Succulent
Succulent Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 8 Garden Plots
- 54 Droplets (30 small, 24 large)
- 36 Project Cards
- 4 Gardeners (1 per color)
- 68 Flower Beds (22 small, 30 medium, 16 large)
- 50 Cuttings (10 per type)
- 4 Greenhouses (labeled A, B, C, D)
- 56 Flowers (14 per color)
Card Anatomy
- A. Completion Cost. To complete this project, you must spend cuttings of the types and quantities shown here.
- B. Immediate Bonus. When you complete this project, you take the immediate bonus shown here. Not all projects have an immediate bonus.
- C. Point Value. When you complete this project, you score the points shown here, but not until the end of the game.
- D. Gardener Space. This is where you place your gardener. If any player completes this project while your gardener is here, you gain one large droplet.
- E. Flower Beds. When you place your gardener on this project, you gain flower beds in the sizes and quantities shown here.
Game Setup
- Garden. Place four random garden plots face down to form a row, with their long edges touching each other. Then place two more random garden plots face down on both sides of this row, rotated 90 degrees. Finally, flip the two central garden plots face up.
- Supply. Sort the flower beds, droplets, and cuttings by type into separate piles, then place these piles next to the garden to form the supply.
- Projects. Shuffle the project cards together to form a face-down deck. Place this project deck next to the garden. Then, draw a number of cards from the top of the deck and place them face up next to the deck to form the project row.
- 2 players -> 5 project cards
- 3 players -> 5 project cards
- 4 players -> 6 project cards
- Greenhouses. Give each player a greenhouse at random. Each player then chooses a color and takes the gardener of that color and a certain number of flowers of that color and places them next to their greenhouse.
- 2 players -> 14 flowers each
- 3 players -> 12 flowers each
- 4 players -> 10 flowers each
- Inventory. Each player takes one small flower bed and one medium flower bed from the supply and places them in their own inventory.
- Start Player. The player whose greenhouse is earliest in alphabetical order (A, B, C, D) is the start player. They will take the first turn of the game.
How to Play
The game is played in a series of rounds. In every round, each player takes a single turn, beginning with the start player and continuing in clockwise order.
On your turn, carry out these two steps, in order: perform an action and complete a project. Once you have done so, your turn ends and the next player's turn begins.
This sequence continues until the end of the game (see End of the Game).
Step 1: Perform an Action
This step is mandatory. In this step, you must perform one action. There are two possible actions: (a) place a flower bed or (b) gain flower beds.
A. Place a Flower Bed
Gain cuttings by placing one of your flower beds in the garden.
Choose a flower bed from your inventory, then place it in the garden so that it covers empty spaces on one or more face-up garden plots. To indicate that you own the flower bed, place one of your flowers in the hole in the flower bed.
When placing flower beds, you must observe these general placement rules:
- Flower beds cannot overlap with other flower beds.
- Flower beds cannot cover spaces on face-down garden plots.
- Flower beds cannot overhang the outer edges of the garden itself.
For each space you just covered, gain one cutting of that type from the supply and place it in your inventory. For each droplet icon on the spaces you just covered, gain one small droplet from the supply and place it in your greenhouse.
Revealing New Garden Plots
If you cover the last droplet icon that is currently visible in the entire garden when you place a flower bed, you must reveal a new garden plot. Choose any face-down garden plot and flip it face up (without rotating it).
When you reveal a new garden plot, you may immediately place one small flower bed from your inventory. You may place this small flower bed anywhere in the garden; you are not required to place it on the newly revealed garden plot. All normal placement rules and effects apply.
Finally, all players (including you) gain one small droplet for each of their own flowers that is adjacent to the new flower bed. Diagonals are not adjacent. Each droplet a player gains this way must immediately be placed in their greenhouse.
Example: the yellow player places a large flower bed in the garden. The new flower bed covers purple, green, and orange spaces, so the yellow player gains cuttings of those three types. Because the blue player has a flower adjacent to the new flower bed, the blue player gains one small droplet.
B. Gain Flower Beds
Send your gardener to gain flower beds and stake a claim on a project.
Remove your gardener from its current position — either in your inventory or occupying a project card — and place it on any project card in the project row that is not currently occupied by a gardener. (You may not remove your gardener from a project card and place it back on that card in the same turn, however.)
The project card on which you just placed your gardener will show one or two flower beds, of specific sizes, at the bottom of the card. Gain those flower beds from the supply (if available) and place them in your inventory.
Example: the blue player takes their gardener from their inventory and places it on an unoccupied project card in the project row. The blue player then gains the two flower beds — one medium, one large — shown at the bottom of the card.
Inventory Limitations
You may not keep more than six flower beds or 10 cuttings in your inventory. You are allowed to go over that limit temporarily during your turn, but you must discard down to the limit at the end of your turn, returning any excess items to the supply.
Step 2: Complete a Project
This step is optional. In this step, you may (but are not required to) complete one available project from the project row.
To complete a project, you must spend all of the cuttings required by that project, which together make up the project's completion cost. As you spend the required cuttings, return them from your inventory to the supply.
Important! To help pay for the completion cost of a project, you may spend droplets from full sections in your greenhouse (see Greenhouse Details).
Once you have paid the completion cost, take the project card and place it in front of you. If that project has an immediate bonus, take it now.
If there is a gardener occupying the project card (whether yours or someone else's), return that gardener to its owner. The gardener's owner gains one large droplet from the supply and immediately places it in their greenhouse.
Finally, refill the project row by drawing the top card of the project deck and placing it face up in the empty slot in the project row.
Example: the blue player completes this project by spending four cuttings from their inventory plus the droplets from a full section in their greenhouse as the fifth cutting. The blue player takes the project card and takes the immediate bonus of one small droplet. The white gardener occupying the card is returned to its owner, who gains one large droplet.
Greenhouse Details
Each greenhouse is slightly different, but they all have five sections: one for each type of cutting. Each section in a greenhouse has two, three, or four spaces.
Gaining Droplets
When you gain a droplet (small or large), you must immediately place it in your greenhouse. You may place it on any empty space in any section. If there are no empty spaces, you may discard another droplet to make room for the new one.
Spending Droplets
Once a section is full of droplets, you may spend those droplets as one cutting of that type, to help pay for the completion cost of a project. If you do, all small droplets in that section are removed and returned to the supply. Large droplets are never removed, however.
Rearranging Droplets
Once you have placed a droplet in a particular section, you may not move it to a different section later. However, you may move a droplet to a different space within the same section (i.e., moving a small droplet so that a large droplet can be placed on a scoring space).
Scoring Points
Your greenhouse has nine scoring spaces. Each scoring space has a point value. At the end of the game, you score points for all scoring spaces that contain large droplets. Scoring spaces that contain small droplets are not scored.
End of the Game
The game end is triggered when one player has placed their last flower -OR- completed a certain number of projects (based on player count):
- 2 players -> 8 completed projects
- 3 players -> 7 completed projects
- 4 players -> 6 completed projects
When at least one of these end-game triggers has occurred, finish the current round and play one more round. This means that the player seated to the right of the start player will take the final turn of the game. Then proceed to final scoring.
Important! If a player places a flower bed after they have run out of flowers, that flower bed is unowned and will not count toward any completed projects.
Final Scoring
During final scoring, each player tallies their points in three categories:
- Completed Projects. Add up the point values for all projects you have completed. Some have a fixed point value while others have a variable point value, based on conditions in the garden, in your greenhouse, or among your completed projects.
- Scoring Spaces. Add up the point values for all scoring spaces in your greenhouse that contain large droplets. Scoring spaces that contain small droplets are not scored.
- Remaining Items. Score one half point for each flower bed in your inventory, each cutting in your inventory, and each small droplet in your greenhouse.
Example: the blue player has six completed projects, which are worth 6, 7, 9, 12, 7, and 12 points. Their greenhouse has five scoring spaces that contain large droplets, for a total of 10 points. They have eight remaining items between their greenhouse and inventory, for a total of 4 points. Their final score is 67 points.
Winning
Once final scores have been tallied, the player who scored the most points (including half points) is the winner! In the case of a tie, the tied player with the most flowers in the garden is the winner. If there is still a tie, the tied players each half win.
Project Card Reference
- Immediately gain 1 green cutting. At game end, score 8 points.
- Immediately gain any 1 cutting. At game end, score 10 points.
- Immediately gain 2 small droplets. At game end, score 9 points.
- Immediately gain 1 small flower bed. At game end, score 10 points.
- Immediately place 1 small flower bed. At game end, score 6 points.
- At game end, score 2 points for each of your small flower beds in the garden.
- At game end, score 3 points for each of your large flower beds in the garden.
- At game end, score 2 points for each contiguous group of your flower beds in the garden.
- At game end, score 1 point for each black cutting required by your completed projects.
- At game end, score 2 points for each flower bed in the longest unbroken line of your flower beds in the garden.
- At game end, score each scoring space in your greenhouse that contains a small droplet.
- At game end, score 2 points for each garden plot with at least one of your flower beds on it (partially or completely).
- At game end, score 2 points for each of your flower beds adjacent to the garden's outer edges.
- At game end, score 2 points for each large droplet in your greenhouse.
Credits
Succulent
- Game Designer: J. Alex Kevern
- Developer: T.C. Petty III
- Illustrator: Anna Daviscourt
- Graphic Designer: Melanie Graham
- Editor: Dustin Schwartz
- Production Artist: Dan Wagner
Renegade Game Studios
- President & Publisher: Scott Gaeta
- Controller: Robyn Gaeta
- Director of Operations: Leisha Cummins
- Director of Sales & Marketing: Sara Erickson
- Creative Director: Anita Osburn
- Senior Producer: Dan Bojanowski
- Senior Marketing Manager: Teri Litorco
- Creative Production Lead: Gordon Tucker
- Video Production Manager: Desiree Love
- Event Manager: Patty Wainwright
- Development Coordinator: Dan Blanchett
- Customer Service: Jenni Janikowski
Special Thanks: Alex would like to thank Adam P. McIver, Steve Finn, and Aaron Wilson for their playtesting and helpful feedback; Dan Bojanowski and T.C. Petty III for their development collaboration and bright ideas; and his wife and family for their tireless support of his creative endeavors. Renegade Game Studios would like to thank Josiah Bojanowski, Jubilee Bojanowski, Solomon Bojanowski, Will Raiman, Dave Satterfield, and all of our Renegade Society members who have supported our games — you are like water to our thirsty roots!
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