Tulpenfieber
Tulpenfieber Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 4 Tulip Fields
- 1 Cloth Bag (for easier storage in the box)
- 132 Tulip Tiles
- 7 Dice
- 10 Bonus Tiles
You'll only need the multicolored tulip tiles for the solo game.
Setup
The last player who has given someone flowers goes first. This player takes the tulip field marked "I" in the top right corner. Their neighbor to the left takes the next highest-numbered tulip field, then continue taking consecutive fields in clockwise order. Any remaining tulip fields go back in the box.
Place your tulip field in front of you and put any one tulip tile (from now on called "tulip" for short) on each space marked with a flower symbol. Each tulip field has different spaces marked, depending on your respective places in the turn order.
Note: Tulip colors in your fields have no particular meaning in the game. However, aesthetically pleasing tulip fields were a concern even 400 years ago.
Keep the remaining tulips, the bonus tiles, and the dice ready where all players can reach them easily.
Two-Player Setup
The rulebook shows a two-player setup diagram: the first player, Marieke, sits on the left with her tulip field, and the second player, Floris, sits on the right. The tulip pool, the dice and the bonus tiles are placed in the middle.
Playing the Game
You will take turns going clockwise. When it's your turn, roll the dice, take a tulip, and place it in your tulip field. If you already have some tulips in your field, you can use them to gain additional rolls, extra dice, and bonus tiles.
If you manage to cover all seven spaces in the fourth row of your tulip field or either three directly adjacent spaces or any four spaces in the fifth row, you win the game instantly. Otherwise, your neighbor to the left takes their turn.
1. Roll the Dice and Gain New Tulips
At the start of your turn, take all the dice you have available. At first, you'll have four dice, but over the course of the game you'll be able to add more dice (see 2. Gain More Dice).
Roll all your dice. Don't like the result? Reroll any number of your dice a second and eventually a third time. After every roll, you can freely pick which dice to reroll and which ones to leave as they are.
You can buy a fourth and a fifth roll of the dice!
Your tulips allow you to buy up to two additional dice rolls on your turn. If you don't like your result after the third roll, you may flip any two of your tulips over to the side showing the moneybag. Put the flipped tiles back in their spaces and reroll any number of your dice again. If you still don't like the result, you may flip over two more tulips to roll for the fifth and final time this turn.
Note: If you don't have two tulips to flip over, you can't buy an additional dice roll.
Marieke uses two of the tulips she has in her field at the start of the game to buy a fourth roll of the dice.
Once you're done rolling, you gain new tulips. Take exactly one tulip tile from the pool and place it in your tulip field, tulip side up, on an empty space that matches the final result of your dice roll.
Where can you put your tulips?
All the spaces in your tulip fields show combinations of dice. In order to place tulips in any given space, you must have rolled the matching combination on your turn.
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For the three columns to the left of the middle and the three to the right, you'll need a number of dice showing the same result. To place a tulip there, you must have at least the number of dice showing the same number as the one shown on the space.
Marieke stops rolling the dice. Among her dice, there are three showing the same face (shown as a die-face icon in the rulebook's example). She can place her new tulips on any space in the top three rows of the second column.
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For the middle column, you'll need consecutive numbers on your dice. For the first, second, and fourth row, you can pick between different combinations of dice, but you only need to roll one of these combinations on your turn.
Floris has rolled a combination of dice faces (shown as die-face icons in the rulebook's example). This allows him to place his new tulips either in the top row or the third row of the middle column.
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If you manage to roll six or seven dice with the same number, you get to choose any space to put your new tulips in!
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If you roll a result where you can't legally put tulips in any space, put the tulip tile above your tulip field instead. You can still flip these tulips to the moneybag side to buy additional rolls.
2. Gain More Dice
At the start of the game, you have four dice available each turn. If you can place tulips in three vertically or diagonally adjacent spaces in a straight line and in the top three rows of your tulip field, you gain a fifth die for the rest of the game, starting with your next turn.
Note: Whether the tiles show their tulip side or their moneybag side doesn't matter.
Marieke has covered three diagonally adjacent spaces with tulip tiles. Starting on her next turn, she now gets to roll five dice. Floris has covered three adjacent spaces, too—vertically in his middle column. He also gets a fifth die when his turn comes around next.
If you manage to cover vertically or diagonally adjacent spaces in the top four rows of your tulip field, you gain a sixth die for the rest of the game, starting with your next turn.
If you cover diagonally or vertically adjacent spaces in all five rows, you gain a seventh die for the rest of the game, starting with your next turn.
3. Gaining and Using Bonus Tiles
Bonus tiles allow you to turn dice to any face of your choice later in the game. If you have covered an area that is 2x3 or 3x2 spaces with tulips, you may claim a bonus tile at the end of your turn. You must place the tile on top of all six tulips.
Note: Whether the tiles show their tulip side or their moneybag side doesn't matter. But, tulip tiles covered by a bonus tile can't be flipped to the moneybag side.
In Floris' tulip field, 3x2 spaces are covered with tulip tiles. At the end of his turn, he decides to take a bonus tile and place it on those six tulips.
At the start of each of your later turns, before rolling the dice, you must put one of your dice in the wheelbarrow on your bonus tile. Don't roll this die, but instead turn it to any face of your choice and use it for your result later. If you have more than one bonus tile, place dice on all of them in this way.
Floris is currently rolling six dice. As he has one bonus tile, he places one of those six dice on the tile, showing the face of his choice. In this case, he picks one face (shown as a die-face icon in the rulebook's example).
Then, roll your other dice as described above. Starting with your second roll, you may take the die off your bonus tile and "reroll" it with the others if you like.
Victory Conditions and the End of the Game
Your goal is to place tulips in the bottom two rows of your tulip field. There are three ways of ending and winning the game instantly:
- You've covered all seven spaces in the fourth row.
- You've covered three adjacent spaces in the fifth row.
- You've covered any four spaces in the fifth row.
Solo Play
You can play Tulpenfieber solo, always trying to go lower than your last result. The solo variant is played over three rounds. After each round, note down the number of tulip tiles you have as your result. The lower your total is after three rounds, the more successful you were in the game!
Note: For the solo game, you'll need two of the multicolored tulip tiles. The other two are spares, just in case some of your flowers wilt.
Round One
Set up the game as usual. Take any one of the tulip fields and flip it over to the back side (= no number in the top right corner). Place tulips in the spaces marked with flower symbols.
Play as usual until you've reached one of the victory conditions. Then, note down the total number of tulip tiles you have in your field and above it.
Round Two
Replace one of the tulip tiles you've placed in the fourth row in round one with a multicolored tulip tile. You always place multicolored tulip tiles in your field tulip side up, no matter which side was showing on the tile you replaced. Remove all the other tulip tiles, place tulips in the spaces marked with flowers again, and start your second round with three tulips in your field.
Important: If you don't cover a space in the fourth row during the first round, you don't get the benefit of having multicolored tulips in the fourth row for the second and third rounds.
Play the second round as usual and note down the number of tulip tiles again. Make sure to count the multicolored tulips, too!
Round Three – the Final Round
Replace one of the tulip tiles you've placed in the fifth row in round two with a multicolored tulip tile (tulip side up). If you flipped the multicolored tulips in the fourth round to their moneybag side, turn them back over to the tulip side. Remove all other tulip tiles, cover the two spaces with the flower symbol once again, and start your third round with four tulips in your field.
Note: If you don't cover a space in the fifth row during round two, you don't get the benefit of having multicolored tulips in the fifth row for the third round.
Play the third round and again note down the number of tulip tiles used, counting all multicolored tulip tiles as well.
The End of the Solo Game
After three rounds, add all three results together. If your total is 60 or less, you've won the solo game! 50 tulip tiles or less is a very good result. If you manage 42 tulip tiles or less, you've played so well that they should name a new kind of tulip after you!