Die Gärten von Versailles
Die Gärten von Versailles Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Overview
The players are Royal Gardeners, appointed by the King, each tasked with planning and creating his own personal garden in order to present it to him. The goal of the players is to create the largest possible area of each garden type (color). The game consists of 2 stages, each lasting 7 rounds. In each round, garden tiles are distributed to the players. It is necessary for the players to choose the right card to play to be able to expand their gardens as much as possible, because points are only awarded for the largest contiguous area of each garden type.
Game Components
- 72 Garden Tiles
- 55 Number Cards (with values of 1–55)
- 11 Majority Tokens:
- 5 Large tokens (3/5 Points)
- 6 Small tokens (3 Points)
- 1 King Figure
Game Setup
At the beginning of the first stage, the Garden Tiles are mixed face down on the table. Depending on the number of players*, a certain number of tiles are turned face up and placed in a continuous row in the center of the table. It is suggested that the revealed tiles are arranged in separate groups, with each group consisting of tiles equaling the number of players. In this way, it is easy to see which tiles are available each round. The remaining tiles are returned to the box for now; they will be used in the second stage of the game. The King Figure is placed in front of the first group in the row, and will be used throughout the game to mark the beginning of the tile row.
* 2/3 Players: 21 Tiles. 4 Players: 28 Tiles. 5 Players: 35 Tiles.
Illustration: example of the display in a 4-player game, with the tiles grouped for Rounds 1 to 7.
The 5 large Majority Tokens (for the intermediate scoring after the first stage) are placed on the table with the 3-point side facing up. The small tokens are only used at the end of the game. The Number Cards are shuffled, and then 10 cards are dealt to each player, which he takes into his hand. Players will only play 7 of these 10 cards in a stage.
Gameplay
Each stage consists of 7 rounds, in which all players take their turns simultaneously. A round plays as follows:
- Each player chooses one of the Number Cards from his hand and places it face down in front of him.
- The cards are then simultaneously revealed and the Garden Tiles are distributed. Each player adds the new tile to his garden display.
Garden Tile Distribution
The values on the played Number Cards determine which player receives each Garden Tile. The following rules apply:
- The player who has played the lowest-numbered card takes the first tile (closest to the King) and places it in his garden display.
- The other players then each take a Garden Tile in ascending order of the played Number Cards and place them in their own garden displays. Tiles are always taken in order of the tile row (away from the King).
Example: Sophie plays the "18" card from her hand, Alexander plays the "7", Christian plays "21" and Oliver plays "54" (because he would like to have the last tile). Since Alexander played the lowest card, he takes the first tile and places it in his garden display. Sophie takes the second tile, Christian takes the third, and Oliver takes the last tile because his card was the highest. After all players have placed their tiles into their gardens, the King Figure moves on to the next set of tiles.
Placement of Garden Tiles
With his first Garden Tile, each player begins his private garden. Later tiles must always be placed adjacent to an existing tile. When doing so, the garden types do not have to match the types on existing adjacent tiles, but it is better for the player if they do. Tiles may be placed in a "staggered" formation and holes may be formed, but tiles may not be placed only diagonally adjacent to existing tiles.
Illustration: Correct. Correct, but not ideal for scoring. Incorrect! Tiles may not be placed only diagonally adjacent to each other. Correct: Tiles may be placed in an offset formation. Correct: Holes may be formed by tile placement.
IMPORTANT: When placing the tiles in their gardens, the player who played the lowest-valued Number Card also places his tile first. The other players then follow in ascending order of their played Number Cards. This is necessary when resolving color majorities (see "Assignment of Majority Tokens").
Joker (Wild) Field
Some tiles contain a Joker field. This "wild" field can be counted as any type(s) of garden(s) simultaneously.
Example: The Joker field shown here counts as 3 different garden types/colors. Therefore, the Yellow flower garden contains 6 fields, the Green hedge garden also contains 6 fields, and the White pavilions total 4 fields.
Construction Site
Some tiles contain Construction Site fields. They do not score points during the intermediate scoring (after the first stage). At the end of the game, however, 3 points are awarded to the player with the largest contiguous Construction Site area.
After all players have placed their new tiles into their gardens, the King Figure is moved forward to the front of the next tile group. The played Number Cards are placed in a discard pile. The next round then begins, with players selecting another Number Card, etc.
Assignment of Majority Tokens
As soon as a player has created a garden area consisting of at least 4 contiguous fields of the same type/color, he takes the large Majority Token of the appropriate color and places it next to his garden.
IMPORTANT: Later in the game, should another player create a garden area consisting of more fields in a color (an equal amount is not sufficient) than the number of fields existing in the area of the current Majority Token holder, this player takes the corresponding Majority Token from the former majority holder. In this way, it is always clear which player has the current largest garden of each type/color.
Example: After placing tile #3, Sophie gets the Yellow Majority Token and places it next to her garden. If, later in the game, another player creates a larger Yellow garden area, he takes the Yellow Majority Token from Sophie and places it next to his garden.
IMPORTANT: It may happen that a Majority Token changes owners several times during a game stage. Whenever a player places a garden tile, he should always check to see whether a color area is now larger than that of the player currently holding that color's Majority Token. Also, a player can always reclaim a Majority Token that was taken from him if he expands the corresponding color area enough to give him majority again.
Intermediate Scoring
After all players have played their 7th hand card and all garden tiles have been distributed and placed, an intermediate scoring takes place. Each player now totals the number of fields existing in his 2 largest contiguous garden colors/types. Each field earns 1 point. In addition, each claimed Majority Token earns its owner 3 points. Record all players' scores on a piece of paper.
Example: In the intermediate scoring, Sophie is holding the Blue and Yellow Majority Tokens. Alexander has taken the White token from her, since he managed to create a White pavilion area with 10 fields. Oliver also has a Yellow flower area consisting of 6 fields, but since that only ties Sophie's 6 and does not surpass it, the Yellow Majority Token remains with her.
Sophie's 2 largest areas are White, with 9 fields, and Blue, with 7 fields. She therefore earns 16 points for these 2 areas, plus an additional 6 points for her 2 Majority Tokens. Her total for the intermediate scoring is 22 points, a considerable score! Although Sophie holds the Yellow Majority Token, she does not earn any points for her Yellow area, because it is not one of the 2 largest areas in her garden. The individual Blue fields that are not connected to the large Blue field do not earn any points either.
Second Stage
After the intermediate scoring, players discard all of their unused Number Cards. The cards are shuffled and for the second stage of the game, each player is again dealt 10 cards, as in the first stage.
The players' gardens remain on the table for the second stage. From the Garden Tiles returned to the box at the start of the first stage, a new continuous row of tiles, the amount depending on number of players (2/3 Players: 21 Tiles; 4 Players: 28 Tiles; 5 Players: 35 Tiles), is placed in the center of the table, as in the first stage, and are divided into groups by the number of players. The King Figure is once again placed in front of the first group in the row. All claimed Majority Tokens remain with players, but they are now flipped over so the 5-point side is facing up. At the end of the game, each large token will now earn 5 points for the largest garden area of each color. In addition, the Small Majority Tokens are placed in the center of the table. At the end of the game, the player who has created the second-largest area of each color will receive these, worth 3 points each. The second stage is played in 7 rounds, exactly as in the first stage.
Game End
After the second set of Garden Tiles has been distributed and placed, the game ends. Each player calculates their end of game points as follows:
- The number of fields in the 3 largest contiguous garden colors/types (1 point per field).
- 5 points for each Large Majority Token (representing the largest contiguous area of each color/type among all players).
- 3 points for each Small Majority Token (representing the second-largest contiguous area of each color/type among all players).
- 3 points for the largest contiguous Construction Site area (brown fields).
If there is a tie when determining the second-largest area of each color/type and/or the largest Construction Site, those points are not awarded.
Each player's end of game points are added to his points from the intermediate scoring, and the player with the most points is the winner. In case of a tie, the winner is the player among those tied who has the single largest garden area of any color/type. If this still results in a tie, the tied players share in the victory.
Special Rules for 2 Players
A 2-player game is played the same as a 3-player game, but an imaginary 3rd player named "Ludwig" is added. He also receives 10 Number Cards, which are placed in a face-down stack. Each round, Ludwig's top card is played and resolved with the players' cards. The Garden Tiles that Ludwig receives are simply put into a discard stack.
IMPORTANT: The Small Majority Tokens (worth 3 points) are not used in a 2-player game. In the end of game scoring, only the Large Majority Tokens (worth 5 points) for the largest area of each color/type are scored. There are no points given for the second-largest area of each garden color/type.
Quick Game Overview
- 2/3 Players: 21 Garden Tiles | 4 Players: 28 Tiles | 5 Players: 35 Tiles; placed face up in a continuous row
- 10 Number Cards dealt to each player
- Each player plays 1 card face down
- Players then simultaneously reveal played cards
- In ascending order of played Number Cards, players each take 1 Garden Tile
- Players place tiles in their own garden displays
- The player with the most fields in each color/type (min. 4) receives the corresponding Majority Token
- After all tiles are placed (7 rounds) score as follows:
| After 1st Stage | After 2nd Stage | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 point per tile for the: | 2 largest garden colors/types | 3 largest garden colors/types |
| For each Large Majority Token | 3 points | 5 points |
| For second place majority | — | 3 points |
| For largest Construction Site | — | 3 points |