Zen Garden (2013) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
  • Garden tiles
• Preference Boards
• Setup
  • Setup – Example for first-time players and beginners (Level 1)
• Game Play
  • A player's turn in detail
    • 1) Choose a garden tile and pay for it
    • 2) Add the tile to the garden board
    • Coin bonus
• End of Round
• Game End and Final Scoring
  • Coins
  • Preference scoring (in this case Preference Board 1)
    • 1. Complete walkway
    • 2. Decor
    • 3. Minor preference
    • 4. Major preference
    • 5. Majority
    • 6. Attention to detail
  • Winner
• The Preferences
  • Board 1: Basics
  • Board 2: Unity
  • Board 3: Minimalistic
  • Board 4 and Board 5: Missions

Game Components

Common components:

• 1 Selection board
• 90 Garden tiles: 15 each of Sand, Gravel, Trees, Clay, Water and Cherry Blossom floors
• 14 Emperor tiles
• 5 Preference Boards (Board 1 through Board 5)
• 9 Points tiles (3 each of 1, 3 and 5 points). Only used in conjunction with Preference Boards 4 and 5.
• 1 First player marker
• 1 Rules booklet

Player components (in blue, yellow, green and red):

• 1 Garden board
• 1 Coin marker
• 1 Score marker and 1 "100+" marker

Garden tiles

Each of the 90 garden tiles depicts:

• 5 decor: Pagoda, Bench, Buddha, Gate, Crane
• 3 walkways: Sand, Wood, Stone
• 6 floors: Sand, Gravel, Trees, Clay, Water, Cherry Blossoms

Each of the 90 garden tiles has a unique combination of decor, path and floor type. The summary on the selection board shows how often each is depicted on the garden tiles.

Garden tiles that cost two coins, one coin, or no coins are determined by the row of the selection board in which they are placed (see "A player's turn in detail").

Preference Boards

The Preference Boards can be combined in any way for a new play experience every game. Following are 5 composed combinations ordered into levels from 1 to 5. The higher the level, the more advanced the game becomes.

• Level 1: Board 1
• Level 2: Board 1 and 2
• Level 3: Board 1, 2 and 3
• Level 4: Board 1, 2, 3 and 4
• Level 5: All boards

Setup

Setup – Example for first-time players and beginners (Level 1)

1. Place Preference Board 1 in the center of the playing area. The other Preference Boards are placed back into the box.

2. Mix all Emperor tiles face down. Place 1 tile face up on each empty space of Preference Board 1. Any unused tiles are placed back in the box.

3. The selection board is placed next to the Preference Board.

4. Mix all garden tiles face down and place them in stacks as a supply on the selection board. Draw tiles from any of the supply stacks and place them face up on the spaces of the selection board until it is filled.

5. Each player takes 1 garden board, then selects a color and receives:

   • 1 coin marker, which is placed on space 12 of the coin track.
   • 1 score marker, which is placed in the bottom right corner of the garden board.
   • 1 100+ marker, which is placed next to the selection board.

   Note: As soon as a player reaches 100 points they take their 100+ marker and place it in front of them.

6. A first player is randomly selected and given the first player marker.

Game Play

Zen Garden is played over a series of 16 rounds. A round starts with the first player and continues in a clockwise direction.

The active player does the following two actions in order:

1. Choose a garden tile and pay for it.
2. Add the tile to the garden board.

A round ends after all players have taken a turn. At the end of a round, refill the selection board with new garden tiles from the supply, and pass the first player marker to the next player in a clockwise direction. Then, start a new game round.

The game ends at the end of the round in which all players have filled all spaces of their garden board. Final scoring will then commence, with players being awarded points for meeting the Emperor's preferences. The player with the most points is the winner of the game.

Example: The yellow player chooses a garden tile from the middle row and has to pay one coin. He moves his coin marker one space backwards on the coin track. He then builds the garden tile in his garden.

A player's turn in detail

On their turn, the active player chooses a garden tile from the selection board, pays its price, and adds it to their garden board.

1) Choose a garden tile and pay for it

The player may choose any available tile from the selection board, as long as they are able to pay for it.

The price of a tile depends on the row it is in. A tile taken from the bottom row is free, a tile from the middle row costs 1 coin, and a tile from the top row costs 2 coins.

• Top row: 2 coins
• Middle row: 1 coin
• Bottom row: 0 coins

Players pay for tiles by moving their coin marker on their coin track backwards the appropriate number of spaces (0, 1, or 2).

After taking a tile, the space remains empty until the end of the round.

Important: If a player has run out of coins, they may choose a tile from the bottom row only. They must take a tile on their turn.

Example: The blue player chooses a garden tile from the top row and has to pay 2 coins. She moves her coin marker 2 spaces backwards on her coin track.

2) Add the tile to the garden board

The player adds the tile to their garden, following these building rules:

1. The tile must be placed next to another existing tile in your garden (edge to edge, no diagonals). Exception: You may place the first tile on any space of your garden grid.
2. You may rotate the tile any way you like, but when placing it, it must completely cover exactly one space of the garden grid.
3. Before you add the new tile, you may shift all existing tiles as an entity within the garden grid in any direction, but you may not rotate these tiles and no tile may protrude from the grid. The configuration of the tiles with respect to each other may not be changed. As soon as there are 4 tiles both in a row and a column, shifting is not possible anymore.

Example: The player wants to build the garden tile underneath the already placed tree tile. Since there is space in the top row of the garden, they may shift the tiles already placed as a group up and place the new tile in the bottom row.

Two examples on shifting garden tiles: A) The player can only shift their garden tiles left or right. B) The player is locked in position and cannot shift their tiles any more.

Coin bonus

If a player builds 4 garden tiles in a row, column, or diagonally, in such a way that all 4 of those tiles show the same decor, they immediately earn 3 coins, indicated by moving their coin marker 3 spaces forward on the coin track.

Players may have a maximum of 25 coins; excess coins are lost.

Example: The blue player built 4 pagodas in the top row of their garden and earns 3 coins that are marked on the coin track.

The next player clockwise then becomes the active player.

End of Round

After each player has performed one turn (purchased and placed a tile), the game round ends.

Change for 2 players: In a game with 2 players only, a game round ends after each player has performed 2 turns.

The selection board is only now refilled with new tiles:

1. Remove any remaining tiles from the bottom row (0 cost), placing them on the discard pile.
2. Slide the tiles from the middle row and top row down.
3. Refill the empty spaces with new garden tiles from the supply, filling from bottom to top, and from left to right.
4. Whenever the supply is exhausted, shuffle the discard pile and use it as new supply.

Before the next game round starts, the first player passes the first player marker to their left neighbor, who then will start the next game round.

Note: The rules text reads "to their left neighbor" here, while the round-start text above says the first player marker passes "to the next player in a clockwise direction." Both are reproduced as printed.

Game End and Final Scoring

The game ends at the end of the round in which all players have filled all spaces of their garden board. Final scoring then takes place. The players turn the selection board over and use the scoring track to record their points.

Coins

For each coin left, the player receives 1 point. The players place their scoring marker from their garden board on the scoring track on the appropriate number.

Preference scoring (in this case Preference Board 1)

The players earn points for the following:

1. Complete walkway
2. Decor
3. Minor preference
4. Major preference
5. Majority
6. Attention to detail

1. Complete walkway

The number of points depends on the number of completed walkways:

Number of completed walkways	1	2	3	4
Points	3	6	10	15

A complete walkway consists of 4 garden tiles with matching paths, arranged as a square that form a round path.

Example: There are 3 completed walkways in the garden. The walkway in the top left consists of different path types and scores no points. 3 completed walkways = 10 points.

2. Decor

A player earns points for identical decor they have built in their garden:

Number of identical decor	6	7	8	9	10	11	12+
Points	3	5	7	10	13	16	20

It is possible to earn points for two different types of decor, as long as the player has built at least 6 of each type in their garden.

Example: The player has built 8 gates and 6 pagodas in his garden. He earns 7 points for his gates and 3 points for his pagodas = 10 points total.

3. Minor preference

For each tile in a player's garden matching the preference of the Emperor tile, they earn 1 point.

Example: The player has built 9 stone paths in his garden, earning 9 points.

4. Major preference

For each tile in a player's garden matching the preference of the Emperor tile they earn 2 points.

Example: The player has built 8 gates in his garden, earning 16 points.

5. Majority

The player who has the most tiles matching the preference of the Emperor tile in their garden earns 8 points, and the player with the second most tiles earns 4 points. In case of a tie, all tied players earn the full amount of the respective points. If there is a tie for first place, then there is no second place.

Example: The player has built 3 water floors in his garden which earns him the second place. He earns 4 points.

6. Attention to detail

The players earn or lose points depending on the number of tiles in their garden matching the Emperor's preference:

Number of tiles matching preference	0	1	2	3	4	5	6+
Points	0	-4	-2	-1	2	5	8

Example: The player has built 4 gravel floor tiles in his garden. He earns 2 points.

Winner

The player with the most points is the winner of the game, and is appointed Zen Garden architect by the Emperor himself! In case of a tie for the most points the tied player who has more left over coins is the winner. If there is still a tie, the tied players share the victory.

The Preferences

The players can decide on the number of preferences they want to include in the game. All Preference Boards may be used together or in any combination. Following are 5 combinations ordered into levels from 1 to 5. The higher the level the more advanced the game becomes.

• Level 1: Board 1
• Level 2: Board 1 and 2
• Level 3: Board 1, 2 and 3
• Level 4: Board 1, 2, 3 and 4
• Level 5: All boards

At the end of the game players earn points for all Preference Boards that are in play.

Board 1: Basics

All preferences on the basics board are described in detail under final scoring (see "Preference scoring" above).

Board 2: Unity

A player earns 10 points if all different floors that they have built in their garden each form one area only. An area consists of horizontal or vertical adjacent garden tiles with the same floor. An area can be as small as one tile only.

If there are multiple areas of one type of floor, the player earns no points at all.

Example: A) The player earns 10 points since each type of floor forms just one area. B) The player earns no points since there are multiple areas of the gravel and the water floor.

Board 3: Minimalistic

A player earns more points the fewer different types of floor (background color) they have built in their garden:

Number of different floors	2	3	4	5+
Points	18	12	6	0

Example: The player has built 4 different floors in his garden. He earns 6 points.

Board 4 and Board 5: Missions

At the start of the game, draw 2 Emperor tiles for each mission, placing them face up on the mission spaces. These will show the combination of preferences that must be met when building your garden in order to earn points. Then, stack a 1, 3, and 5 point tile in ascending order on each mission.

If a player succeeds in building both preferences of a mission 4 times in their garden, they take the topmost point tile from the stack on that mission. The player scores these points at the end of the game. A player may complete each mission only once.

• Board 4: Two Missions
• Board 5: One Mission

Example: The player is the first to build 4 pagodas and 4 cherry blossom floors in his garden. He therefore takes the 5 point tile.