Stalk Exchange Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Basic Actions Reference
• Setup
• Gameplay Overview
• 1. Action Phase
  • Plant (Basic Action)
  • Swap (Basic Action)
  • Seedy Business (Optional Actions)
• 2. Upkeep Phase
  • Step 1: Harvest Flowers
  • Step 2: Bloom Bulbs
  • Step 3: Update Stalk Values
  • Step 4: Move the Stalk Exchange
• Game End
  • Bust (Finalize Stalk Values)
  • Final Scoring
• Credits

Components

• 1 Garden board
• 1 Market board
• 125 double-sided Flower tokens (25 each of Dahlia, Daffodil, Globemaster, Snowdrop, and Tulip)
• 5 Stalk Value tokens (1 for each Flower type)
• 1 pad of Score Sheets
• 5 Garden Sheds (privacy screens)
• 5 Reference cards
• 20 Seedy Business tokens
• Greenhouse and Compost bags

Basic Actions Reference

Action Phase — Do 2 Basic Actions and optionally spend Seedy Business tokens to do Extra Actions.

Basic Actions:

• Plant a Flower from the Stalk Exchange in the Garden.
• Swap a Flower in your portfolio with a different Flower from the Stalk Exchange.

Extra Actions (1 token per action):

• Flush the Stalk Exchange to Compost and replace. (Once per player, per game)
• Extra Basic Actions (Plant or Swap).

Setup

1. Place the Garden and Market boards in the center of the table. The Market board can be off to the side.

2. Put all the Flower tokens into the Greenhouse bag, mix, and set the bag to the left of the Stalk Exchange.

3. Stack all 5 Stalk Value tokens on the Market Track at space 0.

4. Players set a Garden Shed and a Reference card in front of them. Tip: Don't break down the Garden Sheds after each play; the sheds are designed to nest and the box is designed so sheds can be stored away assembled.

5. Players form their Stalk Portfolio by drawing Flower tokens and putting them in their shed:

   • 2-3 Players = 12 Flower tokens each
   • 4 Players = 10 Flower tokens each
   • 5 Players = 8 Flower tokens each

   Keep your Flower tokens hidden from the other players. Tip: Stacking flowers of each type will aid in allowing more privacy of your Stalk Portfolio.

6. Seed the Garden with random Flower tokens from the Greenhouse bag, also flower side up.

   • 2 Players: Place 9 Flower tokens on the Bee Spaces.
   • 3-5 Players: Place 6 Flower tokens on the Butterfly Spaces.

7. Populate the Stalk Exchange with 6 random Flower tokens from the Greenhouse bag, flower side up.

8. Place the Compost bag to the right of the Stalk Exchange.

9. Players collect Seedy Business tokens and put them in their shed as follows:

   Game	P1	P2	P3	P4	P5
   2-3 Players	3	3	3	-	-
   4 Players	3	3	3	4 (Last)	-
   5 Players	3	3	3	4	5 (Last)

   Tip: If there are new players, the first player is the player teaching the game. Otherwise, determine the first player randomly. Turn order goes clockwise with the "last" player to the right of the first player.

Gameplay Overview

Players take turns in a clockwise order. A player's turn is divided into 2 phases, Action and then Upkeep.

All decisions are made during the Action phase. The Upkeep phase resolves those choices.

After a turn where a game end condition is met, the players reveal their Stalk Portfolios, compare values, and determine a winner.

1. Action Phase (Decisions)

Basic Actions (2 per turn):

1. Plant
2. Swap

Optional Actions: 3. Seedy Business

• Extra Plant
• Extra Swap
• Flush the Exchange

2. Upkeep Phase (Resolve)

1. Harvest Flowers
2. Bloom Bulbs
3. Update Stalk Values
4. Move the Stalk Exchange

1. Action Phase

A player MUST do 2 Basic Actions during this phase of their turn. There are 2 types of Basic Actions players may do: Plant and Swap. Players may do all their actions in any order they like and they may mix or repeat their actions.

A player may also spend their Seedy Business tokens to complete extra actions on their turn.

Plant (Basic Action)

A player chooses a Flower token on the Stalk Exchange and places it in any unoccupied space in the Garden, Bulb side up.

Important: You may never Plant a Flower token directly from your portfolio, only from the Stalk Exchange.

Swap (Basic Action)

A player takes a Flower token from the Stalk Exchange, adds it to their Stalk Portfolio, and then replaces it with a different type of Flower token from their Portfolio.

Seedy Business (Optional Actions)

If a player has Seedy Business tokens to spend, they may take extra actions in addition to their Basic Actions at any point during the Action Phase. Players place spent Seedy Business tokens in front of their screen. You may spend as many of your Seedy Business tokens as you want in a single turn, but you can't get more during the game so spend them wisely.

Extra Planting — A player may spend a Seedy Business token to do an extra Plant action.

Extra Swaps — A player may spend a Seedy Business token to do an extra Swap action.

Flush the Exchange — A player may spend a Seedy Business token to move all Flowers on the Stalk Exchange to the Compost bag. After doing so, the player places their Seedy Business tokens in front of their shed, blue side facing up. Then, refill the entire Stalk Exchange with random Flower tokens from the Greenhouse bag.

A note from the designer: Flushing the Stalk Exchange gives the active player a chance to Swap for better Flowers, exert more control over which Flower tokens the next player has access to on their turn, and even hasten the game's ending.

Important: A player may only do the Flush the Exchange action once per game. To track this, players flip the token spent on the Flush the Exchange action to its blue side when they put it in front of their screen.

Flush the Exchange FAQs

I just did the Flush the Exchange action and the Greenhouse bag was empty before I could replace all the Flower tokens on the Stalk Exchange—what should I do? Replace as many Flower tokens as possible and finish the turn. The game will end at the end of that turn.

What if I flushed all the Flower tokens off the Stalk Exchange and the Greenhouse bag is empty? If it is no longer possible to take any actions, move onto the Upkeep phase.

2. Upkeep Phase

This phase MAY have up to 4 steps. Only do Steps 1-3 if the conditions in the Garden require them to be done. Step 4 is the only step in the Upkeep phase that happens every turn.

Step 1: Harvest Flowers

If any Flower tokens or Flower groups are surrounded, remove them from the Garden and set them aside for Step 3.

Important: If two or more Flower tokens of the same type are adjacent, they form a group. The whole group must be surrounded by tokens that are different from the type in the group before the group is harvested. The surrounding tokens do not need to match each other.

Harvesting in Detail

If a Flower token or a Flower group is surrounded on all sides by different Flower types, Bulbs, and/or the borders of the Garden, they MUST be harvested during Step 1 of the Upkeep Phase.

All harvesting happens simultaneously. If multiple Flower types and/or Flower groups are surrounded at the same time, ALL the surrounded Flowers are removed from the Garden at the same time.

Step 2: Bloom Bulbs

Flip over all Bulbs with at least one empty hexagon space around them.

Upkeep Phase: Step 3 FAQ

During the Upkeep phase, why doesn't Step 3, Update Stalk Values happen immediately after Step 1, Harvest Flowers? In many games there is a big harvest where a lot of Flower tokens are removed from the Garden all at once. In those moments, it's important to make sure that every token you need to harvest is removed from the Garden BEFORE blooming any Bulbs. It's easier to lose track if you do not complete the steps in order.

Bulbs in Detail

All Flowers are planted as Bulbs, but Bulbs are never harvested. While a Flower token is flipped to its Bulb side, it's an obstruction to all Flower tokens regardless of what kind of Flower it will be when it blooms.

Players can never harvest Flowers the same turn they are planted. This is because the bulbs will not bloom until after the Harvest step (Step 1) of the Upkeep is completed. If Bulbs are planted into a situation that triggers the harvest of another group of the same Flower type, the newly planted Bulbs can only bloom AFTER the harvest is complete, meaning they can't be harvested on that same turn.

Step 3: Update Stalk Values

Take all of the Flower tokens harvested in Step 1 and put them on the far end of the Market Track, starting at the indicated player count, and fill them in towards the other end. For every Flower token added to the Market Track, advance the matching Stalk Value token one step in value.

Tip: If you're ever uncertain of what Flower's Stalk Value should be during play, count the number of its harvested Flower tokens on the Market Track. They match!

Important: In a 2-player game, decide together if you will play a long or short game. For a long game, start placing Flower tokens on the 2-player space at the end of the track. For a shorter game, place the first Flower token on the 2-3 player space instead.

Step 4: Move the Stalk Exchange

Move the rightmost flower on the Stalk Exchange into the Compost bag. Then shift the remaining Flower tokens as far right as possible. Lastly, refill the Stalk Exchange from the Greenhouse Bag.

Game End

There are two ways for the game to end:

1. The Harvested Flower tokens meet or pass the highest Stalk Value token on the Market track.
2. The Greenhouse bag is emptied.

If either one of these triggers occurs during a player's turn, it represents a Market Crash and the game ends after the active player's turn; followed by Bust and Final Scoring.

Bust (Finalize Stalk Values)

Before Final Scoring, check the Stalk Value track. The highest valued flower loses half of its value rounded-up.

Important: In the event of a tie, ALL the tied Flower Stalks bust. Shrewd gardeners should be mindful of how they can use this to their advantage.

Final Scoring

When the Stalk Values are finalized, all players reveal their Stalk Portfolios. Each player determines their score by multiplying each Flower token in their Stalk Portfolio by its Stalk Value and totaling those results. Score Pads are included to make this easier.

The player with the most points wins. If there is a tie, the tied players compare the number of the most valuable flower(s) in their portfolio. Whoever has more wins. If there is still a tie, compare the next most valuable flower types until the tie is broken. If there is still a tie, the tied players share the victory.

Credits

Game Design: Christopher Chan Papercraft Artwork and Photography: Diana Beltrán Herrera

The Op Hobby Games Team: Pat Marino (Hub Director), Carol Johnston (Brand Management), Adam Sblendorio (Creative Director), Arlo Hitzemann (Graphic Design & Art Direction), Emily Sim, Molly Varela, Paul May (Production), and Andrew Esposito (Marketing)