Butterfly Garden
Butterfly Garden Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
Each turn, place a Path Tile on the Gameboard. Butterflies then move along the newly connected path. If a Butterfly arrives at a Flowerbed, the owner of the Flowerbed receives points. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Components
- 1 Gameboard
- 1 Bag
- 4 Player Screens
- 24 Player Tokens (4 colors, 6 each) — excess tokens are extra
- 54 Path Tiles (14 + 14 + 14 + 6 + 6, in five path-pattern types)
- 7 Fountain Tiles (1 center fountain + 6 corner fountains)
- 24 Butterflies and Bases (2 Purple, 10 Pink, 12 Blue) — carefully assemble all butterflies and bases before your first play
Setup
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Place the Gameboard in the middle of the table.
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Each player chooses a color and takes the Player Screen and all Player Tokens of their color.
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Put the 7 Fountain Tiles on the Gameboard as in the example image (the octagonal board has one center Fountain Tile and six corner Fountain Tiles, labeled A–F around the edge).
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Place the Player Tokens on the marble area of the Gameboard as in the example image. The order of the colors depends on the player count. Refer to the table below for the Player Token setup. Return all unused Player Tokens to the Box.
A B C D E F 2 Players Red Blue Red Blue Red Blue 3 Players Red, Blue Red, Blue Yellow, Yellow Yellow, Red Blue, Red Blue, Yellow 4 Players Red, Blue Blue, Yellow Red, White White, Blue Yellow, Red Yellow, White -
Place 1 Purple and 5 Pink Butterflies on the Fountain Tile in the center of the Gameboard. Place 1 Blue Butterfly on the fountain in each of the remaining Fountain Tiles.
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Keep all remaining Butterflies next to the Gameboard. This is the reserve area.
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Put all Path Tiles into the Bag and shuffle well.
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Choose a Starting Player. Starting with the Starting Player, each player in clockwise order draws 2 random Path Tiles from the Bag. Place yours behind your Player Screen so that other players cannot see them.
Gameplay
Turns are played in clockwise order, starting with the Starting Player. During their turn, players follow the action order explained below.
The game ends as soon as there are no Butterflies left on the Gameboard, at which point players immediately move on to Scoring.
1. Placing Path Tiles
Choose 1 of the 2 Path Tiles and place it on the Gameboard according to the following rules:
- Path Tiles may be placed on any empty space (see Example 1).
- A Path Tile cannot be placed in such a way that both ends of a path on it directly connect to the edge(s) of the Gameboard (see Example 2).
Example 1: A Path Tile placed on an empty space next to a Fountain Tile is allowed. Example 2: A Path Tile is rejected because both ends of one of its paths run straight off the edge of the Gameboard.
2. Moving Butterflies
When a Path Tile is placed next to another Tile with a Butterfly on it, the Butterfly moves along the newly connected path. A Butterfly moves according to the following rules:
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Butterflies must move. If a path with a Butterfly is connected to a new path, the Butterfly will move along the new path (see Example 3).
When a new Path Tile is placed next to the Fountain Tile in the center of the Gameboard, Pink Butterflies move first. The Purple Butterfly moves only if all Pink Butterflies have moved out of the center Fountain Tile (see Example 4).
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Butterflies always move to the end of a connected Path. If a Path Tile connects several Path Tiles, the Butterflies follow the new path until the end. They do not stop midway through (see Example 5).
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If 2 Butterflies meet, they fly away. If 2 Butterflies meet on the same path, they both fly away (see Example 6). Return them to the Box. There are 3 paths on each Path Tile. If Butterflies pass the same Path Tile but each on a different path, they do not fly away.
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Arriving on a Flowerbed. The line between 2 Fountain Tiles along the edge of the Gameboard is a Flowerbed Entrance. Each Flowerbed Entrance has space for 3 Path Tiles total (see Example 7). The Flowerbed belongs to the player whose Player Token is placed there. When a Butterfly arrives at the Flowerbed Entrance, the player who owns that Flowerbed receives the Butterfly and places it behind their personal Player Screen. The Butterfly will give them points at the end of the game.
If there are two different Player Tokens, the Flowerbed is shared by those two players. One player receives the Butterfly that just arrived, and the other receives a Butterfly of the same color from the reserve area next to the Gameboard.
Example 3: A Blue Butterfly on a fountain moves along a newly placed path tile. Example 4: When a path connects to the center Fountain Tile, a Pink Butterfly moves out first, ahead of the Purple Butterfly. Example 5: A Pink Butterfly follows a connected path all the way to its far end rather than stopping partway. Example 6: Two Butterflies traveling the same path meet each other and both fly away (are removed from the game). Example 7: The Flowerbed Entrance is the space between two Fountain Tiles along the board's edge, with room for 3 Path Tiles.
3. Drawing Path Tiles
At the end of their turn, a player randomly draws a new Path Tile from the Bag and places it behind their Player Screen without revealing it to the other players (see Example 8).
If there are no Path Tiles left in the Bag, the player ends their turn without drawing a new Path Tile. Only in this case does a player have only 1 Path Tile behind their Player Screen.
Example 8: A player draws a new Path Tile from the Bag to replace the one they just played, keeping their hand at 2 Path Tiles.
4. Game End
When there are no Butterflies left on the Gameboard, the game ends immediately and the players move on to Scoring.
Scoring
At the beginning of the game, a total of 12 Butterflies (1 Purple, 5 Pink, 6 Blue) are placed on the Gameboard. The game ends as soon as there are no Butterflies left on the Gameboard. All players then count their points according to their Butterflies. The player with the most points wins.
Butterfly Points:
- Purple — 3 points
- Pink — 2 points
- Blue — 1 point
In case of a tie, all tied players win.
Variants
You can also play Butterfly Garden with the following variants.
1. Multiple Games
At the beginning of the game, players decide how many times to play. At the end of each game, every player writes down their points. After the final game, compare the total points earned. The player with the most points is the winner.
2. Only One Option
During Setup, players draw 1 Path Tile from the Bag instead of 2. At the end of a player's turn, they draw 1 Path Tile from the Bag. During the game, each player has only 1 Path Tile. All other rules remain the same.
Credits
Reiner Knizia thanks all the playtesters who contributed to the development of this game, in particular Iain Adams, Ross Inglis and Kevin Jacklin.
Game by Reiner Knizia. Illustration by SALEIGN. Project Manager PULSE GAMES. Graphic Design Hyojoo Ahn.
Butterfly Garden is published by Korea Boardgames Co., Ltd. under license by author "Reiner Knizia." Copyright © 2024 Korea Boardgames Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2024 Dr. Reiner Knizia. All rights reserved.