Ährensache

Ährensache Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Components

87 bidding cards in 3 colors with values from 3 to 6: 33 cards of value 3 (11 in each of 3 colors), 24 cards of value 4 (8 per color), 18 cards of value 5 (6 per color), 12 cards of value 6 (4 per color). The card back shows the value 2.
32 pasture tiles (hereafter also called "pastures")
20 farmer tiles (4 in each of 5 colors; hereafter also called "farmers")
12 building tiles (hereafter also called "buildings")
7 offer tiles (hereafter also called "offers")
5 farmstead tiles (in 5 colors)
5 bidding figures (hereafter also called "figure")
1 start tile (the Rainbow Sheep)
5 building plan cards
14 scoring cards
12 building cards
1 game board
30 apple tokens (value 1 and 3; hereafter also called "apples")
30 grain tokens (value 1 and 3; hereafter also called "grain")
5 marker tiles (for bids of 40 points or more)
8 round markers
8 tiles with value 7
1 scoring pad

Setup - General

The example shows the setup for 5 players. Changes for fewer than 5 players are described below as such.

Place the game board in the middle of the table.
Find the offer tiles that correspond to the number of players and place them, as described on the backs of the tiles, on positions B to F of the game board.
Shuffle all pasture tiles. In a 5-player game use all tiles, including those that show the symbol for 5 players in the upper right corner (there are 8 such tiles). In a 3- or 4-player game you do not use these 8 tiles. Then place under each offer with a pasture symbol a face-down stack of 8 tiles each. Under offer A (it is printed directly on the game board) place 2 stacks of 8 tiles each. Turn over the top tile of each stack.
Shuffle all 12 building cards and place them as a face-down stack under the offer with the building symbol. Reveal the top card. Place the building tiles next to it as an open stack. Each building card is assigned a building tile (see the numbering). When you acquire building cards during the game, you take the corresponding tile from the stack.
Sort all farmer tiles by color and place them as open stacks on the matching spaces of the game board.
- In a 4-player game, place only 3 farmers of each color as a stack. Then shuffle the remaining 5 tiles, randomly take 1 tile and put it on the corresponding stack. With 4 players there are thus 4 stacks with 3 tiles and 1 stack with 4 tiles.
- In a 3-player game, place only 2 farmers of each color as a stack. From the remaining tiles, pick 1 farmer of each color and shuffle these 5 tiles. Randomly take 2 and put them on the corresponding stacks. With 3 players there are thus 3 stacks with 2 tiles and 2 stacks with 3 tiles.
Take the scoring cards and find the cards labeled A1 to E1. These are the scoring cards best suited for your first game. Place these 5 cards in any distribution next to the farmer stacks, one card next to each stack. Further information about the scoring cards can be found from page 10.
Place all grain chips (hereafter called just grain) as a supply.
Place all apple chips (hereafter called just apples) as a supply.
Place the 8 round markers on the 8 spaces of the round track in the printed round order. Whether you lay them from bottom to top (as in the example) or the other way round is up to you.

Setup - Players

Everyone chooses a color and takes the matching farmstead tile and the corresponding bidding figure.

Place the farmstead tile in front of you, leaving enough room to attach further tiles all around it.
Place the bidding figure ready in front of you.
Take a marker tile for bids over 40.
Shuffle the building plan cards and deal 1 card to everyone. Now decide for yourself whether you want to realize the "easy" building plan worth 15 points or the "difficult" building plan worth 25 points. Place the card in front of you with the corresponding side up. In your first game it is recommended to play with the easy side (15 points).

Note: more tiles may lie in your farm than are shown on the building plan. It is only necessary that all marked spaces of the building plan are occupied by tiles in order to get the points.
Deal 7 bidding cards to everyone - these are your hand cards.
Everyone receives 2 grain.
Whoever most recently petted an animal takes the start tile "Rainbow Sheep" and places it in front of themselves.

Put all sorted-out and unused game material back in the box.

Course of Play

"Ährensache" is played over 8 rounds. Each round consists of three phases, which you carry out one after another:

Bidding
Taking offers
End of round

In the bidding phase you play cards from your hand, which you combine with the cards of the card display - that is your bid. In the order of your bids you then choose a free offer.

In the offer phase you receive, according to the offer, pastures, farmers, buildings and building cards as well as grain and apples. In addition you draw bidding cards. With the acquired tiles you expand your farm.

At the end of the round you can recruit farmers or buy apples. Afterwards the card display is renewed.

At the end of the game the final scoring takes place.

Phase 1 - Bidding

Bidding begins with the Rainbow Sheep and proceeds in clockwise order.

When it is your turn, you have three options:

A: Place or extend a bid
B: Pass
C: Drop out

A - Place or extend a bid

To place a bid, you lay any number of cards from your hand face up in front of you - but at least 1 card. You announce the value of your bid and place your figure on the corresponding space of the bid track. If one or more figures already stand on this space, you place your figure behind them. Your bid may be lower or higher than your already displayed bid or than the bids of others.

When playing bidding cards, the following rules apply:

Cards you play may be either only cards of the same color OR cards of the same value.
You may also play bidding cards face down - with the card back up. In this case the value or color of the card is not relevant.
You may play any number of cards - but at least 1 card.

If you already played a bid in a previous bidding turn, you may extend it: add one or more matching cards to your already played cards - here too the rule applies: same color or same value, and/or face-down cards.

Example: with 4+4+6 (of one color) the red figure stands on bid space 14.

Announce your new bid out loud and move your figure to the bid space with the corresponding value - in case of a tie you place your figure behind figures already standing there.

How is the value of your bid calculated?

Your bid consists of the values of your played cards PLUS the values of matching cards in the card display. Calculate your bid as follows:

Add the values of your face-up played cards.
If there are one or more cards in the card display that match your played cards (same color OR same value), add their values to your bid.
Each card played face down raises your bid by 2.
Additionally you may spend any amount of grain to raise your bid. If you spend 1 grain, your bid rises by 1; for 2 grain your bid rises by 3.

It can happen that your new bid is lower than your previous one. This is the case if, by playing a card, you switch from "same number" to "same color" (or vice versa) and the new combination in total results in a lower bid. In this case you move your figure backwards on the bid track.

If your bid is 40 or higher, place your marker tile on space 40 of the bid track and, if applicable, move your figure on, starting again at space 1.

B - Pass

If you have already placed a bid and do not want to raise it, you can pass. Place all your played bidding cards ON THE DISCARD PILE and lay your figure flat on the bid space on which it is currently standing. This is now your final bid. With this the bidding phase is over for you.

C - Drop out

As long as one of the "light" offers (the ones in an empty crate) is still free, you can drop out of the current bidding round. The "light" offers are the offers on the offer spaces furthest to the right - 2 offers in a 4- and 5-player game, 1 offer in a 3-player game. Place your figure on an offer space above a free, light offer.

If you have already placed a bid, you take your played cards BACK INTO YOUR HAND. You can also drop out if you have not yet placed a bid - that is, as your first action in the bidding phase.

With this the bidding phase is over for you.

End of the bidding phase

As soon as all players have passed and/or dropped out, the bidding phase ends.

Determine the start player: Whoever placed the highest bid immediately takes the Rainbow Sheep and becomes the new start player in the next round.

All those who did not drop out must now choose an offer and place their figure on a free offer space - they may also choose a free "light" offer. The player with the highest bid begins, followed by the second position down to the last. In case of a tie, whoever stands furthest forward on a bid space is ahead. Only one figure may lie on each offer.

Phase 2 - Taking Offers

Starting with the offer furthest to the left and then proceeding from left to right, you each take the offer where your figure stands. The symbols on the offer spaces show what you receive. A slash (/) means "either/or"; that is, you must choose one of the two depicted options.

Pasture tiles

Take all pasture tiles that lie face up under the offer. At the offer furthest to the left you always take both pastures; otherwise you receive 1 pasture.

Farmer tiles

Take a farmer tile from one of the farmer stacks on the game board. You may have each farmer type (color) only once in your farm. If a farmer stack is empty, take a different farmer or, alternatively, the bonus depicted on the game board (a tile worth 7 points). Attention: there is one offer where you must pay 3 grain for the farmer. You can also decide not to take the farmer.

Building cards and tiles

Take the face-up building card, as well as the matching building tile from the stack. You can use the advantage of the building card from now on until the end of the game (see page 11).

Also take the current round tile from the game board. It brings you the points printed on its back at the end of the game.

Grain and/or apple tokens

Take the number of grain and/or apples shown in the illustration. Place the tokens in your supply. The supply of grain and apples is unlimited. Should the tokens run out, use any substitute.

Drawing bidding cards

Draw bidding cards from the draw pile as shown in the illustration. At offer A you do not draw any cards.

Note: for the entire game a hand limit of 12 cards applies. Whenever you have 13 or more bidding cards, you must discard cards until you hold 12 cards in hand again.

Placing tiles in your farm

Afterwards you place the pasture, farmer and building tiles you received into your farm. If you do not want or are not able to attach a tile, it is out of the game - put it back in the box.

The following rules apply to placing tiles:

All tiles must always be placed "readable" in your farm - that is, all numbers and illustrations are correctly oriented. Tiles must therefore not be rotated.
Each tile must be connected to your farmstead via at least one path. Path ends may be cut off, as long as at least one other branch is connected to your farmstead.
If you connect two path ends that both show a grain symbol, immediately take 1 grain from the supply.

Fulfilling your building plan (all marked spaces are occupied) brings additional points at the end of the game. Regardless of your building plan, you may place tiles at any other positions (including on the unmarked spaces), as long as the rules described above are observed. So you do not necessarily have to stick to your building plan! In addition, you may of course build further outside the 5x5 grid shown on the building plan cards.

Phase 3 - End of Round

Trading in grain

You may now exactly once give 5 grain to receive 2 apples, and/or you give 6 grain and take an available farmer. You may also choose the 7 victory points if at least one farmer is no longer available. You place the farmer immediately according to the rules above. If several of you want to buy a farmer, this is carried out in the order in which you stand on the offer tiles from left to right.

Preparing a new round (does not apply in the last round)

Take your figures back into your supply - if applicable also your marker tile, if you used it.
Remove the current round marker, unless it was taken together with a building tile by someone.
Place the 2 bidding cards lying furthest to the right on the discard pile. Shift the 3 remaining bidding cards to the right and fill the two empty spaces on the left with new bidding cards from the draw pile. If the draw pile is empty, shuffle the discard pile and lay it face down as the new draw pile.
Discard all pasture tiles still lying face up - not taken. If no building was taken in this round, discard the face-up building card. Tiles and cards not taken go back in the box.
Reveal the top tile of each pasture stack. Reveal the top building card.
A new round starts with Phase 1 - Bidding, beginning with the player holding the Rainbow Sheep.

End of the Game and Scoring

The game ends after Phase 3 of the eighth round. Scoring takes place immediately. Handle the individual scoring steps one after another, beginning with the player holding the Rainbow Sheep. Enter your points on the scoring pad. Whoever has the most victory points wins. In case of a tie, whoever has the most pastures in their farm wins. If there is again a tie, all players involved in the tie win.

Pastures: For each pasture in your farm you receive the printed points.
Special farmer: For the special farmer in your farm you receive the printed 2 points.
7-tiles: If instead of farmers you took one or more 7 tiles, you receive the corresponding points.
Round tiles: For all round tiles you took during the game, you receive the printed points.
Hand cards: Whoever has the most hand cards gets 7 points. For the second most hand cards you get 3 points. If there is a tie for first or second position, all players involved in the tie receive the respective points. If several players share first place, second place is still also awarded.
Grain: Each grain counts 1 point.
Building plan: If you have fulfilled your building plan, you receive the corresponding points (15 or 25). As a reminder: more tiles may lie in your farm than are shown on the building plan. It is only necessary that all fields of the building plan are occupied by tiles in order to get the points.
Farmers: Score all 5 farmers one after another. Each farmer brings you points according to the assigned scoring card. You get points for farmers only if you have placed the farmer of the corresponding color in your farm. As a reminder: you may have each farmer only once in your farm.

The individual scoring cards are explained in the appendix.

Scoring Cards

A1 - You get points for different animals on your pastures. A single animal counts 2 points. A set of 2, 3, 4 different animals counts 6, 12, 20 points. You can score multiple sets.

B1 - You get points for different "objects" on your pastures. A single object counts 2 points. A set of 2, 3, 4 different objects counts 6, 12, 20 points. You can score multiple sets.

C1 - You get points for apples in your supply and for apple trees on your pastures. For 1, 2, 3, 4 apples you get 2, 6, 12, 22 points. The 5th and each further apple counts 3 points. Each apple tree on your pastures counts 3 points.

D1 - You get points for placed farmers as well as for tractors on your pastures and apples in your supply. For 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 farmers you get 2, 6, 12, 20, 30 points. Each tractor on your pastures counts 3 points. Each apple in your supply counts 1 point.

E1 - You get one-time points and points for each beehive and wheelbarrow on your pastures. You get 18 points once. Each beehive and each wheelbarrow on your pastures counts 3 points.

If you know Ährensache a little better, you can bring the cards A2 to E2 into play. You can play only with this set, or you replace individual cards with corresponding cards of the base set on the left - e.g. A2 instead of A1, C2 instead of C1, etc. But you can also shuffle all 10 scoring cards and assign any 5 cards to the farmers.

A2 - You get points for animal pairs. 1, 2, 3, 4 animal pairs count 6, 20, 26, 40 points. Each further animal pair counts 10 points. You can of course score multiple pairs of the same animal kind.

B2 - You get points for object pairs. 1, 2, 3, 4 object pairs count 6, 20, 26, 40 points. Each further object pair counts 10 points. You can of course score multiple pairs of the same object kind.

C2 - You get points for objects and apples. Add the number of your apple trees, wheelbarrows and beehives. Multiply the sum by the number of apples in your supply.

D2 - You get points for pastures, buildings and tractors. Add the number of your pastures and buildings. Multiply the sum by the number of tractors on your pastures.

E2 - You get points for animals and farmers. Add the number of all animals on your pastures. Multiply the sum by the number of farmers.

Additional Cards

If, when attaching tiles to your farm, you are looking for an even greater challenge, bring the cards labeled W and G into play. Choose either only 1 card - that is usually sufficient - or choose 2 cards. If you want to play with 2 cards, choose one path scoring (W1 or W2) as well as one area scoring (G1 or G2).

The cards W and G are never assigned to a farmer (so you definitely also need the five "normal" cards). Place the cards next to the game board and score them at the end, before the farmer scorings.

W1 - You get points for the longest path. Determine the longest connected path. It may cross itself, but may lead through your farmstead tile only once. Each tile of the path counts 4 points - where paths cross, the tile counts double.

W2 - You get points for each path end at the edge. Each path that ends at the edge of your farm counts 3 points.

G1 - You get points for each area at the edge. Each area that is enclosed by paths and the edge of your farm counts 4 points.

G2 - You get points for each closed area. A closed area is completely surrounded by paths - edge fields do not count here. 1, 2, 3, 4 closed areas count 6, 20, 26, 40 points; each further closed area counts 10 points.

Building Cards

Water Tower - Whenever you play bidding cards worth 7 or more in total at once, you raise your bid by a further 3 points.
Pigsty - Whenever you play 3 or more bidding cards at once, you raise your bid by a further 4 points.
Hayloft - When you play face-down bidding cards, they count 3 instead of 2 points. This applies only to a maximum of 3 cards per bidding phase.
Sheep Pasture - If, when bidding, you pay 2 grain, your bid rises by 4 instead of 3 points.
Cowshed - Once per bidding phase you may, for a maximum of 2 bidding cards, pretend they had a different color.
Water Mill - Once per bidding phase you may, for a maximum of 2 bidding cards, pretend their value were 1 lower or higher. You may not, however, raise the value above 6.
Grain Mill - If, when bidding, you arrive at a space on which another bidding figure already stands, you may raise your bid by 3. You may do this only once per bidding phase.
Greenhouse - Once per bidding phase you may draw 3 bidding cards and must then discard 2 cards from your hand.
Dairy - You may draw 2 bidding cards and keep them if your bid exceeds the value 28. You may do this only once per bidding phase.
Tool Shed - If at any time during the bidding phase you have only 2 or fewer bidding cards in hand, you may raise your bid by 4. You may do this only once per bidding phase.

Offer Tiles

(3-5 players) Here you receive 2 pasture tiles.
(3 players) Here you receive 1 pasture tile or 1 farmer.
(4-5 players) Here you receive 1 pasture tile and 1 farmer.
(3 players) Here you receive 1 farmer, or 1 building and the round tile.
(4-5 players) Here you receive 1 farmer and either 2 grain or 1 apple.
(5 players) Here you receive 1 pasture tile and 1 grain.
(4-5 players) Here you receive 1 building and 1 apple as well as the round tile.
(3-5 players) Here you receive 2 grain AND 2 apples OR 1 farmer, for whom you must pay 3 grain.

Variant for 2 Players (at your own risk)

The setup corresponds to the 3-player game. In the bidding phase, however, you play with a third, neutral player: for this take a bidding figure of another color. At the start of each bidding phase (also at the start of the game) you place the neutral bidding figure on the bid space that corresponds to the sum of all 5 face-up bidding cards in the display.

In the example setup on pages 2-3, the neutral bidding figure would be placed on bid space 20 (3+5+4+4+4).

The neutral bidding figure does not change its position on the bid track. At the end of the bidding phase, when placing on the offer spaces, the neutral bidding figure - when it is its turn - is placed on the free offer space furthest to the left. If it is an offer with 1 or 2 pastures, these tiles are out of the game (back in the box). The neutral player never takes farmers, buildings, grain or apples. If only these are offered, it takes nothing at all.

Summary - At Round End

You can once trade in 5 grain for 2 apples.
AND / OR: You can once trade in 6 grain for 1 farmer.

Summary - Points at Game End

Pastures: points according to the values on the pasture tiles.
Special farmer: 2 points.
7-tiles taken instead of a farmer: 7 points each.
Round tiles received: points as printed.
Hand cards: 7 points for the most, 3 points for the second most.
Grain: 1 point for each grain.
Building plan: 15 or 25 points for fulfilling the building plan.
Farmers: points according to the scoring cards of the farmers.