Takenoko
Takenoko Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Game Story
- GAME MATERIAL
- ELEMENTS OF THE GAME
- PREPARATION
- PLAYING THE GAME
- END OF THE GAME
- ADVICE TO NEW GARDENERS
Game Story
At the Japanese Imperial court, a long, long time ago...
After a long series of disputes, diplomatic relations between Japan and China are finally on the mend. In order to properly celebrate this alliance, the Chinese Emperor gifted to his Japanese counterpart a sacred animal, a giant panda, a symbol of peace.
The Japanese Emperor has entrusted his court members (the players), with the difficult task of caring for the animal by setting up its own bamboo plantation. The players will cultivate the land plots, irrigate them and grow one of the three species of bamboo (green, yellow and pink) with the help of the Imperial gardener.
They will have to bear with the ravenous hunger of the sacred animal for the juicy and tender bamboo...
The player who grows the most bamboo, managing their land plots best while feeding the delicate panda will win the game.
GAME MATERIAL
- 28 plot tiles
- 28 green bamboo sections
- 26 yellow bamboo sections
- 24 pink bamboo sections
- 20 irrigation channels
- 9 improvement tokens
- 46 objective cards
- 4 individual boards
- 8 action tokens
- 1 weather die
- 1 panda
- 1 gardener
- 1 rule booklet
ELEMENTS OF THE GAME
Before you embark on your first game, take some time to familiarize yourself with the different game elements and their functions.
PLOTS
The plots are pieces of land where bamboo grows. They come in three colors: green, yellow and pink. Bamboo cannot grow on the pond.
BAMBOO
There are three varieties of bamboo which match the colors of three plots: green, yellow and pink.
IRRIGATION
Bamboo shoots need water. Without it, there is no growth! Fortunately, we can use irrigation to water the plots.
IMPROVEMENTS
The improvements facilitate the growth of bamboo. Some plots have a built-in improvement and some additional improvement tokens are available.
GARDENER
The gardener supervises the bamboo and ensures the proper growth of carefully cultivated bamboo plots.
PANDA
The giant panda roams freely through the bamboo and has a voracious appetite for juicy bamboo.
OBJECTIVES
To please the Emperor, players will need to meet 3 different categories of objectives which will yield victory points.
WEATHER DICE
Weather conditions, as determined by the weather dice, play an important role in the improvement of the bamboo plantation.
EMPEROR
In good time, his Majesty will visit the gardens and declare a winner.
Each color is marked by a specific pictogram on each Objective card and Terrain tile, to make them more easily distinguishable by color-blind people: pink, yellow and green.
PREPARATION
- Place the pond tile in the center of the table.
- Place the gardener and the panda on this plot.
- Mix the remaining land plot tiles to form a draw pile, face down.
- Place the irrigation channels and improvements (sorted by type) next to this draw pile forming the reserve.
- Set the Emperor card aside and sort the remaining cards by category (plot, gardener, panda) and shuffle them to form three draw piles, face down.
- Each player receives their own individual board , 2 action tokens and an objective of each category (which each player can look at but keeps hidden from the other players).
- The tallest player starts the game.
PLAYING THE GAME
Turn order proceeds clockwise. When their turn comes, a player must perform two steps in this order:
1. DETERMINE WEATHER CONDITIONS
Important: the weather die comes into play during the second round of play. In the first round, players ignore this step and proceed directly to the next.
The player rolls the weather die and applies the effect of the climatic conditions obtained.
SUN
Bright sun shines on the bamboo plantation.
The player gains an additional action. This action must be different from their two regular actions.
RAIN
A fine rain nourishes the young bamboo shoots.
The player may place a bamboo section on the plot of their choice, up to a limit of four sections per plot.
WIND
A fresh breeze blows through the bamboo plantation.
The player may, but is not required to, take two identical actions in this round (instead of two different actions).
STORM
The sky rumbles and lightning strikes, frightening the panda.
The player can put the panda on the plot of their choice. To recover from his fright, the shy animal eats a section of bamboo.
CLOUDS
Gray clouds darken the sky. Never mind, it is time to go on and perform some handy work.
The player may take one improvement from those available in the reserve and place it on the plot of their choice. If no improvement is available, the player may move an improvement that has already been placed in the game.
?
The player chooses which weather condition they wish to apply this turn: sun, rain, wind, storm or clouds.
2. PERFORM ACTIONS AND MEET OBJECTIVES
The player has two actions to take which must be chosen from among five options.
Note: these actions must be different from one another!
To finalize their choices, the player puts two tokens on the appropriate spaces of their individual board. The order in which the actions are resolved is chosen by the player. Then the player passes the weather die to the player on their left. The five actions are described in more detail in the following pages.
PLOTS
The player draws 3 plots, chooses 1 and places it in the game.
IRRIGATION
The player takes an irrigation channel from the reserve and places it in the game.
GARDENER
The player moves the gardener who then grows the bamboo.
PANDA
The player moves the panda which then eats a section of bamboo.
OBJECTIVE
The player draws 1 objective card of the category of their choice and adds it to their hand.
Important: Each player owns the sections of bamboo stored on their individual board, but all elements of the bamboo plantation (plots, irrigation channels, improvements and bamboo sections) are common to all players.
PLOTS
The player draws three plots, chooses one and places the other two back under the deck, facedown in the order of their choice.
The selected plot is then put into play following at least one of the following two rules:
- The plot is adjacent to the pond
- The plot is adjacent to two plots already in play
Each plot can only grow one single bamboo of its color but it needs irrigation to do this (see “Irrigation”).
Note: the plots next to the pond and those with the watershed improvement are automatically irrigated! A bamboo section is immediately added (see “Irrigation”).
Regardless of color, some plots have built-in improvements.
IRRIGATION
The player takes an irrigation channel from the reserve. This irrigation channel is then placed according to the following rules:
- irrigation is always placed on the border between two plots;
- the irrigation channels form networks that always start from the pond;
- irrigation cannot be placed along the border of the pond.
A plot is irrigated if it has at least one of the following conditions:
- it is adjacent to the pond;
- at least one of its six borders hosts an irrigation channel;
- It has a watershed improvement.
When a plot is irrigated for the first time, a section of bamboo of its color is added. A plot is eligible for this first shoot only once. If an irrigation channel irrigates two plots simultaneously, a section of bamboo is added to each.
GARDENER
The player moves the gardener in a straight line, any number of plots in the direction of their choice. The gardener is only allowed to move over plots, not empty spaces between plots. They grow a section of bamboo on the plot where they finish their move as well as on all directly adjacent plots of the same color.
If a plot has bamboo at a height of four sections, then no section is added, because 4 sections is the maximum size of a bamboo shoot.
Important: Sections never grow in non-irrigated plots, even if the gardener finishes their move on the plot or on an adjacent plot.
PANDA
The player moves the panda in a straight line, any number of plots in the direction of their choice. The panda is only allowed to move over plots, not empty spaces between plots.
The panda eats a bamboo section from the plot where he finishes his movement.
The player keeps this bamboo section on their individual board. It can be used to fulfill a Giant panda objective.
DETAILS ON THE MOVEMENTS
- The gardener and the panda can cross or end their movement on the pond.
- They cannot cross an empty space between two plots and must stop before the empty space.
- To benefit from their action (gardener or panda), a player must move them at least one space.
OBJECTIVES
The player draws 1 objective card of the category of their choice and adds it to their hand.
Important: a player can only have a maximum of 5 cards. A player with 5 cards in their hand cannot draw another one. They must complete at least one objective before drawing again.
OBJECTIVE VALIDATION
This does not count as an action. At any time during their turn, a player may complete an objective if the conditions shown on the card are met. To complete an objective, the player places the card face up in front of them. It is possible to complete several objectives during the same turn.
Important: Once an objective has been validated, it cannot be lost.
PLOTS OBJECTIVES
These objectives represent three or four adjacent plots.
To fulfill this objective, the configuration shown on the card must be reflected in the bamboo plantation.
Important: To be valid the combination must be entirely composed of irrigated plots.
GARDENER OBJECTIVES
These objectives represent either:
- a bamboo shoot of four sections, with a specific improvement
- a bamboo shoot of four sections, without improvement
- a group of several bamboo shoot of three sections with or without improvements.
To fulfill this objective, the configuration shown on the card must be reflected in the bamboo plantation. Moreover, the gardener must be on the plot, or one of the plots (for the objectives with several bamboo shoots).
PANDA OBJECTIVES
These objectives represent 2 or 3 bamboo sections.
To fulfill this objective, the player must have the required sections on their individual board. They must be replaced into the reserve after the objective is completed.
IMPROVEMENTS
Improvements exist in two forms: either directly printed on the plots, or as tokens added by a player acquired by the cloud side of the weather die.
Each plot can have one and only one improvement (whether built-in or as a token).
ENCLOSURE
The enclosure protects the bamboo in its plot. The panda can move across or stop there, but cannot eat any bamboo there.
WATERSHED
The watershed provides the bamboo in its plot all the water it needs. Therefore this plot does not need to be irrigated and immediately benefits from the addition of first growth related to irrigation.
Important: A watershed cannot under any circumstances be used as the beginning of a new irrigation system.
FERTILIZER
Fertilizer increases the growth of bamboo on its plot. Each time the bamboo grows, two sections are added instead of one (subject to the usual 4 sections maximum).
END OF THE GAME
The game end conditions depend on the number of players:
- 2 players: when a player completes their ninth objective, it triggers the last round.
- 3 players: when a player completes their eighth objective, it triggers the last round.
- 4 players: when a player completes their seventh objective, it triggers the last round.
The player who triggered the final turn takes the Emperor card.
Important: A player may still complete other objectives during the turn in which he triggers the final round.
The other players then each have a final turn in which they can attempt to complete objectives to improve their scores.
Finally, the Emperor rewards the most deserving of his servants after an extensive inspection. Each player totals the points indicated on the objectives completed during the game. Objectives still in hand have no value.
The player with the highest score wins the game and receives the congratulations of the Emperor.
In case of a tie, the player with the most points on the panda objectives wins. In the event of a further tie, the tied players share the victory...
ADVICE TO NEW GARDENERS
Lacking a green thumb? Here are some gardening tips:
- Be sure to take a plot during your first turn: you will need a piece of land in order to start working!
- You can play your first game without including the weather die. It will be a little less fun, but it will give you time to familiarize yourself with the rest of the game concepts!
- The sections of bamboo found in the box should meet the needs of most players, but if a player runs short of sections, you can temporarily use sections of another color to represent the shoot!