BOTANICAL LAB Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Card Overview
• Card Notes
• Setup
• Game Sequence
  • Phase 1: Development
  • Phase 2: Cultivation
    • Preparing cultivation
    • Cultivating plants
    • Moving cultivation rooms
  • Phase 3: Observation
  • Phase 4: Plant Death
  • Phase 5: Documentation
• End of Game and Victory
  • Seed set bonus

Components

• Plant, seed, fertilizer, experiment and skill cards: 132 cards in total
• Start player marker: 1
• Research assistant markers: 1 each in 4 colours
• Victory point markers and cultivation markers: 11 each in 4 colours (1 victory point marker and 10 cultivation markers per player)
• Cultivation room boards: 3
• Victory point board: 1
• Rulebook: 1

Card Overview

Card counts by type, as printed in the card list:

• Initial hand (4 sets): SEED (breed ●), SEED (breed ▲), FERTILIZER (breed ● ▲), EXPERIMENT ×1 (4 cards), EXPERIMENT ×2 (1 card). Each set is 8 cards.
• Seed cards: SEED ×1 (4 cards, breed ●), SEED ×2 (4 cards, breed ▲), SEED ×3 (6 cards, breed ■), SEED ×4 (6 cards, breed ⬢), SEED ×5 (4 cards, breed ◆). Total 24.
• Fertilizer cards: FERTILIZER ×1 (4 cards, breeds ● ▲), FERTILIZER ×2 (4 cards, breeds ● ■), FERTILIZER ×3 (4 cards, breeds ▲ ⬢), FERTILIZER ×4 (4 cards, breeds ■ ⬢), FERTILIZER ×5 (4 cards, breed ◆). Total 20.
• Experiment cards: EXPERIMENT ×2 (6 cards), EXPERIMENT ×3 (4 cards). Total 10.
• Skill cards: SKILL ×4 general (4 cards), SKILL ×4 EXPERIMENT (3 cards), SKILL ×4 SEED (2 cards), SKILL ×5 FERTILIZER (2 cards). Total 11.
• Plant cards: plant 1 (10 cards, breed ●), plant 2 (8 cards, breed ▲), plant 3 (7 cards, breed ■), plant 4 (7 cards, breed ⬢), plant 5 (3 cards, breed ◆). Total 35.

Card Notes

• Seed card: On one cultivation space of a cultivation room where your research assistant is, you can prepare cultivation of the matching breed. The number at the top right is the number of experiments needed to acquire the card.
• Fertilizer card: All plants of the matching breed in the cultivation room where your research assistant is can grow one stage. The number at the top right is the number of experiments needed to acquire the card.
• Experiment card: You can acquire new seed, fertilizer, experiment and skill cards. The large "×" number is the experiment count the card provides. The number at the top right is the number of experiments needed to acquire the card itself. Starting experiment cards have no number at the top right.
• Skill card: Can be used at any time during your turn. It has an effect that increases your hand size.
• Plant card: The face-up side is called the "leaf" and the face-down side is called the "flower". The leaf side has a cultivation space. The flower side has a cultivation track and a victory point value.

Setup

1. Place the 3 cultivation room boards and the victory point board in the centre of each player's area.
2. Each player chooses a colour and receives 1 research assistant marker, 1 victory point marker and 10 cultivation markers. Place 1 research assistant marker in "Cultivation Room 1". Place 1 victory point marker on "START" of the victory point board. Keep the 10 cultivation markers in hand.
3. Each player receives the 8 initial cards, shuffles them face down, and places them as their own draw pile. Then each player draws 5 cards from their draw pile to form their hand.
4. Sort the seed, fertilizer, experiment, skill and plant cards by type, and place each type together as a stock in the play area.
5. Determine the start player at random. The start player receives the start player marker.

Game Sequence

Starting with the start player and proceeding clockwise, each player takes a turn consisting of Phases 1 to 5. Rounds continue in this way.

Phase 1: Development

Place any number of experiment cards from your hand into your play area. According to the total experiment count printed on the experiment cards in your play area, you may acquire new seed, fertilizer, experiment or skill cards from the stock.

The number of cards you can acquire during your turn is determined by the total experiment count of the experiment cards in your play area:

• 1 to 4 experiments: 1 card
• 5 to 7 experiments: 2 cards
• 8 or more experiments: 3 cards

Place the seed, fertilizer, experiment and skill cards you acquire into your discard pile.

Example: Experiment cards totalling ×5 allow you to acquire 2 cards.

You may also keep experiment cards in your hand in order to use them for "moving" in Phase 2.

Phase 2: Cultivation

Place any number of seed and fertilizer cards from your hand into your play area to cultivate plants in the cultivation room where your research assistant is. You may also move your research assistant between cultivation rooms during Phase 2.

Preparing cultivation

By placing 1 seed card from your hand into your play area, you may choose one cultivation space of the matching breed in the cultivation room where your research assistant is, and place a cultivation marker on it.

• If a cultivation space lists several breeds, you may place the cultivation marker by playing a seed card of any one of those breeds.
• You cannot place a new cultivation marker on a cultivation space that already has one.

Cultivating plants

By placing 1 fertilizer card from your hand into your play area, you may grow all plants of the matching breed in the cultivation room where your research assistant is by one stage. Then, for each plant grown by one stage, you gain 1 victory point regardless of breed.

• Plants with other players' cultivation markers are also included. All plants of the matching breed grow one stage.
• If you grow several plants at the same time, you gain victory points for the total number of plants grown, including plants with other players' cultivation markers.
• If you use a fertilizer card while cultivation is prepared, take the plant card of the matching breed from the stock and place it leaf side up. Re-place the cultivation markers that were on that space (yours and other players') onto the cultivation space of the leaf.
• If a plant card is leaf side up and you use a fertilizer card on it, turn it over so that the flower side is up. Re-place the cultivation markers (yours and other players') onto the top space of the cultivation track of the flower.
• If the flower side of a plant card is already up, you cannot grow that plant any further.
• By using several seed and fertilizer cards in a single turn, you may prepare cultivation and grow a plant by two stages in one turn.

Moving cultivation rooms

By placing any number of cards from your hand into your play area, you may move your research assistant to any cultivation room, up to the same number of times as the number of cards you placed.

Example: By placing 2 cards of any kind, 1 seed card and 1 fertilizer card into your play area (4 cards in total), you may move your research assistant from Cultivation Room 1 to Cultivation Room 3, prepare cultivation, then move from Cultivation Room 3 to Cultivation Room 2 and cultivate plants there.

• Cards placed in your play area in order to move do not activate the effects printed on them.

Phase 3: Observation

In a cultivation room where your research assistant is, you may remove flowers on which your own cultivation markers are placed. For each flower removed, you gain the victory points printed on its plant card.

In addition, you gain an adjacency bonus (extra victory points) depending on the number of your flowers, with your cultivation markers, that are adjacent to one another above, below, left or right.

Adjacent flowers	Adjacency bonus
2 plants	1 point
3 plants	3 points
4 plants	5 points
5 or more plants	10 points

• You may remove any number of flowers at the same time.
• You cannot remove flowers on which other players' cultivation markers are placed.

Example: The red player removes 4 flowers worth 3, 1, 4 and 2 points, for 10 points (3 + 1 + 4 + 2). The 4 removed flowers are adjacent, giving an adjacency bonus of 5 points (4 plants). The red player gains 15 points in total. The removed plant cards return to the stock, and the removed cultivation markers return to the red player's hand.

Phase 4: Plant Death

For every flower in every cultivation room that has one of your cultivation markers on it, move that marker down one step on the cultivation track.

• If a cultivation marker is already at the bottom of the cultivation track, it cannot move further down. In that case, remove the flower together with the cultivation marker on it from the cultivation room.
• This applies to the flowers of all cultivation rooms.

Removed plant cards return to the stock, and removed cultivation markers return to the owning player's hand.

Phase 5: Documentation

Place all unused cards in your hand and all cards in your play area into your discard pile.

Then draw cards from your draw pile until you have 5 cards in your hand. If your draw pile runs out, turn your discard pile face down, shuffle it, and make it your new draw pile.

End of Game and Victory

When the turn of any player ends and that player has 35 or more victory points, the current round becomes the final round. The game ends when every player has taken a turn in the final round.

Seed set bonus

After the game ends, each player gains extra victory points for sets of seeds in their research documents (their draw pile and discard pile), according to the number of different seed types in each set:

• 3 types: 2 points

• 4 types: 5 points

• 5 types: 10 points

• If you have completed several sets, score each set separately.

Example: If you have 2 sets of the 3-type combination ●, ▲ and ■, you gain 4 points.

The player with the most victory points, including the seed set bonus, wins.

• If players are tied on victory points, the player with the largest total number of cards in their research documents (draw pile and discard pile) wins.