Spring
Spring Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 18 cards
- 2 long fences
- 2 short fences
- 4 flowerpot pieces
- 1 rulebook
Setup
Before starting the game, shuffle all 18 cards and place the deck on the table with the flower side down. This is the deck to draw from. Turn over the first card and place it face-up on the table. The flowerpots and fences are placed to one side until the players' colors are assigned in Phase 1.
Phase 1 – My Little Gardens!
The game is played in turns. Choose randomly who will take the first turn. In Phase 1, each player on their turn will draw a card from the deck and place it face up on top of one or more cards that have already been played (see How to Play a Card). Then, they may choose to place a flowerpot or a fence (see Pots and Fences).
Special First Turn Rule: Whoever plays the first turn simply draws a card and places it face up on top of the first card. Then the second player chooses which color they will play (white or red). At this point, each player takes 2 fences (a long one and a short one) and 2 flowerpots of their color. Then the second player takes a normal turn, and the players begin alternating turns for the rest of the game.
A "garden" is an area made up of 2 or more flower spaces of that player's color that touch along their vertical or horizontal edges (spaces are not connected diagonally). The number of gardens in your color is your score for this phase.
Phase 1 comes to an end once all 18 cards have been played. Each of the players counts out how many gardens they have been able to create. The number of gardens in your color is your score for this phase.
Score example: The white player was able to form 6 gardens. The fence between garden number 2 and garden number 5 separates them into two different gardens and increases the total number of gardens. However, the red player wins this phase because red was able to form 7 by using their flowerpots in number 4 and number 7, which adds up to a total of 7 points.
Phase 2 – My Big Garden!
Don't clean up yet! The second phase of the game is played using the gardens that were formed in Phase 1. The player who plays their turn next (the one who did not finish Phase 1) starts. Both players keep the color they had before, and now play by removing cards from the existing common area to form their own individual garden. You will only consider the cards in your own playing area to determine your score in Phase 2.
On their turn, each player takes 1 of the cards placed during Phase 1 and then plays it in front of them, following the normal rules. The player can take any garden card that is "free", which means any card that does not have other cards on top of it.
If the chosen card has a flowerpot or a fence on it, the following occurs:
- If the card has a flowerpot on it, give the pot to the other player regardless of its color. The other player can then use it at the end of the game to decorate their garden.
- If the card has a fence on it, take the fence and put it beside your garden. This will take away 1 victory point at the end of the game.
Then, play your turn normally.
Phase 2 ends when there are no more cards in the middle of the table. At that time, each player will use any flowerpots they have to decorate their garden.
Then, each player counts up the flower spaces of their color in their area that are connected to one another. The largest group of these connected spaces is their "big garden" and sets their base score, equal to the number of spaces in their big garden. From this base score, the number of flower spaces of their color that are not connected to their big garden must be subtracted, as well as the total number of gardens (each made up of at least 2 flower spaces) of their opponent's color and the number of fences they have collected. The result of this calculation is their score for Phase 2.
Score example: The white player was able to put together 1 garden made up of 11 spaces. Their base score is 11. The number of white flowers that are not connected is subtracted from this value. This is -2. There are 3 red gardens in this example, which are also subtracted: -3 points. Finally, there is 1 fence that takes away -1 point. This makes the white player's final score for this phase 5 points.
How to Play a Card
After drawing and revealing a card in Phase 1 or after taking one from the common area in the center of the table in Phase 2, you must always play your card partially or fully on top of other cards that are on the table. It must be played in the same orientation as the rest of the cards: it is possible to turn it around so long as it is still in that orientation, meaning it can be rotated 180º but not 90º.
When the card is placed, it can cover 1, 2, 3, or 4 flower spaces on the existing card(s), so long as the color of the flowers overlapping the other card are the same as the flowers covered up below them.
In Phase 1, if you are not able to place a card that you have drawn, return it to the bottom of the deck and draw another card. If this happens with the last card in the deck, then the phase ends (without that card being placed).
Pots and Fences
Optional action in Phase 1: After placing a card, you may place 1 flowerpot or fence of your own color on any card in play. It is not possible to place both in the same turn.
If, at the end of Phase 1, you have flowerpots or fences that you were not able to or chose not to place, then you keep them next to you to use in Phase 2: You can use the flowerpots once you have finished placing cards, while the fences will instead be penalties worth minus 1 point for each fence piece you have left over at the end of the game.
How to Place a Fence in Phase 1
Fences must be placed between 4 spaces, with 2 spaces on each side of the fence. The groups separated by the fence are no longer considered to be connected. The long fence can only be played vertically on the cards, while the short fence can only be played horizontally.
A fence also blocks the card so that no other card can be played on top of it. This means you cannot place a card so that it partially or completely covers a fence.
How to Place a Flowerpot in Phase 1
Flowerpots can be used to cover a flower space that belongs to your opponent and turn it into your own. If you decide to use one, all you need to do is place it on top of any one of your opponent's flowers, but not on top of another pot.
A flowerpot also blocks the card from having another card or another pot on top of it. This means you cannot place a card on another card that has a flowerpot piece on it.
How to Place a Flowerpot in Phase 2
The flowerpot pieces are used at the very end of the game. In this phase, you can have pots of both colors. They can be used to cover flowers belonging to your opponent and turn them into your own or to cover flowers of your color that are not connected to turn them into their color. If you decide to use one, just place it on top of any flowers that do not already have a pot on them.
End of the Game
Once both of the phases have been completed, the winner is determined by adding up the scores obtained in each of the individual phases.
The player with the most points is the winner.
Score Sheet
The score sheet has these rows: Name; Phase 1 points; Phase 2: garden; Phase 2: Unattached flowers; Phase 2: Opponent's gardens (printed as "Oponent's gardens" on the sheet); Phase 2: Fences; Total Score.