Topiary
Topiary Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 40 topiary tiles (1-5 in 8 suits)
- 32 visitors (8 in each 4 colors)
- 1 scoreboard
- 4 scoring tokens (1 in each 4 colors)
Topiary Art [Ars Topiaria - Latin]
[def.] the art of the gardeners to give special forms to the foliage of trees and ornamental shrubs, geometrized (cuboid, pyramid, cilinder, cone, sphere) or reproducing forms of people, animals or everyday objects.
Born at the time of Ancient Rome, the topiary reached its highest point during the Flavian Dinasty. The term Topiary was used for gardeners or those who created landscapes (topos). It was Cicero to define the green sculptures as Opus Topiarii. The species that are better adapted are bay laurel, european box, holm oak, yew, cypress, Japanese euonymus and privet.
Overview
The goal of the game is to earn the most points by showing your visitors as many topiaries as possible. Its your job to create the best line of sight for each of your visitors. The numbers on the tiles are the point value and size of the topiary (highest value = biggest topiary). Bonus points are also awarded for seeing topiaries of same suit with the same visitor and for tiles players have in their hand at the end of the game.
Set-up
1- Each player take a set of visitors in their color, depending on the number of players:
- 2 players: 8 visitors
- 3 players: 6 visitors
- 4 players: 5 visitors
2- If you are playing with 2-3 players remove any one complete set of topiary tiles: you will play with 35 tiles. If you are playing with 4 players use all the 40 tiles. Shuffle the Topiary deck then deal a 5x5 grid of tiles face down to create the garden, making sure to leave some space between tiles. Turn the center tile face up.
3- The last person who have trimmed a real plant is the first player. If nobody has the green thumb, determine the first player randomly.
4- Deal each player a hand of 3 topiary tiles face down, clockwise, starting with the first player. These will form the player's private hand. Return the remaining tiles in the box (they won't be used during the game).
Draft Variant
The last player also receive any left over tiles and add them to their hand.
They keep three and pass their remaining hand to the player on their right, who repeats this process.
Once the first player has chosen their 3 tiles this way, return any leftover tiles to the box.
5- Place the scoreboard and the scoring tokens aside. These will only be used to track the score at the end of the game.
Game play
Players take turns beginning with the first player then going clockwise until all players have placed all their visitors.
On your turn you MUST
Place one of your unplaced visitors next to any row, column or diagonal of tiles. Your visitor can be placed on either side, but can never be placed where someone already has a visitor. Visitors are always placed along the outer edge of the garden.
After you placed your visitor, you MAY
Choose any face-down tile in that row, column or diagonal and add it to your hand. Next place a tile from your hand face up into the empty spot you just created on the grid. This can be the tile you just picked up.
Place on any open row, column or diagonal — Pick a tile from that row, column or diagonal — Place a tile from your hand to the blank space.
Game end
The game ends when all players have placed all of their visitors. Then you proceed with scoring.
Scoring
Use scoreboard and scoring markers to help you keep track of points during scoring.
Visitors
Each visitor scores the closest topiary tile to them. They also score tiles along their row, column, or diagonal as long the topiary tile is larger (bigger number) than all the tiles before it.
Topiaries will block the view of other tiles of the same number or lower behind it.
Face down tiles are considered "0" and will not block any views.
Example: Green can see the 3 point Icosahedron, 4 point Pom Pom and 5 point Spiral (= 12 Points). She sees through the face-down card and cannot see the 4 point Icosahedron because the 4 point PomPom is blocking the view.
Bonus
Each visitor also earns one bonus point for every topiary of the same suit they can see repeated in their line of sight.
Example: Blue can see a 2, 3 and 5 T-Rex which earns him 3 bonus points. He can also see a 4 point Swan but cannot see the 5 point Swan wich is covered by 5 point T-Rex, so the Swan does not score bonus points. (= 17 Points)
Tiles in hand
Reveal all tiles left in your hand. Score the face value of these tiles as long as at least one of your visitors can see a topiary tile of the same suit AND in a higher rank somewhere in the garden.
Example (see the final 4 player scoring below): Red player can score the 1 point T-Rex and the 2 point Whale because at least one of her visitors can see higher ranked tiles of those suits (f.e. Red can see 3 points Whale and 4-5 points T-Rex). She cannot see a higher ranked Pyramid, so the 5 point Pyramid in her hand doesn't score. (Hand = 3 Points)
Winning
Sum all of your points, then... the player with the highest total score is the winner!
If tied, the winner is the player that scored the most points from their hand. If still tied, the winner is the player who played last in the game.
Final 4 player scoring example: Red's visitors earn 40 points. Combined with Red's hand above, her final total is 43 points.
Credits
Design, Illustrations & Graphic Design: Denny Devine
Play Testers: Steven Aramini, Paul Kluka, Joe Kisnwether, Ryan Sanders, Dan Letiman, Jeremy Davis, Rebecka Strahlén, Peter Johnsson
Edited by Fever Games — www.fever-games.com — Fever Games di Emanuele Pierangelo, via Pascoli 46/b - 65010 Cappelle sul Tavo (PE) - ITALY