Forage: A 9 card solitaire game
Forage: A 9 Card Solitaire Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
18 cards featuring 3 different types of woodland area: bramble, fallen leaves and soil litter.
Each card is divided into 6 areas, 5 of which have food for foraging on them:
- wild blackberries growing on the bramble,
- sweet chestnuts lying on the fallen leaves
- edible mushrooms emerging from the soil litter.
The remaining area is split diagonally into two of the area types and can count as either type. This area has no food on it.
The backs of the cards show 'Recipes'. These are only used for 'Recipe Challenges', so are ignored for the standard game.
15 dice (5 in each of 3 colours)
These will be custom dice with face values of 1, 3, 6, 10, and 15. The remaining face will show a wood mouse with negative value of -2. The dice colours will match the 3 woodland areas, with their pips representing blackberries, chestnuts and mushrooms.
For PnP, standard D6 can represent the custom dice as follows: 1 = 1, 3 = 3, 6 = 6, 4 = 10, 5 = 15, 2 = -2 (wood mouse). Alternatively, there are some dice stickers in the PnP file.
Edwood Mouse token
This will be a custom, screen printed, wooden token. For PnP, any small token can be used to represent him.
Set Up
Place the 15 dice and token within easy reach.
Shuffle the cards (recipe side up) and divide them into two, 9 card, decks. Set one deck aside - it will not be used in this game (once you've finished the game you can immediately play again using this deck).
Place the remaining deck face down (recipe side up) within easy reach to form a draw pile.
Draw the top card and place it face up in the middle of your playing area to form the start of the woodland.
Draw two cards to your hand.
Gameplay
Each turn consists of:
- Playing a card
- Placing dice
- Drawing another card.
1. Play a Card
Place a card from your hand to the woodland. You may rotate the card (90 or 180 degrees) before placing it.
At least one area of the newly placed card must overlap an area in the woodland.
2. Place Dice
A. For each area with food on it that overlaps an area of the same type (with or without food on it):
- If there is no die on the area below then place a die on the overlapping area with its '1' face uppermost. The die colour must match the area. If you have no dice remaining of that colour then do not place a die.
- If there is a matching die on the area below then place it on the overlapping area, rotating it to increase its value (1 to 3, 3 to 6, 6 to 10, 10 to 15).
B. If the area without food on it overlaps an area of the same type:
- If there is no die on the area below then no die is placed.
- If there is a matching die on the area below then place it on the overlapping area without changing its value.
C. For each overlapping area (with or without food on it) on the newly placed card that does not match the area or the die below it:
- If there is a die on the area below then return it to the dice pile.
- Place a mouse die on the overlapping area. The die colour must match the area. If you have no dice remaining of that colour then you may place Edwood Mouse instead (see below*). Otherwise you cannot place the card in that position.
An area with a mouse die on it cannot then be overlapped (except by using Edwood Mouse - see below).
3. Draw Another Card
from the draw deck (if available) to bring your hand back up to two cards.
Edwood Mouse
Once per game you may place a card such that an area overlaps an area that has a mouse die on it. The overlapping area must match the die colour. Remove the mouse die and return it to the dice pile.
Place the Edwood Mouse token on the area. Edwood has scared off the smaller mouse.
This area cannot be overlapped again.
* Edwood Mouse may also be used instead of a mouse die if you need a mouse of a particular colour but have no dice left of that colour.
Game End
Once you have placed the final card, and any dice on it, the game ends.
Scoring
Add up all the dice in the wood to see how much food you have foraged.
Subtract 1 for each die on an area without food on it.
Subtract 2 for each mouse (they've run off with some of your harvest).
Subtract 5 if Edwood Mouse is in the wood.
How Good Was Your Foraging?
- <30 There's mush-room for improvement
- 30-34 Chest-nut quite good enough
- 35-39 A satisfac-tree gathering
- 40-44 A berry good harvest
- 45-49 What a wood-erful haul!
- 50+ It's unani-mouse: you're a fantastic forager!
Recipe Challenge
The backs of the cards feature 'recipes'. These are used to provide a win/lose condition for the game.
Shuffle the 18 cards. Randomly set 2 aside with their recipe sides face up.
Each recipe shows a scoring condition for the game and the bonus points or score modifier you receive for meeting the condition.
Each recipe card has a number at the top. Add together the numbers on the two cards to give the Target Score for the game. If your final score equals or exceeds the Target Score, you win!
Note that some of the cards feature a descriptive word rather than a recipe name. So your 2 cards could be 2 recipes (e.g. Chestnut Soup and Mushroom Risotto), a described recipe (e.g. Grandma's Blackberry Pie) or the description of a non-specific dish (e.g. Award Winning and Homemade).
Multiplayer Foraging
Both the standard game and recipe challenges can be played multiplayer. Each player has a copy of the game and, using the numbers on the bottom corner of the recipes, draws the same cards in the same order (as in both Orchard and Grove multiplayer, with one player calling out the numbers).
Recipe Cards
Each recipe card shows a Target Score number (top), a recipe name, a scoring condition, and a bonus, along with a multiplayer draw-order number (bottom). The 18 recipe cards, transcribed from the card backs:
- Garlic Mushrooms (24) — At least 1 Mushroom die has a value of exactly 10. Bonus 6 pts. (draw order 3)
- Chestnut Tart (24) — At least 1 Chestnut die has a value of exactly 10. Bonus 6 pts. (draw order 2)
- Blackberry Liqueur (24) — At least 1 Blackberry die has a value of exactly 10. Bonus 6 pts. (draw order 1)
- Pickled Mushrooms (34) — All Mushroom dice (including any mice) score double. Bonus x2. (draw order 6)
- Chestnut Spread (34) — All Chestnut dice (including any mice) score double. Bonus x2. (draw order 5)
- Blackberry Jam (34) — All Blackberry dice (including any mice) score double. Bonus x2. (draw order 4)
- Chestnut Flour (22) — All 5 Chestnut dice are in play (without mice). Bonus 5 pts. (draw order 9)
- Blackberry Cordial (22) — All 5 Blackberry dice are in play (without mice). Bonus 5 pts. (draw order 8)
- Mushroom Risotto (22) — All 5 Mushroom dice are in play (without mice). Bonus 5 pts. (draw order 7)
- Grandma's (20) — All 15 dice are in play (can include mice). Bonus 5 pts. (draw order 12)
- Scrumptious (19) — At least 1 Basket is in play. Bonus 2 pts. (draw order 11)
- Homemade (26) — Lowest scoring food (after subtracting any mice and before any bonuses) scores double. Bonus x2. (draw order 10)
- Blackberry Pie (18) — Gather a Blackberry on your first turn. Bonus 1 pt. (draw order 15)
- Mushroom Soup (18) — Gather a Mushroom on your first turn. Bonus 1 pt. (draw order 14)
- Chestnut Soup (18) — Gather a Chestnut on your first turn. Bonus 1 pt. (draw order 13)
- Extra Special (20) — At least 3 dice of the same food are on adjacent areas. Bonus 3 pts. (draw order 18)
- Award Winning (21) — At least 4 food dice of each colour are in play. Bonus 4 pts. (draw order 17)
- Mouse-free (18) — No mice are in play. Bonus 2 pts. (draw order 16)