Papillon Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Key Concepts
  • Caterpillars
  • Garden Tiles
  • Gnomes
  • Butterflies
  • Flowers & Planters
  • Bonus Tokens
• Game Set-up (3-4 Players)
• Game Round
• Preparation Phase
  • Prepare the Board
  • Bidding
• Drafting Phase
  • Drafting Garden Tiles
  • Caterpillars
  • Gnomes
  • Reserve Garden Tiles
• Gardening Phase
  • Closing Flower Patches
  • Closing Fields
• Pollination Phase
• End of Round
• End of Game
• 2-Player Variant
  • Setup
  • Game Round
  • Preparation Phase
  • Drafting Phase
  • End of Game
• Expert Gnome Variant
  • Gardening Phase
  • End of Game
• Credits

Components

• 94 garden tiles
• 50 caterpillar tokens
• 48 clip-on butterfly pieces
• 8 garden gnome tokens
• 8 planter bases
• 8 stand-up flowers
• 8 flower bonus tokens
• 4 gardener meeples with stickers
• 1 double-sided draft board
• 1 rule book
• 1 score pad
• 1 tile bag

Key Concepts

This key concepts section is intended to help familiarize players with the components and their function in the game of Papillon. The rules following the game setup provide greater detail and rules specific to each of the components covered in this section.

Caterpillars

Caterpillars serve 2 purposes in the game:

1. Currency for bidding on drafting order each round.
2. Nectar points at the end of the game. It is very important that players manage their supply of caterpillars and spend them wisely.

Garden Tiles

Each round players will take turns selecting or drafting garden tiles to build personal gardens. Garden tiles consist of flower patches and fields. Players must choose the garden tiles they wish to add to their gardens wisely, as a well-managed garden is the key to success in the game.

Flower Patches (1) — A flower patch can be any number of garden tiles that contain flower segments of the same color. Closed flower patches allow players to add butterflies to flowers during the Pollination Phase and score potential points at the end of the game. A flower patch qualifies as closed when flower segments of the same color connect across at least 2 garden tiles and there are no sides to which a same-color flower segment can be added.

Fields (2) — A field can be any number of garden tiles that contain field segments. Each closed field in a player's garden at the end of the game provides 1 nectar (victory point) for each butterfly contained within their closed fields. A field is considered closed when field segments connect across at least 2 garden tiles and there are no sides to which a field segment can be added.

Gnomes

Gnomes are two-sided tokens used to track the game rounds that are placed facedown (gnome side up) on each space on the round track. 1 gnome per round may be drafted by a player. When that player gains a gnome they flip it over, gain the number of caterpillars indicated, and then add it to their play area. Gnomes also serve as tie-breakers. In the event of a tie, the player with the most gnomes is the winner.

Butterflies

Butterflies allow players to earn nectar by adding them to stand-up flowers. During the Gardening Phase, players may either choose to add a butterfly from their supply or from a stand-up flower to a flower patch they just closed. During the Pollination Phase, each player moves butterflies from closed flower patches in their personal garden to a stand-up flower of the same color. At the end of the game, players earn nectar based on the number of butterflies they have on each stand-up flower relative to the other players.

Flowers & Planters

The stand-up flowers are the flowers to which players add their butterflies when closing flower patches in their personal gardens. Each time a player adds a butterfly to a stand-up flower, they clip it anywhere on that flower. While players can clip their butterflies wherever they would like on a stand-up flower, it is recommended that players space them out to improve visibility and protect the butterflies and stand-up flowers.

Planters serve as bases on which stand-up flowers are placed during setup. All planters have 3 numbers that indicate the nectar players earn based on the number of butterflies they have relative to other players during end of game scoring.

Bonus Tokens

During setup, 1 bonus token is placed onto each planter. When a player closes a flower patch at least 3 garden tiles in size and adds a butterfly to a stand-up flower of the same color, they may take the bonus token on that flower's planter if available. After a player takes the bonus token, they may immediately add another butterfly to any stand-up flower.

Each bonus token can be used 1 time for an immediate action.

Game Set-up (3-4 Players)

1. Place the game board in the center of the table.
2. Randomly assign one stand-up flower to each planter base and place 1 matching bonus token on each stand-up flower base.
3. Give each player a gardener and 12 butterflies of the same color.
4. Gather the 8 gnomes. Shuffle them up and place them facedown (gnome side up) on each of the numbered spaces on the round track.
5. Add all garden tiles to the tile bag and place it off to the side of the play area.
6. Randomly determine the First Player. Place The First Player's gardener on the first space of the bid order track. Proceeding in clockwise order around the table from the First Player, each player then places their gardener on the next available space of the bid order track. Give the First Player 9 caterpillars and all other players 10 caterpillars.
7. Place all remaining caterpillars into a supply easily accessible to all players.

The game is ready to begin!

The Papillon Living Rules, including 2-Player and other variant rules can be found at kolossalgames.com

Game Round

The game takes place over 8 rounds. Each round has 4 phases:

1. Preparation Phase
2. Drafting Phase
3. Gardening Phase
4. Pollination Phase

All scoring takes place at the end of the game.

Preparation Phase

Prepare the Board

Draw 10 garden tiles from the tile bag and fill all of the spaces on the game board (1). Place a caterpillar on any garden tile with the caterpillar icon (2). Take the gnome from the number matching the current round and place it faceup (number side up) on the designated gnome space in front of the Toolshed (3).

Bidding

The player in position 1 on the bid order track makes the first bid to determine drafting order for the garden tiles by moving their gardener to any bid space numbered 1-5 or the rightmost zero. Bidding continues in draft order until all players have placed their gardener on a bid space. Players then pay the corresponding number of caterpillars indicated by their bid space by returning them to the supply. Any player that bid 0 will receive bonus caterpillar(s) indicated by the caterpillar bonus near the bid space.

NOTE: There are four 0 bid spaces. Anytime a player bids 0, that player must place their gardener on the rightmost 0 space. If the rightmost 0 space is occupied by another player's gardener, that player's gardener, and any other gardeners occupying a 0, are moved 1 space to the left. The player currently bidding places their gardener on the now vacant space.

When bidding, a player can only select a bid space equal to or less than the number of caterpillars they have available. No player can ever bid the same amount of caterpillars as another player except when bidding 0 as described in the note above.

After all players have made their bids and received any bonus caterpillars, move all of the gardeners from their bid spaces to the bid order track in the same order from left to right. Place the gardener belonging to the player that bid the most caterpillars on first position of the bid order track, followed by the player that bid the next-most, until all players' gardeners have been placed in this way. Gardeners establish the draft order this round and the bid order next round.

NOTE: Players bidding 0 do not receive bonus caterpillars immediately. After all bids have been resolved, each player that bid 0 gains caterpillars equal to the position on the bid order track.

Drafting Phase

Drafting Garden Tiles

The player whose gardener is in the first position on the bid order track drafts (selects) any row or column with at least 1 garden tile from the draft spaces on the game board. That player adds all of the drafted garden tiles to their play area. Repeat this process for each player in turn order.

Caterpillars

When a player drafts a garden tile with a caterpillar on it, they gain the caterpillar on the drafted garden tile. Collecting caterpillars provides the player with more bidding flexibility during future bids. Additionally, each caterpillar is worth 1 nectar at the end of the game.

Gnomes

The first player to draft the available garden tiles in either the third row or the third column also takes the gnome from the Toolshed (1) and gains caterpillars equal to the number shown on the gnome (2). The player then adds the gnome to their play area. If no player drafts the garden tiles needed to claim the gnome, it is removed from the game at the end of the round.

NOTE: Players cannot have more than 12 caterpillars. If a player has more than 12 caterpillars as the result of drafting garden tiles or acquiring a gnome, they must return the excess caterpillars to the supply.

Reserve Garden Tiles

Anytime a player drafts a column or row containing a single garden tile, that player draws a random garden tile from the tile bag. This way every player ends up with a minimum of 2 garden tiles during the Drafting Phase.

Gardening Phase

Each player takes their drafted garden tiles and adds them to their personal play area. If a player acquired a gnome during the draft it is placed next to their garden, awaiting placement. Garden tile placement occurs simultaneously by all players and follows these rules:

1. Except for the very first garden tile placed during Round 1, a garden tile must always touch another tile.
2. Once placed, garden tiles cannot be moved. A player is permitted to try different placements and locations for garden tiles that they drafted during the current round until they are satisfied with the final placement.
3. Each side of a garden tile connected to another garden tile must match. There are 5 possible matches: blue flowers, purple flowers, red flowers, yellow flowers, and fields. Flowers can only be connected to flowers of the same color and fields can only connect to other fields.
4. If a player is unable to play a tile, they draw a replacement tile and return the unplayable tile to the bag.

Closing Flower Patches

A flower patch is 1 or more connected segments of a single color. A closed flower patch consists of flower segments of the same color connected across 2 or more tiles, with no remaining sides to which an additional segment of the same color can be added (1).

When a player closes a flower patch, they place 1 butterfly of their color from their supply or a stand-up flower onto that patch. These butterflies will be moved to the stand-up flowers in the Pollination Phase.

(2) If this player were to place their garden tile as shown here, it would close the purple flower patch. That player would place 1 of their butterflies on the patch, which would then be placed on a stand-up flower in the Pollination Phase.

Closing Fields

Closed fields are similar to closed flower patches: players cannot add to them once they are closed. A closed field consists of field segments connected across 2 or more tiles with no remaining sides to which an additional field segment can be added. Though they provide no immediate benefit, closed fields score nectar based on enclosed butterflies at the end of the game (1).

Pollination Phase

During the Pollination Phase, players take turns in reverse bid order. The player that drafted last places their butterflies on stand-up flowers first and so on. When it is a player's turn to place butterflies, the player does so by resolving their closed flower patches one at a time. The player removes a butterfly from one of their closed patches and places it on a stand-up flower of the same color.

When adding a butterfly to a stand-up flower, there are 2 options for doing so:

1. If the flower patch closed was only 2 tiles in size, the player adds their butterfly to any stand-up flower of the same color. The player clips the butterfly to any open part of the stand-up flower with sufficient space to do so.
2. If the flower patch closed was 3 or more tiles in size, the player adds a butterfly to any stand-up flower of that color and takes the bonus token if it has not yet been claimed. After a player claims a bonus token, they may immediately add a butterfly from their supply or another stand-up flower to the stand-up flower from which they claimed the bonus token.

The red player has closed a blue flower patch and a red flower patch (1). Both stand-up flowers still have their bonus tokens available to be claimed. However, the blue flower patch is size 2, therefore the red player will not be able to claim the bonus token (2). The red flower patch is size 3, so the red player claims the bonus token and immediately adds another butterfly from their supply to the red stand-up flower (3).

End of Round

Follow these steps at the end of each round:

1. If the eighth round has just concluded, proceed to the end of the game. Otherwise continue with the end of round process.
2. Remove any undrafted garden tiles from the game.
3. If the gnome was not drafted, remove it from the game.
4. Begin a new round by proceeding to the Preparation Phase.

End of Game

The game ends after 8 rounds. Using the score pad, players score the following items in order:

1. Flower Scoring: The player with the most butterflies on each stand-up flower scores the highest nectar value shown on the planter. The next-highest nectar value is scored by the player with the second-most butterflies on each stand-up flower. The lowest nectar value is scored by the player with the third-most butterflies on each stand-up flower. A player must have at least 1 butterfly on a stand-up flower in order to score. If 2 or more players tie for any nectar value, all tied players score that nectar value.
2. Remaining Caterpillars: 1 nectar each.
3. Butterflies in Closed Fields: 1 nectar each.
4. Largest Closed Patches: 2 nectar per tile in the 2 largest closed flower patches in each player's garden, regardless of color.

The player with the highest total nectar wins! In the event of a tie, the player that collected the most gnomes wins. If players are still tied, they share the victory and a mutual admiration for their beautiful gardens!

2-Player Variant

While similar to a standard 3-4 player game, the 2-player variant differs in a few significant ways, both in setup and game play.

Setup

1. Place the game board in the center of the table.
2. Randomly select 4 planters and place a stand-up flower of each color near the board. Place 1 bonus token matching the color of the stand-up flower on each planter. Return all planters and flowers not being used to the box.
3. Give each player a gardener and 12 butterfly tokens of the same color.
4. Shuffle 8 gnomes and place them facedown (gnome side up) on the numbered spaces on the round track.
5. Add all garden tiles to the tile bag and place it off to the side of the play area.
6. Randomly determine the first player and place their gardener on the first space of the bid order track. The second player's gardener is placed on the second space. Players do not receive any caterpillars during setup, as there is no bidding in this variant.
7. Place all caterpillars into a supply easily accessible to both players.

You are now ready to play the 2-player variant!

Game Round

The game takes place over 8 rounds. Each round has three phases:

1. Preparation Phase
2. Drafting Phase
3. Gardening Phase
4. Pollination Phase

All scoring takes place at the end of the game.

The 2-player variant follows all standard game rules with a few exceptions as described in the following sections.

Preparation Phase

Prepare the Board — Draw 8 tiles from the tile bag and fill all of the draft spaces on the game board except the 2 outermost. In this variant the rightmost space of the top row and the bottom space of the first column are not used (1). Place a caterpillar on any tile with the caterpillar icon (2). Move the gnome from the lowest number of the round track and place it faceup (number side up) on the designated gnome space in front of the Toolshed (3).

Drafting Phase

The player whose gardener is located on the first space of the bid order track drafts a column or row of tiles following all standard rules. The second player then does the same.

First Player — In this variant, the only way that turn order can change is by gaining a gnome from the board. When a player gains a gnome they become first player. Immediately exchange position of both gardeners after turn order changes. If no player gains a gnome during the round, the turn order will not change.

End of Game

The game ends after 8 rounds. Using the score pad, players score the items below in order:

1. Flower Scoring: Follow all standard rules with one exception: only score the highest and lowest nectar values on each planter.
2. Remaining Caterpillars: 1 nectar each.
   • NOTE: Caterpillars are not used for bidding in this variant but they are still worth nectar at the end of the game and can be gained by drafting gnomes or garden tiles with caterpillars.
3. Butterflies in Closed Fields: 1 nectar each.
4. Largest Closed Patches: 2 nectar per tile in the 2 largest closed flower patches in each player's garden, regardless of color.

The player with the highest total nectar wins! In the event of a tie, the player that collected the most gnomes wins. If players are still tied, they share the victory and a mutual admiration for their beautiful gardens!

Expert Gnome Variant

After players are familiar with the rules and mechanisms we recommend trying these additional rules pertaining to gnome tokens.

Gardening Phase

Gnome Placement — If a player acquired a gnome during the Drafting Phase, it must be placed before the end of the Gardening Phase during the round in which the gnome was drafted. The player can add the gnome to any field or flower patch, open or closed. At the end of the game, a closed field with a gnome in it or one of a player's 2 largest closed patches will score additional nectar. It is possible to have more than 1 gnome in a field or flower patch but it does not increase the amount of additional nectar scored at the end of the game.

The butterflies in this closed field will score 4 nectar instead of 2 at the end of the game due to the presence of the gnome (1). The butterflies in this open field will still score 0 nectar regardless of the gnome, as only butterflies in closed fields score nectar (2). If this patch is scored by the player at the end of the game, it will score 6 nectar instead of 4 due to the presence of the gnome (3).

End of Game

Gnomes in Closed Fields — When scoring closed fields with a gnome, increase the value of each butterfly in the field by 2 nectar instead of 1.

Gnomes in Closed Flower Patches — When scoring closed flower patches with a gnome, increase the value of each tile in the flower patch by 3 nectar instead of 2.

Credits

Designer: J.B. Howell Illustrator: Whitney Rader Graphic Designer: Chris Byer Lead Developer: Chris Hamm Production: Zongxiu Yao-Charpentier Marketing: Ian Birdsall Marketing Graphic Design: Kevin Haemmerle Proofing: Lindsey Friend