Garden Geckos
Garden Geckos Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 1 Starting Hex Tile
- 60 Terrain Hex Tiles
- 42 Objective Cards
- 12 Secret Objective Cards
- 5 Gecko Meeples x 6 colours
- 12 Bug Meeples x 6 Bug Types
- 1 Rule Book
- 1 First Player Marker Hex Tile
Objective
Each player represents five geckos that must work together to capture as many bugs as possible and achieve Objectives to score victory points. Objectives may be accomplished in two ways: place geckos to connect Bug types or simultaneously occupy specific terrain patterns.
Setup
Each player chooses a gecko colour and takes five matching geckos.
Place the Resource Bugs (separated by bug type) to the side of the table within reach of all players.
- Place the starting Hex Tile in the centre of the table.
- Choose a first player and give them the First Player Marker. Gameplay will move in a clockwise order. Pass the First Player Marker to the First Player each round.
- The last player decides what the starting bug will be and places that bug from the supply in the centre of the starting tile.
Shuffle the terrain Hex Tiles and place them in a face-down pile on the table within reach of all players. Deal three tiles to each player as a starting hand.
Shuffle the Secret Objective Cards (yellow with gecko back) and deal two to each player. Players keep one of the two cards and return the other to the box face-down. Players keep their remaining objective secret from other players.
Create the Objective Market by shuffling the Bug Objective Deck (green back with bugs) and Terrain Objective Deck (brown back with diamonds) separately, then placing them on the table face down six cards apart. Deal three cards from each to create a market of six face-up Objectives.
Points
Scoring is straightforward in this game. Each Bug is worth one point, regardless of whether it is a physical token or printed on the bottom of an Objective Card. (Scoring for Bonus Objectives varies - see the Scoring Bonus Objective Cards section.)
Game End Triggers
If any of the following occurs, the game end is triggered and the current round is completed, with the player to the right of the First Player taking the last turn (ensuring everyone has had an equal number of turns):
- Any player has achieved their sixth Objective.
- One of the bug supplies is fully exhausted.
- The last Hex Tile is drawn (not played).
How to Play
On your turn, go through each of these steps in order:
- Place a Hex Tile from your hand onto the table.
- Place a gecko on the placed tile, spanning matching patterns.
- Collect achieved objectives.
- Draw back up to three Hex Tiles.
When placing a tile on the table, you must connect it to another tile on a side with a matching pattern. You then place one of your geckos across the two tiles, spanning the matching patterns and "connecting" the bug images in the centre of the tiles. If more than one side of the placed tile connects to matching patterns, you may choose which matching pattern your gecko spans.
Once all of your geckos have been placed on tiles, you must move one of your previously-placed geckos to the newly placed tile spanning the new matching pattern.
Swapping Hex Tiles From Hand: During your turn, if you feel you may have better opportunities with different Hex Tiles, you may pay one Resource Bug (that has been awarded through trapping) to draw three more Hex Tiles. You then choose any three of the six tiles in your hand and return them to the bottom of the Hex Tile deck, beginning your turn as usual with the remaining three. This may be done once per turn.
Tile placement can score three different ways (and potentially all at the same time):
Trapping Hex Tiles and Winning Bugs: When a Hex Tile is placed that causes another Hex Tile to be completely surrounded on all sides, the geckos fight for the Bug on the trapped Hex Tile. The Bug is awarded to the player with the most geckos touching that tile. In the event of a tie, the player who placed the tile is awarded the Bug. If the tie does not involve the player who placed the tile, they choose which of the tied players is awarded the Bug. Take the matching Resource Bug token from the general supply and give it to the winner. If a trapped tile does not have any geckos touching it, no Bug is awarded.
Achieving Objectives: To achieve an Objective, you must contribute to that Objective by placing a tile on your turn. In other words, you do not automatically win an Objective if, by chance, you meet all of its criteria when the Objective is revealed. You may not claim more than one of the same Objective type on the same turn, but may claim both a Bug Objective and Terrain Objective on the same turn.
When you complete an Objective, take the corresponding card from the market and keep it for end-game scoring. Replace the claimed Objective Card with a new Objective of the same type from the respective deck.
(Note: Once an Objective has been completed, your geckos may be moved in a later turn without losing that Objective Card.)
Terrain Pattern Objectives: Complete these Objectives by simultaneously having your geckos occupy the patterns indicated on the card. Please note that the diamond shape represents the spanning of the same matching pattern across two tiles.
Bug Sequence Objectives: Complete these Objectives by forming a chain between Bugs with your geckos. These links must be in the same order as indicated on the Objective Card. Be mindful of the lines connecting Bugs on the Objective Cards. Some cards show the Bugs forming a continuous chain, others have parallel connections, while a few require no connections at all:
- Parallel: Gecko connects cricket to grasshopper. Gecko connects fruitfly to mealworm.
- Sequence: Gecko connects ladybug to ladybug. Second Gecko connects one of those ladybugs to another ladybug.
- Independent: Geckos must be touching two fruitflies, a grasshopper, and a moth. Same Gecko MAY touch two of these Bugs together, but it is not mandatory.
Game End
Once the game end triggers, finish the round, and then calculate scores.
Final Score Calculation: Count one point per trapped Bug you have won, plus one point for each Bug printed on the bottom of your scored Objective Cards, plus your end-game bonus. Tie games are awarded to the player with the most captured bugs, followed by the most objectives collected. If it's still a tie, it's a tie!
Scoring Bonus Objective Cards
You will have one of two types of Bonus Objective Cards: a Bug Bonus or a Terrain Bonus.
Bug Bonus: Score a bonus of two points for each Bug meeple and Bug image printed on the bottom of your Objective Cards that matches the Bug shown on Bonus Objective.
Terrain Bonus: At the end of the game, the largest continuous pattern on the table that matches your Bonus Objective is scored. You receive one bonus point for each segment (third of a Hex Tile) that is part of that connected pattern. If the starting Hex Tile is part of this connected area, count it as one point. You are not required to have geckos on this pattern at the end of the game to score it.
Advanced Rules
Once players have become comfortable with the core rules of the game, try adding this additional scoring method: For each Bug Objective Card awarded, a player will score two points per Bug printed on the bottom of the card if they can place all the respective Resource Bug tokens onto the card by the end of the game. The meeples used still also count as one point each.
Note: Each Bonus is scored separately, so a player with a Bug Bonus Objective Card would also score two points for each Bonus Bug, in addition to this Bonus. For example, if their Bug Bonus Objective Card shows a cricket, they would score four points in this example (two points for the meeple, and two points for the cricket on the bottom), as well as the points from the Advanced Rules bonus described above.
Garden Geckos Solo Rules
You FAIL if you do not achieve the following goals during the game:
- Trap five bugs (and have them at the end) matching your Bug Bonus Objective.
- Have a connected terrain matching your Terrain Bonus Objective worth at least ten points (10 x 1/3rd of a Hex Tile terrain connected).
- At least five of each objective type claimed.
- All six bug-type meeples at the end of the game.
Before drawing tiles, randomly choose one Terrain and one Bug Bonus Objective card. These are your pass/fail objectives for the game. Shuffle the separate decks of Objective Cards and deal out eleven of each as starting Objective card piles (there are only twenty-two Objective cards in the Solo Game). Choose a gecko colour to represent your family of geckos and choose one colour that will be your nuisance gecko opponent.
Place a gecko matching your Bug Bonus Objective in the starting tile, then draft three tiles. Your opponent will not draft any tiles until their turn and will only draft one tile.
On their turn, you may place that tile anywhere you want as long as it connects to a matching terrain. If there are no legal moves for their drafted tile, draft another (and so on) until a tile appears that has a legal move. On subsequent turns, only draft a new tile for them if their hand is empty. Tile & gecko placement follow the same rules as the standard game. However, the nuisance geckos do not score objectives, they just get in the way. The game ends when you draft (not play) the last tile.
Game scoring is as follows: Each objective card and bug meeple is worth one point for final scoring. Bugs on the bottom of cards are irrelevant, and there are no bonus points for matching your secret bug objective. Your Terrain Objective scores as normal.
- Bronze finish: All goals achieved with a 35-point score
- Silver finish: All goals achieved with a 50-point score + achieve ALL of one objective type
- Superstar finish: All goals achieved + ALL objectives achieved