Vicious Gardens: Cruel Summers & Noxious Weeds
Vicious Gardens: Cruel Summers & Noxious Weeds Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Cruel Summers
Cruel Summers introduces a group-effect to the game. After five Sunflower cards are played a Drought takes place and all gardeners are affected. Gardeners can save or play their Sun Flower cards at strategic moments when a drought would benefit them (or harm their opponents) most.
Set Up
Place the Cruel Summers board next to the Vicious Gardens board. Place the included Cruel Summers token on the top space on the board. Mix the Sunflower cards in the Plant deck and shuffle.
Moving the Sun Token
The Sun Token moves one space immediately after a gardener plays a Sunflower card. When played, the Sunflower goes immediately into the Compost Pile and is not placed in a garden. A gardener can choose not to play a Sunflower on their turn and keep it in their hand.
Sun token: starts on the top space on the Cruel Summers expansion board. Sunflower cards: place in Plant Deck.
Drought!
Once the Sun Token reaches the Drought space a Drought immediately occurs. A Drought has two phases: Crop Rotation and Insect Removal. After the phases are complete, the Sun Token moves back to its starting position and play resumes.
Phase 1: Crop Rotation
The gardener who started the Drought gets to take and Plot from any garden (including their own) and add it to their hand. Pollinated Plots cannot be taken. Plots with Bird Bath or Pestilence can be taken and these cards go with the rest of the Plot.
Note: the printed text reads "take and Plot"; the intended wording is evidently "take a Plot", as the rest of the paragraph makes clear.
The above action continues clockwise for each gardener until all gardeners have taken a Plot. Gardeners get to keep these cards in their hands and can plant them next turn.
Phase 2: Insect Removal
After Phase 1 is complete, the gardener who started the Drought has to remove one Pollinator or Pestilence from their garden and discard into the Retirement Pile. If they do not have a Pollinator or Pestilence, no action is needed. This action continues clockwise for all gardeners.
Noxious Weeds
Weeds are a new category of plant you can cultivate in Vicious Gardens. However, they work a little differently than other Plants—there is a risk/reward component to them. They can have a negative effect on you or you can use them to your advantage. Shuffle the weeds into the plant deck to set up.
Planting Weeds
Weeds are planted in their own Plots in gardens in the same way as other Plant categories. They are worth negative 1 pt each at the End of the Season. You can plant Weeds in any garden. You cannot add Wild Blooms to a Weed Plot. You cannot add Weeds to a Plot of a different Plant category (i.e. you cannot add weeds to a Fruit Plot)
A garden with three Weeds. Yikes!
Pollinator & Pestilence
Pollinator and Pestilence affect weeds the same way they affect other Plots. This may make you think about Pollinator and Pestilence a bit differently! For instance, a Weed Plot with four weeds is worth -4 points but with Pestilence on it it is worth zero!
You can plant weeds in a Pollinated Weed Plot and they cannot be moved from a Pollinated Plot.
Harvesting Weeds
On your turn, you can harvest six Weeds from your Plot. You must have at least six in order to harvest. Once you harvest, you can take a different gardeners Victory Card (unless it's pollinated). After you harvest your Weeds, place them in the Compost Pile.
You can only harvest Weeds if you have at least six. If not, they stay in your garden and accumulate negative points. Sorry!
Specialists
Since Weeds can negatively affect a garden, you may want to put Pestilence on your own Weeds or Pollinator on others. Or perhaps you'll use the Landscaper to clear Weeds from your garden. Maybe Wormsworth can pull Weeds from the Compost Pile to put on your neighbor? Maybe you put Bird Bath on a competitor's Weeds and double their negative points! Oooh the intruige!
Enjoy your Noxious Weeds!