition is not met.
- 4 (destroyed neighbor condition): The card is worth 4 points, but only if at least one of the two cards to its left or right in your garden is destroyed.
- 2 (destroyed opposite condition): The card is worth 2 points, but only if the opposite card in your neighbor's garden is destroyed.
- 1 2 3 (position condition): The card is worth 1 or 2 or 3 points, but only if it is exactly at the position marked with the arrow.
- + (gnome effect): When you grow this card, take a face down garden gnome from the garden center, look at it, and place it on one of your non-destroyed cards in your garden. This can be a different card than the one you are growing. Do not take a garden gnome that has already been used.
- +2 (double gnome effect): When you grow this card, take two garden gnomes (as described above – one after the other).
- Rearrange effect: When you grow this card, rearrange all cards of your garden as you wish. Garden gnomes remain on their cards. Destroyed cards remain destroyed.
- Fence destroy effect: When you grow this card, destroy the card on the opposite side of the fence.
Squabble cards
- Destroy color: Destroy all cards of the shown color opposite your cards.
- + (destroy unmet): Destroy all cards whose conditions are not currently met opposite your cards.
- Destroy gnome-covered: Destroy all cards opposite your garden gnomes.
- Rearrange: Rearrange all cards opposite your cards as you wish. Garden gnomes remain on their cards. Destroyed cards remain destroyed. In a game of three or four, you may arrange cards across gardens and gnomes may switch owners.
- Swap: Swap a card in your garden with its opposite card. Garden gnomes remain on their cards and may switch owners. Destroyed cards remain destroyed.
- Steal gnome: Steal a garden gnome from a card opposite yours and place it on any card in your garden – and no, your neighbor may not look at it again …
Jury cards
- Bo Sides (5 +): Bo Sides wants both cards on the left and right side of your garden to add up to 5 points or more.
- Indra Middles (5 +): Indra Middles wants the two cards in the middle of your garden to add up to 5 points or more.
- Carla Ful: Carla Ful wants each of your cards to have a different color and no card destroyed.
- Moni Chrome: Moni Chrome wants you to have at least 3 cards of one color and that these cards are not destroyed.
- Rowdy Dendron: Rowdy Dendron wants one destroyed card (or more) opposite yours.
- Dick Snomes (3 +): Dick Snomes wants you to score at least 3 points exclusively with garden gnomes. The number of garden gnomes does not matter. Already used garden gnomes do not count.
- Avery Goodcard (4 +): Avery Goodcard wants you to have one card worth 4 points or more.
- P. Dantic: P. Dantic wants all 4 cards in your garden to be worth 1 point or more.
- Tad More (+ / -): Tad More wants the 4 cards in your garden to add up to more points than their opposite cards.
- Earnest Beancounter: Earnest Beancounter wants you to have at least one card worth exactly 1 point, one card worth exactly 2 points, and one card worth exactly 3 points. The order of the cards does not matter.
- Manny Points (8 +): Manny Points wants your garden to be worth 8 points or more.
Short description
Each player gets 4 random starting cards face up next to each other, each opposite a card of a neighboring garden. Shuffle all cards except starting cards into the association pile. Before the game and after each turn draw cards from the association pile and fill up the garden center to four cards. Drawn jury cards form the separate examination board. Each turn you have three options:
- Convince the jury: take a fulfilled jury card from the examination board.
- Do some gardening: grow a garden card from the garden center in your garden and compost the old card.
- Squabble with your neighbor: play a squabble card from the garden center and then compost it.
The first player to convince enough members of the jury wins (2 players: 5 jury cards, 3 players: 4 jury cards, 4 players: 3 jury cards).
Components
- 11 jury cards
- 44 garden cards (including 16 starting cards)
- 9 squabble cards
- 12 garden gnomes
- 4 fences
Players: 2-4. Duration: 20-30 min. Age: 10+.