Grunlings: Fantastic Fruit Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Content
• Grunling Card Anatomy
• Set Anatomy
• 1. Set Up
• 2. Gameplay
  • a) Play Visitors *
  • b) Basket *
  • c) Take Cards
  • d) Discard
• 3. End of the Game
  • i) Subtotal cards
  • ii) Score tokens
  • iii) Bitter Lemon (if any)
  • iv) Winner
• 4. Card Clarifications
  • 4.1 Events
  • 4.2 Visitors
  • 4.3 Darklings
  • 4.4 Grunlings
  • 4.5 Set Cards

Game Content

• 50 Base Cards
• 11 Apple Set Cards
• 13 Berry Set Cards
• 12 Tropic Set Cards
• 12 Event Cards
• 10 Player Aid Cards (2 per player)
• 6 Baskets (1 per player)
• 33 Leaf Tokens
• 1 Grape Award Token
• 2 Sloth Tokens

Grunling Card Anatomy

• A Sapling icon at the top means the card is used in every game (Base Card).
• Card type (e.g. Grunling).
• Card name (e.g. Blueberries).
• Border representing the card's Set.
• Set name (e.g. Berry Set), if applicable.
• A card's end game points (pts) value: an asterisk indicates that it has a variable value.
• Just some fun facts.
• Additional information including: any variable scoring criteria, point modifiers, and potential bonuses.
• Quantity of the card in the game.

Set Anatomy

Set cards can be identified by both their Set names and their borders. There are 3 unique Sets to choose from and each brings their own unique flavour to the game (see p. 14, SET CARDS). According to your PLAYER COUNT you will add between one and three Sets to your games.

1. Apple Set – 11 cards: 8 Apples, 1 Golden Apple, 1 Bad Apple (Darkling), 1 Mean Worm (Visitor).
2. Tropic Set – 12 cards: 3 Bananas, 3 Coconuts, 3 Mangoes, 3 Pineapples.
3. Berry Set – 13 cards: 1 Strawberry, 2 Blackberries, 2 Cranberries, 3 Raspberries, 4 Blueberries, 1 Hungry Birds (Visitor).

Player count:

• 2 players: select any ONE Set.
• 3-4 players: select any TWO Sets.
• 5 players: use all THREE Sets.

1. Set Up

A) Place in front of each player: two Player Aids, a Basket and three Leaf Tokens (as shown to the right). Now form a general supply with all the remaining tokens (Grape Award, Sloth and Leaf Tokens).

B) Shuffle, and place all the Events near the box, in a face-down pile.

C) Take all Base Cards. Form two piles: one with all the blue-backed Base Cards (= Visitor Cards) and another with all the green-backed Base Cards (= Grunling & Darkling Cards). All cards with a blue back also show a colour-blind marker icon so that colour-blind people can tell them apart.

D) Combine your blue Base Cards with the blue cards from your chosen Set(s). Shuffle them face-down and put them beside you. This is your 'Blue Deck'.

E) Combine your green Base Cards with the green cards from your chosen Set(s). Shuffle them face-down and put them beside you. This is your 'Green Deck'.

F) Deal starting hands to each player: First, each player receives 6 face-down cards from the Green Deck, then 1 face-down card from the Blue Deck, so that each player receives a total of 7 cards.

G) Using the Blue Deck, create the 'Visitor Shop': take the top 6 cards, and put them face-up in a 2x3 grid in the centre of the table, so that they are visible for all players.

H) Shuffle the remaining cards from the Green Deck and Blue Deck together face-down to form one bicoloured 'Draw Pile'.

I) Drawing from the top of the Draw Pile, you will create the face-up Discard Pile(s) in the centre of the table: Draw 1 card and place it on the right of the Draw Pile for 2 players OR Draw 2 cards (placed side by side) for 3-5 players.

J) Draw 4 Event cards, from step B, without revealing them and put the remaining Events in the box. Then take 5 cards from the top of the Draw Pile, and shuffle 1 of the 4 drawn Events, face-down into them. Set these 6 cards aside for a quick moment. Now shuffle the remaining 3 drawn Events, face-down, into the rest of the Draw Pile. Take again the 6 cards you previously put aside and put them at the bottom of the pile. The Draw Pile is now prepared, put it again next to the Discard Pile(s).

Note: With this approach, the fourth Event and final event is now in one of the last 6 cards. When it is drawn and revealed, it triggers the end of the game.

K) Players pick up all their dealt cards. Each player must then select 1 or 2 Grunling/Darkling cards (green back) to 'store' in their Basket. Storing means placing 1 to 2 cards face down on the Basket, next to each other (when 2 cards are placed) to cover the empty spaces. A Basket with 2 cards is full.

L) The player who ate fruit most recently starts the game. Play will continue clockwise from the starting player.

Your play area should look like this (3-player game pictured): Draw Pile, Discard Pile 1 and Discard Pile 2 (3-5 players), with the Visitor Shop above them.

2. Gameplay

The goal of the game is to score the most pts at the end by collecting the best combination of cards. On your turn, follow the turn phase order below. Phases with a * are optional.

a) Play Visitors *

Play any number of Visitor cards from your hand. Put them face-up, on the Discard Pile(s) of your choice, one at a time, applying each Visitor's effect (p. 11).

Drawn an Event as a result of a Visitor's effect? Go to the Event icon (lightning bolt) on p. 7.

b) Basket *

Pick up/swap/store face-down Grunling/Darkling cards in your Basket. You can't store Visitors!

A maximum of two cards can be stored in your Basket at any time.

Basket's purpose: Most Visitors and Events won't affect cards while stored. Cards in the Basket are therefore safer than those in your hand. You may examine the contents of your own Basket at any time during the game.

c) Take Cards

i. Reveal the top Draw Pile card to everyone, then add it to your hand.

ii. Then choose between the following two options: (1) Take the top Draw Pile card but don't reveal it OR (2) Take a non-Visitor card from the top of a Discard Pile (if possible).

Drawn an Event? Reveal it immediately and apply its effect (p. 9). Then set it aside face-up, next to any other revealed Events (not on a Discard Pile); then proceed directly to your DISCARD Phase.

Note: Throughout your turn, except while resolving an Event, you may openly view (but not reorder) the top 5 cards on any Discard Pile(s).

d) Discard

Count all cards in your hand AND cards stored in your Basket. If your total count exceeds 10 cards (= Total Card Limit) you must discard non-Darkling cards from your hand face-up, one by one, until you meet the limit. You can choose in which order you discard the cards and on which Discard Pile. After that you can end your turn.

At any time in your Discard Phase, except after the Final Event is drawn, you may spend your Leaf Token(s) in 3 ways.

1. Discard any card from your hand, including Darklings (cost: 1 Leaf Token per card discarded).
2. Buy a maximum of 1 face-up Visitor from the Visitor Shop once per turn (cost: 1 Leaf Token). You may play the Visitor now, or keep it in your hand; if you keep it, it counts towards your Total Card Limit.
3. Do a hand reset (cost: 2 Leaf Tokens or 3 Tokens if there are already 3 revealed Events): Choose a Discard Pile. Now pick up your chosen pile and look through it. You may take up to 4 non-Visitors (in secret) from it, adding these to your hand. Return the rest of the pile to the table and shuffle it. Now discard any cards of your choice (including Darklings) from your hand until you comply with the Total Card Limit again.

Some Event and Visitor card effects enable players to spend or gain Leaf Tokens. Whenever Leaf Tokens are spent return them to the supply. Whenever a player gains Leaf Tokens, take them from the supply. Leaf Tokens are not limited: if they run out, substitute coins/beads for them.

3. End of the Game

When the fourth and final Event card is drawn and revealed, it triggers the end of the game. First, the Event's effect is applied. Then, after the active player performs their last Discard Phase (without spending Leaf Tokens), the game ends. Everyone then reveals all of their cards for scoring, this also includes any cards that were stored in Baskets.

i) Subtotal cards

Players subtotal the pts from all their cards (Visitors score 0 pts). Any Events directly altering point scores (Balance of Nature, Frost and Wildfire) should be accounted for now. As soon as each player has completed this step, all players announce their subtotals.

ii) Score tokens

All players add the pts from their remaining Leaf Tokens to their announced subtotals (3 pts per Token).

If Angry Farmer was the final Event, give its set aside Leaf Tokens to the player who announced the lowest subtotal in step i).

If a Grape Connoisseur player predicted correctly (no ties), flip their Grape Award Token. They gain 5 pts now.

iii) Bitter Lemon (if any)

Apply any Bitter Lemon to current scores.

iv) Winner

The player with the highest scores wins. In the event of a tie: if one of the tied players holds the Bitter Lemon or the King Darkling they win (the Bitter Lemon dominates the King Darkling). If both cards are not present, the player with more Leaf Tokens wins. If still tied, all tied players share the victory.

Final Scoring Example: Johanna subtotals her points. She receives -13 pts from the Event Card 'Balance on Nature', as she has no Darklings in her cards. She receives 5 pts from the Cranberries and a further 5 pts from the Star Fruit, which copies the Cranberries. She receives 8 pts from the Blueberries (4+4) and 4 from the Blackberries (2+2). In addition, she scores 40 pts (Set bonus) as she has more than 21 berries (22 with the Star Fruit). This leads to a total of 49 pts, which she announces to her fellow players. She then adds 3 pts from her remaining Leaf Token to the subtotal and another 5 pts from the Bitter Lemon, as she is not currently in the lead. The leading player loses 5 pts. This leads to a final score of 57 pts for Johanna.

4. Card Clarifications

This section provides supplementary information on the more complex cards, and summarises what these cards do.

Some cards have text that contradicts the game's rules. In such cases, the card's text always takes precedence.

Insufficient cards/tokens for an Event or Visitor? If a player does not have sufficient cards or tokens to fulfill an effect, they must fulfill it as much as possible. For example, if a Visitor requires a player to discard two specific cards but they only have one, they must discard the one they have. If they have none, the Visitor does not affect them.

4.1 Events

Events apply to all players and interrupt gameplay by triggering one-time events, modifying game rules permanently or temporarily, or affecting the scoring.

Unless stated otherwise, Events that include interactions with cards (e.g. revealing and guessing) relate only to cards held in players' hands, not in Baskets. Events that alter core gameplay mechanics (e.g. the Total Card Limit) also affect cards in the Basket.

Events specifying 'in turn', and those requiring interaction with the Discard Pile(s), the Draw Pile, and game components (e.g. distributing tokens and shuffling cards) are always initiated by the player who drew the Event.

If an Event card states 'OR Final Event', this applies exclusively when it is the fourth and final Event of the game, triggering the end. In this case, its preceding card text is ignored.

Of the 12 total Events, the more straightforward Events: Balance of Nature, Drought and Tsunami are not expanded on in this rulebook. Please refer to the cards themselves to understand their effects.

ANGRY FARMER: All players perform a regular Basket Phase and fill their Baskets fully, no more Basket Phases. The Event commits players to storing 2 cards for the rest of the game. Remember, scoring these cards is not guaranteed (due to Sly Foxes). If Baskets are currently revealed due to the Bumbling Bear's effect, its effect no longer persists. All Basket cards are hidden, and then the Angry Farmer's effect is carried out.

OR Final Event: Set aside 1 Leaf Token and 1 additional Leaf Token from the supply per unfilled Basket space across all players before scoring begins. These tokens will be given to the player with the lowest subtotalled score.

FOG: Players secretly vote for one of three unused Events (from the box) to replace Fog. 3 random unused Events are taken from the box. The players count to three and point to one of the three Events with their voting hand. Each player has 1 vote. Players can increase their number of votes by placing Leaf Tokens in their voting hand before voting (each token increases the number of votes by 1). After voting takes place, all tokens are revealed and the votes are counted. Spent tokens go back to the supply. The Event with the majority vote occurs immediately (the active player breaks ties). Put the two Events that lost the vote as well as the Fog back in the box. Fog is not one of the four Event cards that define the end of the game, but is removed from the game. The selected Event takes Fog's place (replaces Fog).

FROST: Players must keep all their Oranges and Pears visible in their hands. All Pears/Oranges in players' hands are revealed and remain so until the next Event. New Pears/Oranges taken from the Draw/Discard Pile(s) and those removed from Baskets must also be revealed. The Pears/Oranges also remain face up if they are the target of a random draw by another player, for example. Though visible while in hands, Oranges and Pears are turned face-down when being added to Baskets, concealing their placement in the Basket.

OR Final Event: Oranges only score 6pts each for players with no Pears.

GROWING CONTEST: Players try to guess up to 6 of their left-neighbour's cards. Players guess the cards in their left-neighbour's hand, card by card. Players can guess up to 6 cards. Whenever they are correct, the other player must reveal the card. If the guessing player guesses 4 cards correctly in succession without making an error, they can swap one of their cards face down with one of the revealed cards. If a player guesses 6 cards without making a mistake, they can swap one card face down and gain a Leaf Token from the supply. Players can stop guessing at any time. If a player makes any wrong guess, they must stop, receive no reward, and the next guesser takes their turn (if applicable). Cards must be guessed by name exactly e.g. 'Super Slow Sloth'; we suggest using Player Aids to help. If a player holds less than 4 cards, a guesser can claim no reward.

SUMMER RAIN: Players can exchange Visitors with the Visitor Shop or add them for Leaf Tokens. In turn each player may either: exchange one of their Visitors, for a Visitor in the Visitors Shop, OR add one of their Visitors to the shop and gain 1 Leaf Token.

OR Final Event: Players can discard as many cards of any card type from their hand as they wish, into a face-down pile. These cards will not be scored; players gain 1 Leaf Token per card discarded in this way.

TORNADO: Every player puts 2 cards face-down, the top card of one Discard Pile is added. The cards get shuffled, placed face-up on the table and are then snake drafted back by the players. The leftover card is discarded.

Snake draft: starting with the active player and proceeding clockwise, each player takes one card into their hand. Then, starting with the last player to take a card and proceeding counterclockwise, everyone takes one more card.

TOUCH OF THE DARKLING: All Star Fruits become Darkshrubs at the end of the game. The Darkshrub majority bonus (p. 13) is doubled to 20pts instead of 10 pts.

Star Fruits stay as Grunlings until the end (they can be discarded in-play as normal), but become Darkshrubs at scoring. They lose their usual end of game copying ability. The 20 pt Darkshrub bonus for the most Darkshrubs is subject to the same no-ties rules, except if a player holds the 'King Darkling' (p. 13).

VOLCANIC ERUPTION: Players simultaneously reveal a Grunling from their hand. All are discarded except the highest point value Grunling. A tie causes all cards to be discard, Star Fruits always cause ties. For this Event: Cherries are valued at 16 (highest possible value), the Bitter Lemon at 5, and all Grunlings with "*" in their corners are valued as much as you would get for them in the final scoring if they were alone, e.g., Apples 2, Melons -5. The player who revealed the highest value Grunling keeps it, the rest are discarded. If there's a tie for the highest Grunling (including when a Star Fruit is revealed), all cards are discarded.

WILDFIRE: Lychees (p. 13) cannot block Visitors until the next Event.

OR Final Event: players calculate their subtotal card scores as normal (p. 8). Players without Lychees then adjust the last digit of their subtotalled scores to zero e.g. 99 would become 90 pts. Subtotalled scores are announced after this adjustment.

4.2 Visitors

The more straightforward Visitors: Bumbling Bear, Inspector Gecko, Mean Worm (Apple Set), and Hungry Birds (Berry Set) are not expanded on here, please refer to the cards.

CURIOUS MOLE: Take any card from the top 5 of any Discard pile (except a Mole). This is the only way to play a previously played/discarded Visitor card again, even during the same Visitor Phase in which it was originally played.

DODGY DEALER: Give a player any card from your hand, then take a random one from theirs. Gain a Leaf Token if they block it.

After you give a card to a player, they add it to their hand, then shuffle/rearrange their hand and fan their cards face-down for you to choose from at random. The card you give, and the card you take, are not seen by any other players. Alternatively, whenever a Dodgy Dealer is blocked, the player who played it gains a Leaf Token instead.

GRAPE CONNOISSEUR: Declare who will have the most Grapes at the end (no ties). If you are correct score 5 pts. When played (for its Visitor effect), this card is not placed on a Discard Pile. Instead, declare your prediction, then place it face-up beside the chosen player as a reminder. Take the Grape Award Token and position it non-scoring side up next to you. If you predicted yourself, both this card and the Grape Award Token are placed beside you. If your prediction is correct at the end, flip the Grape Award Token and score 5 pts (p. 8).

GREEDY PIG: Discard any one hand card and secretly draw 5 (one by one) from the Draw Pile. Alternatively, you can choose to gain a Leaf Token instead. Then go to your Discard Phase.

If you choose to draw cards, drawing up cards one by one is necessary in case an Event is drawn (p. 7). This Visitor's effect ends early (stop drawing) if an Event is drawn before a player draws up 5 cards. Either way, after this Visitor, skip your usual Basket and Take Cards Phases.

HONEY BADGER: Name a specific Grunling or Darkling that everyone else discards in turn (if they have the named Grunling/Darkling card in their hand).

A specific card name is required, e.g. 'Watermelon' is valid but 'Melon' is not. Unsure about card names? More information is available on your Player Aid.

SLY FOX: Take a card from another player's basket. The card being taken is usually unknown. Be careful, you could take a Darkling.

SUPER SLOW SLOTH: Choose a player to skip their next turn. The targeted player skips their next turn (use a Sloth Token as a reminder). Until it is the targeted player's turn again, they are safe from any Visitor effects played against them.

4.3 Darklings

All Darklings make hand management tricky, since they cannot be discarded in your Discard Phase without spending Leaf Tokens. Other ways to dispose of them, come from specific Events and Visitors.

DARKSHRUB: 0 pts for the holder, but 10 pts if you have the most at the end (no ties). 10 pts are scored by the player with the most Darkshrubs. Ties for the most are not allowed unless a tied player also holds the King Darkling. In that case, they score the 10 pts. Darkshrubs score 0 pts otherwise.

KING DARKLING: -5 pts for the holder and a tie-breaker. The King Darkling breaks ties for Darkshrub majority (see above) and is also the 2nd tiebreaker in the final scoring (after the Bitter Lemon).

4.4 Grunlings

The more straightforward Grunlings: Dragon Fruit, Orange and Pear are not expanded on here, please refer to the cards.

BITTER LEMON: After all pts from cards and tokens are announced, -5 to the Lead player and +5 to the holder. The Bitter Lemon is assessed in the final stage of scoring before announcing the winner. Every player who is in the lead or tied for the lead will lose 5 pts. You, as the Bitter Lemon-holder, then gain 5 pts. If you hold the Bitter Lemon, and are also lead player (or tied for lead), you'll score 0 extra pts but you will not lose 5 pts. If a Star Fruit copies the Bitter Lemon: increase the point differential to -10/+10. The Bitter Lemon is also the top tiebreaker for winning the game.

CHERRIES: 16 pts if you have the most Set Grunling cards at the end (no ties). Scoring is based on the Grunling cards from the chosen Set(s) you added to the game (p. 3). For example, if the Tropic and Berry Sets were used and you ended with 3 Blueberries, 2 Pineapples, a Star Fruit (copying a Pineapple), 2 Pears, and the Cherries, you have 6 Set Grunling cards (from your 9 cards). If each opponent has fewer than you, the Cherries score 16 pts. Otherwise, or in the event of a tie, the Cherries score 0 pts.

GRAPES: Score 8pts per Grapes held, plus 8pts if you have the most at the end (no ties). If there is a tie for the most Grapes, nobody gets the 8 pt majority bonus, and the person who played the Grape Connoisseur Visitor (if any) fails — they won't score 5 pts (p. 12).

LYCHEE: 6 pts or you may discard this card to block any Visitor's effect against you. You may discard a Lychee card to block a Visitor's effect 'against you', specifically: any Visitor that requires skipping your turn, revealing your cards, or discarding/losing your cards. The Grape Connoisseur cannot be blocked, for example, because it isn't played against you. If a Visitor targets multiple players e.g. the Honey Badger, players can individually block it; multiple players could, therefore, discard Lychees to block the same Visitor effect.

STAR FRUIT: Copy one of your Grunlings or Darklings at the end. At the end (when calculating the subtotals), put Star Fruits under the cards they are copying. Multiple Star Fruits can never copy the same individual card, and a Star Fruit cannot copy another Star Fruit. For scoring, there is no distinction between a Star Fruit and the card it copies. For example, if a Star Fruit copies 'Grapes', it scores as an extra 'Grapes' card, and counts toward the player's Grapes majority too.

WATERMELON AND HONEYDEW MELON: Collect both for 25pts, or score -5pts. They only score positively in pairs of two. For example, if you hold 1 Watermelon and 2 Honeydews you will score 25 pts (for one pair) -5 pts for the surplus Honeydew = 20 pts in total.

4.5 Set Cards

APPLE SET: Increase your score with each Apple you collect, up to 6 for the maximum score (62 pts). Follow the scoring table on the cards. A Golden Apple simply counts as two apples. The Bad Apple (Darkling) doesn't count as an Apple and halves your Apple score. Scoring Example: 1 Apple, a Golden Apple and a Bad Apple would score 18 pts (for 3 Apples), which are halved by the Bad Apple (= 9 pts). You receive 2 pts for the Bad Apple, giving you a total of 11 pts.

TROPIC SET: Collect multiple Tropic fruits of the same kind to score more points. The only way to get 4 of the same Fruit is to use a Star Fruit (see above), as there are only 3 of each Tropic Fruit in the deck. Also earn a one-time 30 pt bonus for having at least one Tropic Fruit of every type. Scoring Example: 3 Bananas (24 pts), 2 Coconuts (11 pts), a Mango (1 pt), and a Pineapple (4 pts) would score 40 pts. In addition, the player would receive a 30 pt one-time bonus since they got one of each type = 70 pts in total.

BERRY SET: Collect Berry cards to score points; each card scores the fixed Berry points shown in its top corners (visually, this matches the number of berries illustrated on the card). Score an additional small OR large points bonus:

• 15 pts if your total combined Berry pts are 11 or more OR
• 40 pts if your total combined Berry pts are 21 or more.

Scoring Example: If you held one of the Cranberries (5 pts), one of the Blueberries (4 pts), and one of the Raspberries (2 pts), you would score 11 Berry pts + a 15 pts bonus = 26 pts in total.