Stone Garden Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Set Up
• Game Play
  • Step 1 (first half of your turn)
  • Robbery
  • Step 2 (second half of your turn)
• End of Game
• Scoring
• Master Gardener Cards

Components

• 1 Temple Board
• 4 Garden Boards
• 80 Stone Garden Tiles
• 25 Stones: 6 Horizontal Stones, 7 Small Standing Stones, 4 Reclining Stones, 5 Large Standing Stones, 3 Boat Stones
• 14 Name Garden Cards
• 9 Master Gardener Cards
• 4 Zen Monk Pawns
• 4 Discs
• 4 Quick Reference Sheets
• 1 Rulebook

The Temple Board is where available tiles and stones are stored. The virtue track records the current virtue points that have been drawn. The victory track running along the edges of the Temple Board records each player's victory points at the end of the game.

The Garden Board is your personal board; the triangle at its lower right corner indicates the color you are playing. The depressed area at the center is where Stone Garden Tiles are played. With three rows and five columns, you will place a total of 15 tiles in your garden by game's end. The temporary storage area can store one tile at a time.

You will place Stone Garden Tiles on your Garden Board as elements of your stone garden. While most of the tiles feature sand, some also have moss patches on them. Tiles with moss patches are moss tiles, while ones without moss patches are sand tiles.

Stones may be acquired by spending virtue points and added to your stone garden. There are five types of stones, which are identified by the symbol in the table and on the bottom of each stone: Horizontal (square), Small Standing (triangle), Reclining (diamond), Large Standing (filled triangle), Boat (open box).

The Zen Monk Pawn moves among the tiles in your stone garden. It determines where you may place stones in your garden.

The Disc displays the current value of each player's virtue.

At the end of the game, you will receive bonus victory points for placing stones in your garden matching the layout on your Name Garden Card. The symbols on the card indicate which stones must be placed on which tiles. A star symbol means any kind of stone.

Your Master Gardener Card may be used only once during the game, and provides a special effect as described on the card.

A Quick Reference Sheet gives a simplified chart summarizing turn options and victory point win conditions, and shows all of the cards and tiles in the game.

Set Up

1. Place the Temple Board in the center of the play area.

2. Select a Garden Board and place it before you.

3. Turn the Stone Garden Tiles face down and mix them well. Stack them in several piles in the temple area of the Temple Board.

4. The number of stones varies with the number of players. Place the stones indicated in the table below in the stone yard of the Temple Board.

Players	Horizontal	Small Standing	Reclining	Large Standing	Boat
2	4	5	2	3	1
3	5	6	3	4	2
4	6	7	4	5	3

5. Select a Zen Monk Pawn whose color matches the triangle on the bottom right of your Garden Board.

6. Place the Disc of your color on the 0 space of the virtue track on the Temple Board.

7. Shuffle the Name Garden Cards and deal one facedown to each player. Do not show your card to other players.

8. Shuffle the Master Gardener Cards and deal one facedown to each player. Do not show your card to the other players.

9. Give each player a Quick Reference Sheet.

10. Return the extra boards, stones, cards and reference sheets to the box. Do not look at the cards.

Game Play

Determine the starting player by some appropriate means. From there, play proceeds in clockwise order. During your turn, perform one action from Step 1 and then one action from Step 2.

Step 1 (first half of your turn)

Draw a tile from the Temple Board stack and show it to everyone. Then perform one of the following actions: Place, Transfer, Discard or Store.

Place

Place the tile you drew in your garden. The tile must be placed in a landscape orientation (long side horizontal), but you are free to choose which side is at the top and bottom.

• Place your first tile in either the upper or lower left corner and place your Zen Monk Pawn on it.
• In subsequent turns, place the tile adjacent either vertically or horizontally to previously deployed tiles.

Do your best to align the furrows in the sand and moss patterns with those of adjacent tiles. You can place tiles that do not align, but will lose points at the end of the game. Any two sand tiles are always aligned horizontally.

Transfer

Offer the tile to other players. Before deciding which action to take, you may offer other players the tile you have just drawn, any of whom may propose a transfer. You cannot force a transfer; the recipient may refuse to accept your tile. If more than one player is interested in the tile, you decide who gets it.

If you reach an agreement, the player who receives the tile immediately places it in his garden, and you gain 2 virtue points on the virtue point track. Move your Disc forward two spaces. There is a maximum of 6 virtue points. Points gained beyond this are lost.

Discard

Discard the tile by returning it to the box and lose 1 virtue point. You cannot choose this action if losing a point would take you below 0 on the virtue point track.

Store

Place the tile on the temporary storage space of your Garden Board. If there is already a tile in your storage space, you cannot select this option. If you have a tile in storage, you may place it in your garden in addition to taking another action.

Here is some additional information on how storage tiles interact with Step 1 actions:

• You can place a stored tile and then a tile drawn this turn (the reverse is also possible).
• You can place a stored tile and then store the tile drawn this turn (because the temporary storage space is now free).
• You can transfer the tile drawn this turn and then place the stored tile.
• You cannot discard a stored tile; only tiles you draw in the current turn may be discarded.
• When receiving a transfer tile, you must place it in your garden. Storing a tile is an action you can only perform during your turn.
• You cannot transfer a stored tile. Only the tile drawn this turn can be transferred.

Robbery

When the active player has declared placement of a tile in Step 1, other players can attempt to steal it. The player who is successful in doing so receives the tile and immediately places it in his garden.

Generally, the active player cannot prevent a robbery. Only a tile about to be placed, either drawn that turn or recovered from the temporary storage space, can be stolen. Tiles that have already been placed in a garden cannot be stolen. The active player cannot steal a tile transferred to another player or steal a tile stolen by another player.

If more than one player declares a robbery, the player with the fewest tiles in his garden gets the tile. If there is a tie, the player closest in turn order to the active player gets the tile.

The player who has successfully stolen a tile loses 2 virtue points. A player with fewer than two virtue points cannot declare robbery.

Step 2 (second half of your turn)

In the second half of the turn, perform one of the following actions: Zen Meditation, Move Zen Monk, Acquire and Install Stone, and Use Master Gardener Card.

Zen Meditation

Meditate and gain 1 virtue point. Move your Disc forward one space on the virtue point track. You can choose this action even if gaining a virtue point would take you above 6 virtue points, but you cannot gain points above 6.

Move Zen Monk

Move the Zen Monk Pawn up, down, left or right to an adjacent tile. You can only move the pawn to a placed tile.

You cannot move the pawn diagonally, outside the garden or to a location where a tile has yet to be placed.

Acquire and Install Stone

Spend all of your virtue points to acquire one of the stones on the Temple Board, and place it on one of your tiles that does not have a stone. You can only acquire a stone type you have enough virtue points to buy. After acquiring a stone, move your Disc to 0 on the virtue point track.

Virtue	Stone Type
0	None
1+	Horizontal Stone
2+	Small Standing Stone
3+	Reclining Stone
4+	Large Standing Stone
5+	Boat Stone
6	Place the obtained stone anywhere

The stone can only be placed on the tile the Zen Monk Pawn is located, or in the same column. If you place the stone on the tile where the pawn is located, you may (if desired) move the pawn one space up, down, left or right to another tile.

If your virtue has reached 6 points, you may place any stone on a tile in your garden regardless of the location of the pawn (other limitation rules still apply).

You may play only one Boat Stone in a game.

Example: A player with 4 virtue points is installing a stone. He can select a Large Standing Stone, but opts for a Reclining Stone instead. He sets his virtue points to 0 and places the stone with his pawn.

As a rule, you cannot place a stone next to another stone adjacent vertically or horizontally. The exception is that two stones, each on a moss tile, can be next to each other.

When spending 6 virtuous points, a stone may be placed outside the column with the Zen Monk Pawn. Two stones can be placed next to each other because both are on moss. When a stone is put in the tile with the Zen Monk Pawn, the pawn gets a bonus movement.

Use Master Gardener Card

Reveal your Master Gardener Card and apply the described effect. This can be done only once in the game. Discard the card after use.

Some Master Gardener Cards allow you to draw and place tiles. You may discard such a tile without losing a virtue point, but cannot transfer or store it. Other players cannot steal a tile acquired by playing a Master Gardener Card.

When installing a stone due to the effect of a Master Gardener Card, you are not restricted by the current location of the Zen Monk Pawn, but the other installation rules apply. Place a tile acquired by using a Master Gardener Card in your garden by connecting it to an already placed tile (as usual).

See the Master Gardener Cards section below for a description of Master Gardener Cards and their effects.

End of Game

Once a player completes his garden by placing 15 tiles, the game is near its end. Players continue to take turns.

Step 1 actions are more limited: you may only store or place tiles. You may not take transfer or discard actions, and robbery is no longer allowed. Tiles in temporary storage may be used as before.

Step 2 actions are unchanged. Players who have completed their gardens skip Step 1 and take only Step 2 actions. The last player to complete his garden finishes his turn and the game moves to scoring.

If all the tiles are drawn before the game ends, replenish the tile stack with the discarded tiles.

Scoring

The following elements are evaluated as part of the stone garden. Elements that enhance a garden's beauty and esthetics increase the score, while excessive elements and imbalances will detract from it.

All players put their Zen Monk Pawns on the 0 space of the victory point track on the Temple Board. Beginning with the first step below, the players record their victory points by moving their pawns to the appropriate spot.

1. Basic Sand Points

Take a point for each tile in the largest rectangle in your garden that consists of only sand tiles.

2. Basic Moss Points

Take 2 points for each moss tile in your garden.

3. Symmetry Bonus

Take 5 points for each row in which your tiles are symmetrical.

Symmetry is achieved when you place two tiles of the same pattern with the same orientation at the leftmost and the rightmost columns, and do the same at the second left and the second right columns.

4. Whirlpool Bonus

Completing whirlpool patterns in the sand is worth additional points. For each completed circle, take 2 points for each associated tile. For each semicircle, take 1 point for each associated tile.

5. Evaluation of Sand Pattern

Lose 2 points for every instance in your garden where tile patterns do not connect. Any two sand tiles are always aligned horizontally, but moss tiles and sand-moss combination are not. In rare cases, your score may fall below zero. If this happens, devise some method of tracking your negative points.

Gain 7 points if all 15 tiles are connected.

6. Basic Stone Points

Take 2 points for every stone type in your garden. The number of stones you have does not impact scoring.

7. Evaluation of Stone Layout

You earn bonus points according to the arrangement of the stones you have installed in your garden. There are six types of layouts to be evaluated, A through F. You may combine two or more stone layouts for scoring, as long as stones used in A (Knight Placement) or B (Diagonal Placement) cannot be used for another A or B bonuses (a stone used in A or B bonus can be used in C/D/E/F.)

A. Knight Placement Bonus

If you place two stones diagonally across a 2-by-3 tile grid, take a 5 point bonus. The stone type does not matter, nor does whether the arrangement is oriented horizontally or vertically. However, if you have other stones in the 2-by-3 grid other than the two knights, you cannot claim this bonus.

You can claim either the left and middle stones or the middle and right stones for this bonus, but not both. The stone in the middle cannot be applied to more than one arrangement.

B. Diagonal Placement Bonus

If you place three stones diagonally in a 3-by-3 grid, you earn 7 points. The stone type does not matter. However, as in the case with the Knight Placement, you do not receive the bonus if there are other stones in the 3-by-3 grid.

C. Horaisan Mountain Bonus

If you place two Large Standing Stones next to one another on moss tiles in the upper row, take 10 points. You can only get Horaisan Mountain bonus once.

A Horaisan Mountain arrangement requires two adjacent moss tiles on the top level.

D. The Three Honorable Stones Bonus

If you place three standing stones on moss tiles in the upper row (a small, a large and another small, in that order), you earn 15 points. You can only get Three Honorable Stones bonus once.

Here, a Three Honorable Stones arrangement is combined with a Knight Placement for 20 points.

E. Reclining Stone Bonus

Take 3 points for every Reclining Stone you place in the center column.

You can score more than one Reclining Stone bonus. In this case, the bonus is 6 points.

F. Boat Stone Bonus

Take 3 points for placing a Boat Stone in the bottom row. You can only get this bonus once, because you can only have one Boat Stone in a game.

8. Name Garden

If you have placed stones in the same configuration as indicated on your Name Garden Card, reveal the card to claim the stated victory points. You get this bonus even if there are other stones in your garden not shown on the card.

9. Virtue Points

For each remaining virtue point, you gain 1 victory point.

The player who has the most victory points after steps 1 through 9 is the winner. If there is a tie, share your victory as true master gardeners.

Master Gardener Cards

Muso Soseki — Take a stone from the Temple Board and place it on any of the tiles in your garden. Placing this stone may also trigger a bonus move for your Zen Monk Pawn.

Zen Ami — Draw two tiles from the stack and place them in your garden in any order. You may discard either or both of these tiles without penalty.

Sesshu — Draw three tiles from the stack and place one in your garden. Discard the remaining two. You may discard all three tiles without penalty.

Sen no Rikyu — Move the Zen Monk Pawn to any tile in your garden. In addition, perform one action from Step 2. Placing this stone may also trigger a bonus move for your Zen Monk Pawn.

Kentei — Move one stone in your garden to any other tile. In addition, perform one action from Step 2.

Kobori Enshu — Switch two tiles in your garden that do not have stones on them. You may change tile orientation. If a Zen Monk Pawn is on one of the switched tiles, it does not move.

Kanamori Sowa — Gain 4 virtue points.

Ishikawa Jozan — Take any number of tiles from the temporary storage of other players and place them in your garden. Stolen tiles must be placed in your garden immediately.

Shigemori Mirei — You cannot be robbed this turn. (Reveal this card when other players declare a robbery.) You can perform a Step 2 action on the turn you use this card.