The Big Fat Tomato Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal
• Setup
• Card Types
• How to Play
  • Additional Actions
• Example of Play
• How to Win
• Card Descriptions
  • Protection Cards
  • Fence Cards (6)
  • Threat Cards
  • Instant Action Cards
  • Special Cards

Goal

Protect your plot from all possible uninvited guests and collect more tomatoes in your storehouse than anyone else by the time the Market is opened.

Setup

1. Find the cards with brief turn descriptions in the deck and deal them to the players. Remove any extra cards from the game.
2. Take the Market card out of the deck. Shuffle the remaining cards thoroughly, then place the Market card at random among the bottom 10 cards of the deck.
3. Deal five cards to each player face down. You may look at your own cards, but do not show them to opponents.
4. Place the deck face down in the centre of the table. Leave room next to it for a discard pile, better known as the Compost Heap.
5. Distribute the baskets among the players. Place your basket in front of you. Next to your basket you will have a storehouse for storing the tomatoes you have already collected. (At final scoring, only the tomatoes in your storehouse count.)
6. Place the dice and the small fuzzy tomatoes in the centre of the table.

Card Types

The deck has five types of card. A card's type can be identified by the icon in its upper left corner. Learn more about what each type can do in the "Card Descriptions" section at the end of these rules.

Quick overview:

• Protection cards (green thumbs-up icon) help remove all possible threats to your plot. You may play one such card on your turn; the card is then discarded to the Compost Heap.
• Fence cards (green fence icon) protect your storehouse from pests. You may play one such card on your turn, placing it next to your storehouse of tomatoes.
• Threat cards (red thumbs-down icon) are used to attack other players' plots. On your turn, play one such card in front of one of your opponents, provided that there are not already three cards of this type in front of them. After it is resolved the card is discarded, unless its text says otherwise.
• Instant action cards (green star and red star icons) are special. They are played immediately, usually during another player's turn. Cards with red stars are used for attack. Cards with green stars are used for defence. After use, these cards are discarded.
• Special cards (blue rosette icon) are bonuses that give you extra help. On your turn you may play one such card, after which it is discarded.

How to Play

The game begins with the player who can best depict a ripe tomato. After that, players take turns clockwise. On your turn, perform the following actions in the order given below:

1. Draw cards until you have 5 in your hand.
2. Play either one protection card (thumbs-up icon) to rid your plot of pests, caterpillars or weeds, or place one fence card next to your storehouse.
3. Deal with the pests, caterpillars and weeds remaining on your plot. (In other words, roll the dice to determine the damage they cause.)
4. Harvest. Roll the dice (in some cases only one die), add up the values shown, then take that number of tomatoes from the supply in the centre of the table and place them in your basket.
5. Play one threat card (thumbs-down icon) on one of the players. Remember the limit: no more than 3 such cards may be on one player's plot at the same time. Also, you cannot play onto a player an identical card to one already lying in front of them.
6. Discard all cards you no longer need from your hand to the Compost Heap.

Note: If you cannot or do not want to perform one of the actions described above, skip it and move on to the next.

Additional Actions

You may perform one of these actions at any moment during your turn:

1. Play one special card (blue rosette icon).
2. Recount the contents of your basket if you believe it holds at least 20 tomatoes. If there turn out to be fewer than 20, you must return them to the supply of tomatoes in the centre of the table. If there are more than 20, move them to your storehouse (tomatoes in the storehouse will earn victory points at the end of the game).

The rulebook's layout diagram labels: the supply of tomatoes in the centre of the table; the deck of cards; the Compost Heap (discard pile); the dice; and your plot, with a basket and a storehouse.

Example of Play

At the start of your turn, your plot has Nagging Weeds and Hungry Caterpillars on it.

After drawing up to 5 cards, you have the following cards in hand: a Hoe (1), a Bumper Harvest card (2) and a Nasty Pests card (3), among others.

First, you play the Hoe card (1) to get rid of the weeds. (Place the Hoe and Nagging Weeds cards in the Compost Heap.) However, the caterpillars still threaten you, and you have nothing to protect against them. You roll the die to determine how many of your harvested tomatoes they eat. The result is 5, so the caterpillars eat 5 tomatoes.

Then comes harvest time, so you roll both dice and get, for example, 8. You decide to play your Bumper Harvest card (2), which doubles your result (16 tomatoes). You subtract the 5 lost to the Hungry Caterpillars, and take 11 tomatoes from the common supply in the centre of the table for your harvest.

Now it seems to you that your basket already holds more than 20 tomatoes. You pour them out and recount them. There are exactly 20, so you move them to your storehouse.

At the end of your turn you place the Nasty Pests card (3) next to another player's storehouse.

How to Win

The game ends at the moment someone draws the Market card from the deck. The player with the most tomatoes in their storehouse is declared the winner. (Tomatoes in baskets are not counted.)

Card Descriptions

The number in brackets after each card name is the number of copies of that card in the deck.

Protection Cards

• Chemicals (2): Play this card to rid your plot of Nasty Pests, Hungry Caterpillars and Nagging Weeds. It helps you get rid of several threats at once. Side effect: you will not be able to harvest this turn.
• Hoe (4): Removes all Nagging Weeds from your plot.
• Pepper Spray (1): This card lets you rid your plot of Nasty Pests and Hungry Caterpillars. It helps you get rid of several threats at the same time.
• Soapy Water (1): Play this card to rid yourself of Hungry Caterpillars.

Fence Cards (6)

The fence protects your storehouse from Nasty Pests. Place the card next to your storehouse, where it stays until the end of the game. Each fence card reduces the attack strength of Pests by 3. A set of 4 fence cards fully protects you from their attacks.

Threat Cards

• Hungry Caterpillars (6): Place this card next to another player's plot. While the caterpillars are there, that player must roll 1 die on every turn and subtract the number rolled from their harvest. This effect can be cancelled by playing Chemicals, Pepper Spray or Soapy Water, and also with the Big Fat Tomato and As You Sow, So Shall You Reap! cards.
• Mole Spy (2): Lets you look at the cards in another player's hand and take one of them for yourself.
• Nagging Weeds (6): Place this card next to another player's plot. While the weeds are there, that player rolls only one die during the harvest phase. Weeds can be dealt with using Chemicals, the Hoe, and the Big Fat Tomato and As You Sow, So Shall You Reap! cards.
• Nasty Pests (6): Place this card next to another player's storehouse. While the pests are there, that player must roll 2 dice on every turn and discard from their storehouse the number of tomatoes shown on the dice (no effect if the storehouse is empty). Pests can be defeated with Chemicals and Pepper Spray, and also with the Big Fat Tomato and As You Sow, So Shall You Reap! cards.
• Zombie Tomato Invasion (1): Play this card to force another player to discard all the tomatoes from their basket, as well as all the cards from their hand.
• Basket Kick (1): Play this card to force another player to lose all the tomatoes collected in their basket.
• Ketchup (1): This card acts on the player whose storehouse holds the most tomatoes. Roll 2 dice and take from that player's storehouse as many tomatoes as the dice show in total. (The printed text does not say where the taken tomatoes go; this translation follows the printed text.)
• Look, a Flying Behemoth! (2): Use this card to quickly swap your basket with another player's basket.

Instant Action Cards

Instant action cards are played immediately, usually during another player's turn. Cards with a green star are used for defence; cards with a red star are used for attack.

• Big Fat Tomato (1), green star: Play this card to repel all attacks currently applied against you (except the Zombie Tomato Invasion), and discard all threat cards that act on your plot. This card may be played during another player's turn.
• As You Sow, So Shall You Reap! (2), green star: Use this card to turn one of another player's attacks back against that player. You may play this card on a threat that another player has just played on you.
• Hot Tomatoes! (2), red star: Play this card during another player's turn to take the tomatoes they have just harvested.

Special Cards

Special cards are bonuses that give you extra help. On your turn you may play one such card, after which it is discarded.

• Bumper Harvest (2): On your turn, play this card to double your harvest for this turn.
• Magic Watering Can (3): On your turn, play this card to roll one additional die during the harvest phase.
• Express Delivery (2): Play this card to move the tomatoes from your basket to your storehouse without waiting to accumulate the minimum amount. (Regardless of how many tomatoes are in your basket, you may immediately move them to your storehouse.)
• Jump into the Compost (2): Play this card at any moment of your turn to find any card in the Compost Heap (discard pile) and take it into your hand.