Dance of the Fireflies Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Objective
• Components
• Set-Up
• A Game Round
• Planting Phase
  • A Player's Turn
  • Bonus Action
  • Royal Fireflies
• Placing Fireflies & Day/Night Rules
• Harvesting Phase
  • Rotating the Sundial
  • Day Break
  • Night Fall
  • Refilling the Flower Clock
  • Examples of Leaving the Flower Clock
  • Harvesting Rules
  • Royals Harvesting Rules
• Winning a Flower from the Flower Clock
• Flower Cards and their Special Abilities
  • Flower Chains
• Building Your Flower Beds
• Orchid & Weed Cards
  • Plant the Card as an Orchid in Their Own Flower Bed
  • Plant the Card as a Weed in an Opponent's Flower Bed
• Removing a Weed
• Ending the Game
• Scoring
  • Flower Beds
  • Harmony Bonuses
  • Who Wins a Tie

Game Objective

Players compete against each other using their Fireflies to pollinate Flowers and then create colourful Flower Beds (by planting them on the table in front of them).

A full Flower Bed consists of six Flowers, each of a different colour, and earns the maximum number of points at the end of the game. A player can have multiple Flower Beds, but can never have two Flowers of the same colour in the same Flower Bed.

Players can use the tactical deployment of their Fireflies and perhaps employ a little bit of sneakiness (by using their Royal Firefly) to outdo their opponent/s and win the coveted title of Head Gardener.

Components

• 1 Gardener's Apprentice Card
• 1 Day/Night Sundial (assembly required)
• 84 Flower Cards
• 6 Orchid/Weed Cards
• 6 Player Guides
• 1 Potting Shed/Greenhouse Card Mat
• 1 Compost Heap Card Mat
• 36 Firefly Counters (6 Regular and 1 Royal per player)
• 6 Royal Firefly Counters

Set-Up

1. Assemble and position the Sundial in the centre of the table. The Sundial will be turned after every round to signify another day/night has passed for possible one or two Flowers.

   The area around the Sundial is referred to as the 'Flower Clock', and will have a number of Flower Cards around it throughout the game.

2. Place the Potting Shed/Greenhouse card mat at one side of the Sundial and the Compost Heap card mat at the opposite side as shown in the following diagrams.

3. Each player takes a Player Guide and one set of seven matching colour Fireflies (6 Regular and 1 Royal) and places them in front of themselves. This forms that player's Firefly Supply pool.

4. Building the Flower deck. Depending on the number of players, separate the Flower Cards as follows:

   • 2 player game – Set all Flower Cards and Orchid/Weed cards with a 3+, 4+, 5+ and 6+ aside as they will not be required.
   • 3 player game – Set all Flower Cards and Orchid/Weed cards with a 4+, 5+ and 6+ aside as they will not be required.
   • 4 player game – Set all Flower Cards and Orchid/Weed cards with a 5+ and 6+ aside as they will not be required.
   • 5 player game – Set all Flower Cards and Orchid/Weed cards with a 6+ aside as they will not be required.
   • 6 player game – All Flower Cards and Orchid/Weed cards will be required for the game.

   Once this has been completed the cards remaining will become the Flower Deck for your game.

Who Starts? To decide who starts, all players must hold one of their Firefly counters at a height above the Sun image on the 'Sundial.' Players simultaneously drop their Firefly. The player with the one nearest to the centre of the Sun takes the Gardener's Apprentice Card and will begin the game.

A Game Round

Each Game Round is played in two phases: the Planting Phase and the Harvesting Phase.

Each round happens in the following order:

Planting Phase

• The Gardener's Apprentice takes their turn.
• All other players, moving clockwise, take their turn.

Harvesting Phase

• The Gardener's Apprentice turns the Sundial one Flower clockwise.
• Day Break – Sun Flower Harvested (if possible).
• Night Fall – Moon Flower Harvested (if possible).
• Refilling the Flower Clock – Any empty spaces on the Flower Clock are replenished by cards from the top of the Greenhouse, or the Potting Shed, if the Greenhouse is empty. (See 'Refilling the Flower Clock' on page 6.)
• Any Royal Fireflies showing their crown on the Sundial are returned to the owning player's supply pool. Then any Royal Fireflies not showing their crown on the Sundial are flipped up to show their crown.

Beginning another round. The Gardener's Apprentice card is passed to the player with the lowest number of Flowers in their Flower Beds, or if drawn to equal lowest, moving clockwise.

Planting Phase

A Player's Turn

During the Planting Phase, starting with the Gardener's Apprentice and proceeding clockwise, each player in turn must take one of the three following actions:

1. Bid/Place a Firefly – The player takes one of their Firefly counters and places it on the leftmost empty space on a Flower Card in the Flower Clock. (See 'Placing Fireflies & Day/Night Rules' below.)

2. Plant a Flower – The player takes one of the Flower Cards in their hand and places it on the table in front of them to start or add to a Flower Bed. They must also place one of their Firefly counters from their supply in the centre of that Flower Card. That Firefly remains there for the rest of the game. A player with no Fireflies in their supply cannot plant a Flower using this method.

   The Flower can either be placed face-up (so that its Special Ability can be used immediately – see 'Flower Cards and their Special Abilities' below) or face-down, so their opponent/s are not aware of its type until the end of the game.

3. Pass – A player with no Fireflies in their supply pool must pass on their turn. A player can also simply choose to Pass.

Drawing up. At the end of their turn a player draws replacement card/s from the Potting Shed back up to a maximum of three cards in their hand.

Bonus Action

If a player either Bids/Places a Firefly on a flower (Action 1) or Plants a Flower (Action 2) they can choose to take an Additional Bonus Action as follows:

Bid One Additional Firefly. The player discards a Flower Card from their hand face-up onto the Compost Heap. This allows them to bid one additional Firefly onto the Flower Clock.

Bonus Action rules: If they have already bid/placed a Firefly on a Flower Card this turn then the second Firefly must be placed on a Flower adjacent to the flower they have just bid on (not the same Flower) making sure to follow the Day/Night rules above.

Royal Fireflies

Each player has one Royal Firefly. It is marked on one side by a crown symbol.

A Royal Firefly automatically overpowers any opponent's regular Fireflies (even if it is outnumbered). They should be kept hidden and strategically placed face-down on a Flower Card.

Switching Two Flowers. During their turn, a player may sacrifice their Royal Firefly to switch two Flower Cards that are side by side in the Flower Clock. The player must have at least one of their own Fireflies on one of the cards being switched. The sacrificed Royal is placed on the Sundial with their crown face down.

Example: The yellow player sacrifices his Royal and, because he has one of his Fireflies currently on the Red Flower, can switch its position on the Flower Clock with either the Purple Flower or the Orange Flower next to it.

Placing Fireflies & Day/Night Rules

During the game players bid Fireflies on specific spaces on the Flowers. There are three types of spaces marked on the Flower Cards:

• A Day space (Sun symbol)
• A Night space (Moon symbol)
• A Mixed space

If a Flower Card is on the Day Side of the Sundial, players can only bid on that Flower if it has either a Sun space or a Mixed space available. If a Flower is on the Night Side, players can only bid on it if the Flower has either a Night space or a Mixed space available.

As the Sundial rotates at the end of each round, each Flower on the Flower Clock will progress through both Day and Night sides of the Flower Clock.

Harvesting Phase

Rotating the Sundial

Once all players have taken their turn, the player with the Gardener's Apprentice Card turns the Sundial one Flower clockwise so that the Sun pointer and Moon pointer are aligned with the next two Flowers in the Flower Clock.

Note: Only the Sundial rotates; the Flower Cards remain in their original positions.

Day Break

Once the Sundial has moved, look at the Flower that the Sun Pointer is pointing towards.

If there is a Sun symbol on the top right of the Flower Card, then that Flower has bloomed and will now leave the Flower Clock.

If it has a Moon symbol on the top right of the Flower Card, the Flower remains in the Flower Clock at this time.

Night Fall

Check the Moon pointer and if it is pointing to a Flower Card with a Moon on the top right of the Flower Card, then that Flower has also bloomed and will now leave the Flower Clock.

If it has a Sun symbol on the top right of the Flower Card, the Flower remains in the Flower Clock at this time.

Refilling the Flower Clock

When Flowers are removed from the Flower Clock, the Gardener's Apprentice should draw replacement cards in the following order:

First refill the vacant Sun Space, then refill the vacant Moon Space.

• If there is an Orchid/Weed Card available on the Greenhouse Deck it must be used FIRST when refilling the Flower Clock.
• If there are no cards on the Greenhouse Deck, then the replacement cards are drawn from the top of the Potting Shed Deck.

Examples of Leaving the Flower Clock

Example a: 1 Flower card leaves the Flower Clock. In this example, the Sundial has stopped with its Sun symbol pointing towards a flower card which is marked with the Sun Symbol. The symbols match so that card now leaves the Flower Clock and goes to the winning Bidder.

Example b: 2 Flower cards leave the Flower Clock. Day Break: the Sundial has stopped with its Sun symbol pointing towards a flower card which is marked with the Sun Symbol. The symbols match so that Flower card now leaves the Flower Clock and goes to the winning Bidder. Night Fall: this time the Moon symbol on the Sundial is pointing towards a flower card marked with a Moon symbol. The symbols match so this time that Flower card will also leave the Flower Clock.

Counter-example. The Moon symbol on the Sundial is pointing towards a card that is also marked with the Sun Symbol. The symbols do not match so that card remains on the Flower Clock.

The cards go to the winning Bidder in each case. See 'Winning a Flower from the Flower Clock' below.

Harvesting Rules

When a Flower leaves the Flower Clock, if there are any Fireflies on it, flip them over to check if any are Royal Fireflies.

There are now four possible outcomes:

1. No Fireflies on the Flower. If no-one has bid on that flower the card is discarded face-up onto the Compost Heap.

2. No Royal Fireflies. The player who has bid the highest number of Fireflies wins this Flower card.

3. No Royal Fireflies – Draw. If two or more players are tied for the highest number of Fireflies on the Flower Card, no one wins the Card. Discard the Flower Card face-up onto the Compost Heap. However, all players who have bid on the Flower may plant a Flower of same colour from their hand into their Flower Bed/s, without placing a Firefly from their supply on it. Players cannot use this Flower's Special Ability.

4. Royal Fireflies are revealed. (See 'Royals Harvesting Rules' below.)

Reclaiming Fireflies. When a flower is harvested all Fireflies (except Royals) are returned to their owner's Firefly Supply Pool.

Royals Harvesting Rules

• If one Royal Firefly is revealed on a Flower during the Harvesting Phase, that player wins the Flower regardless of which colour has the most Fireflies on that card. The Royal is placed on the Sundial with its crown face down.

• If two or more Royals are revealed as well as one or more regular Fireflies, the Royals cancel each other out and neither wins the Flower. The Royals are all placed on the Sundial with their crown face down. Work out the winner among the remaining Fireflies for the flower using the normal Harvesting Rules (see above).

• If two or more Royals and no regular Fireflies are revealed, the Royals cancel each other out and neither wins the Flower. However, players with a Royal on the Flower Card may plant a Flower of the same colour from their hand into one of their existing Flower Beds or use it to begin a new Flower Bed. Players cannot use this Flower's Special Ability. The Flower Card is discarded face-up onto the Compost Heap. The Royals are all placed on the Sundial with their crown face down.

Winning a Flower from the Flower Clock

When a player wins a Flower from the Flower Clock they can take all of the following actions:

1. Plant that Flower into their garden, either in one of their existing Flower Beds (providing there is no Flower of the same colour already in that Flower Bed), or they can start a new Flower Bed with that Flower. They do not place a Firefly counter on this card.

2. Plant a second Flower of the same colour from their hand into their Garden. If the player currently has a Flower of the same colour in their hand they can also plant that Flower, either into another existing or into a new Flower Bed. They do not place a Firefly counter on this card.

3. Finally, they can trigger the Special Ability of the Flower they just won from the Flower Clock, and that of the second Flower if they have planted one. See 'Flower Cards and their Special Abilities' below.

Important: If a player has planted additional cards from their hand as a result of winning a Flower from the Flower Clock, they DO NOT draw replacements from the Potting Shed at this time. It is possible a player could have no Flower Cards in their hand when starting their next turn.

Flower Cards and their Special Abilities

There are six colours of Flowers: Red, White, Yellow, Orange, Blue and Purple.

Each type of Flower carries a unique symbol which represents its own unique ability. When a player plants a Flower, either from their hand or from the Flower Clock, they can instantly trigger that Flower's Special Ability.

• Red Flowers. When this card is planted in a Flower Bed the player may draw two cards from the Potting Shed and add them to their hand. They must then select any one card from their hand and discard it face-down onto the bottom of the Potting Shed. Note: This can mean that the player will have 'more than three' cards in their hand, and cannot draw up at the end of their turn.

• White Flowers. When this card is planted in a Flower Bed the player may place one Firefly from their supply onto 'any' space on any Flower in the Flower Clock, ignoring the Day/Night rules.

• Yellow Flowers. When this card is placed in a Flower Bed the player may 'copy' one Special Ability of a Flower (face-up) already in that Flower Bed. However, they cannot copy a Purple or Yellow Flower's ability.

• Orange Flowers. When this card is planted in a Flower Bed the player may plant one additional Flower (any type) from their hand into a Flower Bed without placing a Firefly from their supply on it. If a player is planting more than 1 Flower of the same colour, either from the Flower Clock or their hand, they must begin a new Flower Bed or add that card to another existing Flower Bed which does not contain that colour of Flower.

• Blue Flowers. When this card is planted in a Flower Bed the player may look through the cards in the Compost Heap and pick one to add to their hand. You may pick up all cards on the Compost Heap and search through it.

• Purple Flowers. At the end of the game this Flower is worth 1 extra bonus point.

The Flower can either be placed face-up (so that its Special Ability can be used immediately) or face-down, so their opponent/s are not aware of its type until the end of the game.

Flower Chains

When a player plants a Flower Card in one of their Flower Beds, they can immediately trigger that Flower's Special Ability. If that Special Ability means they can plant another Flower Card from their hand then the following rules apply:

• If the second Flower is planted into the same Flower Bed as the first Flower: the player CAN also trigger the second Flower's Special Ability.
• If the second Flower is planted into a different Flower Bed or is used to start a new Flower Bed: the player CANNOT trigger the second Flower's Special Ability.

The same rules apply for any further Flowers planted in a chain.

Building Your Flower Beds

Flower Beds are planted in horizontal lines starting from the left-hand side. Flower Beds can only contain one Flower of each of the six Flower colours: Red, White, Purple, Yellow, Orange and Blue. Flowers can be planted in any order. Additional Flower Beds can be planted below or beside the first Flower Bed.

Note: Once there are six Flowers in a Flower Bed, that Flower Bed is complete and cannot be added to.

Orchid & Weed Cards

These powerful cards cannot be held in a player's hand. If a player draws one to their hand during their turn, they must immediately put it face-up 'in the Greenhouse' and draw a replacement Flower Card from the Potting Shed.

Orchid/Weed Cards are bid on with Fireflies in the normal way. The only difference is that there are five spaces to bid on, as opposed to three. The same rules for Day, Night and Mix still apply, and Fireflies must still be bid from 'left to right' on the card (starting top left).

Orchid/Weed cards should always be placed onto the clock with the Weed side towards the Sun Dial.

When a player wins an Orchid/Weed Card, they can use that card in one of the two following ways:

Plant the Card as an Orchid in Their Own Flower Bed

Players can choose to plant the Orchid in one of their Flower Beds until the end of the game. An Orchid can be planted as 'any colour' of Flower but must follow the normal planting rules. The Orchid does NOT follow any Flower's Special Ability.

Once planted in a Player's Flower Bed an Orchid cannot be removed. At the end of the game the Orchid counts as one Flower in that Flower Bed.

Plant the Card as a Weed in an Opponent's Flower Bed

When planting a Weed in an opponent's Flower Bed, the player turns the Orchid/Weed Card upside down and places it at the end of an opponent's Flower Bed.

Note: An Orchid/Weed Card is always placed to the right side of any Flower Bed it is being planted in; hence as a Weed, it ends the growth of that Flower Bed.

When planted into an opponent's Flower Bed, a Weed will overrun that bed and no further Flowers can be added to that bed for the remainder of the game – UNLESS the Weed is removed. See 'Removing a Weed' below. The Flowers in a Flower Bed blocked by a Weed still count for scoring at the end of the game.

Once planted as a Weed, an Orchid/Weed card cannot be re-planted as an Orchid.

Blue Flowers and Orchid/Weed Cards. If a player takes an Orchid/Weed Card from the Compost Heap (using the Blue Flower's Special Ability) they must immediately plant it in one of their Flower Beds or in an opponent's Flower Bed. This is a 'free' action.

Removing a Weed

There are two ways in which a Weed can be removed from a Flower Bed. Both of these use the Special Abilities of other Flowers.

• Using an Orange Flower. If the Flower Bed does not have an Orange Flower planted in it: if the player wins an Orange Flower from the Flower Clock, or they can plant one from their hand, they can remove the Weed from the Flower Bed and replace it with the Orange Flower. Removing the Weed is seen as the use of the Orange Flower's Special Ability in this case.

• Using a Yellow Flower. If the Flower Bed does have an Orange Flower, but does not have a Yellow Flower planted in it: if a player wins a Yellow Flower from the Flower Clock or can plant one from their hand, they can use its Special Ability to copy the Orange Flower's ability and remove the Weed, replacing it with the Yellow Flower. When a Weed is removed, it can immediately be planted into any opponent's Flower Bed.

Ending the Game

When the last Flower Card has been moved from the Potting Shed and the Greenhouse into the Flower Clock, play continues until all players have taken their turn in that round.

At that point, the Gardener's Apprentice follows the Harvesting Phase instructions until all the Flower Cards have been removed from the Flower Clock.

Players who win them plant them in their Flower Beds and use their Special Abilities if applicable.

If any players had planted a Flower Card face-down in their Flower Bed using a Firefly during the game, this should now be turned face-up and the Special Ability of the Flower can be triggered.

Players then count up their scores.

Scoring

Flower Beds

Flowers in bed	Points (unless Purple)
6 Flowers	12 points
5 Flowers	8 points
4 Flowers	5 points
3 Flowers	3 points
2 Flowers	1 point
1 Flower	0 points

Weeds do not count as Flowers. If a Flower Bed contains 5 cards – 4 Flowers and 1 Weed – the bed is counted as having only 4 Flowers when scoring.

Purple Bonus. All Purple Flowers score 1 additional point at the end of the game. Note: Orchids planted as Purple Flowers do not gain this bonus.

Harmony Bonuses

• If a player builds a full Flower Bed of 6 Flowers of different colours, and all the Flower Cards are Day Flowers (Sun symbol), add 2 points to that Flower Bed's score.
• If a player builds a full Flower Bed of 6 Flowers of different colours, and all the Flower Cards are Night Flowers (Moon symbol), add 4 points to that Flower Bed's score.

Once all Flower Beds' scores have been added, the winner of the coveted title of Head Gardener is the player with the highest number of points.

Who Wins a Tie

After scoring, if two or more players have the same total of points, a decision on the winner is made by:

1. The most Full Flower Beds (sets of six).
2. A Flower Bed with an Orchid always looks prettier than one with a Weed.