Reef Gardens
Reef Gardens Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Materials
- 1 double-sided game board SEABED
- 1 underwater nursery
- 90 coral tiles
- 15 underwater stations
- 30 shell tiles
- 15 sonar chips
- 1 cloth bag
- In each player color: 1 player board, 5 divers, 1 money marker, 1 victory point marker
Note: The double-sided game board SEABED offers 2 variants. One side as a long game version with more spaces, the other for a shorter game of approx. 30-40 minutes. Both sides can be played with 2-4 players, we recommend the longer version for 3-4 players and the shorter version for 2 players. The following rules refer to the long game version.
Short game version
Fewer coral tiles are needed for the short game version. Remove 30 random tiles before you start setting up the game. In this version, some underwater stations are also built on the edge.
In contrast to the long game version, scoring takes place when the 5 seabed spaces surrounding them are occupied.
Overview
The aim is to plant corals on the seabed in such a way that they score as many victory points as possible.
Points are scored for each coral tile planted and, if applicable, for shell tiles.
Points are also awarded to the players who have the largest adjacent coral reefs when the underwater stations are scored. You need research funds (money) to create new reefs which can be obtained by closing your own reefs.
You can play Reef Gardens in 2 ways: In the standard version, which is described below in the rules, or in the Atolls version. For the Atolls version, only one additional building rule is added.
If you want to play this version, consider also the rules in the box on page 5. If you only want to play the standard version, you can ignore the additional rule for Atolls.
Set-Up
Lay out the SEABED game board on the table with the desired side (long game, short game) facing up.
Shuffle the underwater stations face down and then place them as a face-down stack on the corresponding space of the underwater nursery.
Then take as many stations from the stack as indicated below in turn and place them face up on the correspondingly marked building site spaces.
- With 2 players: Stations on A, B and C
- With 3 players: Stations on A, B, C and D
- With 4 players: Stations on A, B, C, D and E
Random starting fields
Instead of building underwater stations on spaces A-E at the beginning, you can also choose random starting spaces.
To do this, first shuffle all 15 sonar chips face down. Then draw the top chips according to the number of players and place the underwater stations on the corresponding building sites for the underwater stations:
With 2 players you draw 3 chips, with 3 players 4 chips and with 4 players 5 chips.
Shuffle the shell tiles face down and then randomly place them face up on the corresponding spaces for the shell colonies on the game board.
The unused shell tiles are removed from the game.
Place the underwater nursery on the table above the game board.
Place the 90 coral tiles in the cloth bag and shuffle them well. Then randomly draw tiles from the bag and place them face up on the spaces of the nursery one after the other, starting with 1.
In the first round, space number 6 remains empty, but all spaces are always filled when refilling.
Sort out all the sonar chips you don't need (the ones with the letters on which an underwater station has already been placed). Put them back in the box, they are no longer needed.
Shuffle all remaining sonar chips face down and place them face down on the corresponding space of the underwater nursery. Then take the top 3 chips from the stack and place them on the building site spaces on the seabed with the same letter.
Each player chooses a color and receives their player board, 5 divers, a money marker and a marker for the victory point track.
Place the marker for the victory points on space 0 of the victory point track on the game board.
Place the 5 divers on the corresponding spaces of the player board.
Place the money marker on space 6 of the money track. This is your starting capital.
Game Play
The last player to have gone diving at a coral reef begins. Otherwise choose at random. Beginning with the starting player, the game proceeds in clockwise order. When it is your turn, you always have the choice between 2 actions:
- Planting: Purchase corals from the underwater nursery and plant them immediately
- or
- Surfacing: Complete at least one reef and retrieve the diver to receive research funds
You must always perform one of these actions. Passing is not allowed!
If you choose the Planting action, you can also use any number of your shell tiles before, during or after the action and carry out the associated bonus actions.
Action: Planting
1 money per coral tile
Select a row in the underwater nursery and take all the coral tiles there. You must pay 1 money for each coral tile you acquire. Move the money marker on your player board back the corresponding number of spaces.
Example: Dennis chooses the marked row and buys 1 yellow and 1 pink coral for 2 money.
If you do not have enough money to purchase the complete row, you cannot choose the row.
You must always take all coral tiles in a row and plant them immediately. Coral tiles that you cannot or do not want to plant are discarded from the game (put back in the box).
You receive 3 minus points for each coral tile you discard. Move your marker back the appropriate number of spaces on the victory point track.
3 tiles or less in the underwater nursery
After you have taken tiles, check to see if there are only 3 or fewer coral tiles left in the nursery.
When this happens, you will wait to plant your coral tiles until after you have built a new underwater station and refilled the nursery (see Build New Underwater Station and Refill the Underwater Nursery).
Planting rules
The following rules must be observed when planting coral reefs:
- Coral reefs may only be planted on free spaces or spaces containing shell tiles. This means that no tiles may be planted on caves or building sites reserved for underwater stations.
- A new coral reef must always start at an underwater station. To do this the first tile of the new reef must be placed on one of the four starting spaces orthogonally adjacent to an underwater station.
- Existing coral reefs that you already own can be extended by placing tiles of the same type orthogonally adjacent to each other (side by side, not diagonally).
- A player's own coral reef must not be connected to another player's coral reef of the same type.
The diver marks his own reefs
When you start a new reef at an underwater station, you take one of your divers from the player board and place it on the tile. Always take divers from right to left from the board.
If you extend your own reef (marked with a diver) with a coral tile of the same type, you do not have to place another diver on it. On each connected reef, only one diver marks who owns the reef.
As soon as you close a reef with the Surfacing action (see Action: Surfacing), it becomes neutral. Neutral reefs do not belong to anyone, but they can become the property of a player again under certain conditions.
Atolls
If you are playing the Atolls version, you must also observe the following rule for planting:
Each coral reef that is directly adjacent to an underwater station (i.e. placed on one of the four starting spaces) must consist of a different species. This applies both to reefs that are started there and to reefs that are expanded to that station from another station.
This rule also applies to all building sites on which no underwater station has yet been placed. It is therefore not permitted to plant the same coral species on 2 or more sides of a building site.
Example: Dennis cannot connect his reef directly to the upper underwater station because a blue coral is already connected to it. However, he can place a coral on the corner space of the upper underwater station to still take part in the scoring.
Fusion with own or neutral coral reefs
Coral reefs of the same coral species can be merged under certain circumstances:
- If you connect 2 of your own coral reefs of the same type, both reefs are merged and one of the divers is immediately returned to your player board. You do not receive any new research funds for taking the diver back.
- You can merge your own reef with a neutral reef of the same type, provided that the neutral reef—before it is merged—is the same size or smaller than your own reef. However, if the neutral reef is larger, the two reefs may not be merged.
- If you can connect several neutral reefs to your own at the same time, the condition must be met for each individual reef. Your own reef must therefore be larger or the same size as each individual neutral reef. If one of the neutral reefs is larger than your own, the reefs cannot be merged.
Example: Dennis wants to expand his coral reef, but each new coral tile would connect his reef to another neutral reef. As Dennis' reef currently consists of 3 tiles, his reef cannot merge with the 4-tile reef on the left. However, both neutral reefs on the right are smaller or the same size as his reef, so he can merge with these two reefs.
Obtain shell tiles
If you place a coral tile on a space containing a shell tile, you take this tile and place it face up in front of you. Some of the shell tiles allow additional actions.
You can use these tiles in any number and in any order during the Planting action.
The tile that you used to perform an action is then removed from the game.
All shell tiles are explained below (see Shell Tiles).
Station Scoring After Planting
After you have performed the Planting action, you must check whether an underwater station will be scored.
If, at the end of a turn, all 8 spaces around an underwater station are occupied (by coral or shell tiles or by spaces showing a cave), this underwater station is scored.
Now determine which player has the most coral tiles in all their reefs adjacent to this underwater station, including diagonally. To do this, first check which reefs occupied by divers are connected to the underwater station, i.e., which have at least one tile adjacent to the station on one of the 8 surrounding spaces. Neutral reefs are ignored. Then, for each player, count the coral tiles on their reefs. If a player has multiple reefs adjacent to the underwater station, the tiles from all reefs are added together.
Whoever has the most coral tiles belonging to reefs adjacent to the underwater station receives the higher value indicated on the underwater station. You immediately add the corresponding points to the score track. The player with the second most coral tiles receives the lower value indicated and also immediately adds the points to the scoring track. If more players have adjacent coral reefs, but they are not as large, they do not score any points.
If several players are tied for the most coral tiles, they all receive the higher score. The score for 2nd place is then omitted. If there are several players who are tied for the second most coral tiles, they receive the lower score.
If only one player has coral tiles adjacent to the underwater station, they only receive the higher point value.
After an underwater station has been scored, the station tile is turned over so that it cannot be scored again.
Example: Klemens has 1 reef with 5 corals adjacent to the underwater station, Stefan has 1 reef each with 2 and 3 corals, Anja has 1 reef with 3 corals and Andrea has 1 reef each with 4 and 3 corals adjacent to the underwater station.
Andrea (a total of 7 coral tiles) receives 10 points, Klemens and Stefan (both 5 tiles) each receive 5 points. Anja (3 tiles) receives no points.
Build New Underwater Station and Refill the Underwater Nursery
If you take coral tiles from the underwater nursery and there are only 3 or fewer left, you must immediately build a new underwater station and refill the underwater nursery.
The following steps must be carried out in this order:
- Take the top tile from the face-down stack of underwater stations and place it on one of the 3 building sites of your choice on the seabed marked with a sonar chip. The corresponding sonar chip is taken from the seabed and removed from the game. If the stack of underwater stations is empty, this step is skipped.
- Take a new sonar chip from the face-down stack and place it on the building site space on the board with the corresponding letter. If the pile of sonar chips is empty, this step is skipped.
- Fill the underwater nursery with new coral tiles. To do this, draw tiles from the cloth bag one after the other and place them face up on the free spaces of the nursery, starting with the first free space with the lowest number and so on until all 12 spaces are filled. If the bag becomes empty (it may not be possible to fill the underwater nursery completely), the remaining underwater station tiles are immediately removed from the game. No more new stations can then be built.
- Now plant the coral tiles you have just purchased according to the rules. You can also start a new reef at the underwater station you have just built.
Action: Surfacing
Instead of planting, if you own at least one coral reef, you can also close any number of your own reefs and retrieve their divers by selecting the Surfacing action. This will give you new research funds.
Close and score coral reef
Remove your diver from the reef you are closing and put him back on your player board.
Divers are always placed on free spaces from left to right.
You receive 1 victory point for each coral tile of a reef that you close.
You receive 1 additional victory point for each clownfish in your closed reef.
Record the points on the victory point track.
The closed coral reefs remain on the seabed. They do not belong to anyone and are considered neutral. No further coral tiles can be added to neutral reefs. However, they can be taken over again through merging and expanded again (see Fusion with Own or Neutral Coral Reefs).
More divers means more research funds
If you choose the Surfacing action, you must close at least one reef, but you may close as many of your own reefs as you like.
You will now receive new research funds. These are based on the number of divers on your player board at the end of this action. The more divers you have on your board, the more money you receive.
You receive for:
- 1 diver: 2 money
- 2 divers: 4 money
- 3 divers: 6 money
- 4 divers: 7 money
- 5 divers: 8 money
Example: Dennis has closed 3 reefs and takes 3 divers back. He now has 4 divers on his board and receives 7 money.
Advance your money marker by as many spaces as you have received research funds. The maximum amount of funds is 12 money. Any income above this is forfeited.
End of Game
The game ends when the underwater nursery is empty and can no longer be refilled.
The final scoring follows:
Scoring unfinished underwater stations
All underwater stations that have not yet been completely surrounded are now scored.
The player with the most coral tiles in their reefs adjacent to a station receives the lower point value on the station tile. Any other players with reefs adjacent to this station receive no points.
If there are several players tied for the most coral tiles, they each receive the lower score.
Scoring the planted coral reefs
All coral reefs on which you have divers are scored. Count the coral tiles on your reefs and score 1 victory point per tile. Then add an additional point for each tile with a clownfish.
Points for shell tiles
Finally, you receive 1 victory point for each shell tile in front of you.
Shoal tiles instead score the number of points printed on them.
All points are marked on the victory point track.
The player with the most points has contributed the most to regenerating the coral reefs and wins the game.
Shell Tiles
Place the shell tiles you receive next to your player board. They can be used at any time during your turn if you use the Planting action. You can use them before, during or after the action. This also applies to tiles you have just received. You can use any number of shell tiles in the same turn and in any order.
Shell tiles that you have used for an action are removed from the game and put back in the box.
Unused shell tiles score 1 victory point in the final scoring.
Shoal tiles (2x2, 2x3, 2x4)
Fish shoal tiles score the number of victory points as indicated on them in the final scoring.
Sea anemone (3x)
You can store a coral tile that you have just received from the underwater nursery on the sea anemone tile for a later turn. However, you may only plant the coral stored there if you perform the Planting action and have bought at least one coral from the underwater nursery. You may only store 1 coral tile per sea anemone, but you may own several sea anemones. In an action, you may first plant a coral tile stored on the sea anemone and then store another tile that you bought from the underwater nursery.
Do not discard the sea anemone after using it; you may continue to use it the rest of the game. It only scores 1 victory point at the end of the game if there is a coral tile on it.
Pearls (2x2, 2x3)
You can exchange pearl tiles for money by advancing the marker on the money track by the corresponding value. As soon as you have used a pearl tile, remove it from the game.
Unused pearl tiles score 1 victory point in the final scoring.
Boat (4x)
You may take any one coral tile from the underwater nursery and plant it immediately. You do not have to pay anything for this. If there are then 3 or fewer coral tiles in the nursery, first build a new underwater station and refill the underwater nursery as per the rules before planting the coral tile.
As soon as you have used a boat, remove it from the game.
Unused boat tiles score 1 victory point in the final scoring.
Octopus (3x)
You can place the octopus on any free seabed space (not on caves or on building sites). You can use the octopus to trigger an underwater station scoring, for example, if the other adjacent spaces are already occupied. You can also pick up an octopus after it has been placed if you place a coral tile on the octopus' location. The octopus tile therefore remains in the game after it has been placed; it is not removed from the game like the other shell tiles.
Octopus tiles next to your player board score 1 victory point in the final scoring.
Algae (3x)
You can use the algae to plant one of your coral tiles over a cave or over any neutral coral tile. If you plant over a neutral tile, your own coral tile must be of a different type, or the neutral coral reef consists of only one coral tile. The planting rules must be observed. As soon as you have used an algae, remove it from the game.
Tiles next to your player board score 1 victory point in the final scoring.
Submarine (3x)
You can immediately build a new underwater station and refill the underwater nursery. Follow all the steps in Build New Underwater Station and Refill the Underwater Nursery.
Unused tiles score 1 victory point in the final scoring.
Turtle (4x)
You can take over a neutral reef that consists of a maximum of 2 coral tiles. To do this, place one of your divers on the reef to mark it as yours. As soon as you have used the Turtle, remove it from the game.
Unused tiles score 1 victory point in the final scoring.