Garden Variety - Rules
WHAT'S IN THE BOX
- 54 cards (42 basic cards, 12 special cards)
- 1 Custom six-sided dice
HOW TO START
Shuffle all the cards in the box together and deal 5 cards too each player, then place the remaining cards face down in the center of the table to form the deck. The youngest player goes first and starts the game by rolling the dice.
HOW TO PLAY
Roll the dice to determine the round rule. Each side of the dice corresponds to its own rule:
The card closest to 0 wins.
The card closest to 3 wins.
The card closest to 5 wins.
The card closest to 7 wins.
The card closest to 10 wins.
CHAOS. Reroll the dice after all cards are played to determine the round rule.
After rolling the dice, the first player must play a card from their hand face up in front of them. Each other player follows clockwise, playing a card from their own hand. After all players have played a card, use the round rule to determin the winner of the round. If you are the winner, collect all the cards played that round and place them next to you in your garden bed (which is just a fancy name for the stack of cards you collect throughout the game by winning rounds.)
Before the next round, each player draws cards from the deck until they are holding five cards (starting with the round winner and moving clockwise). If you were the round winner, roll the dice to determine the next round's rule, then plan a card from your hand face up to start the next round. If a round starts and one or more players have no card in their hand to play, the game ends immediately.
TYPES OF CARDS
Critter cards: There are four different types of characters (each with a corresponding color) that appear on the Critter cards: Blue Oppossum, Red Snail, Green Frog, and Yellow Bee.
Most Critter cards display a number between 1-9, and a few rare Critter cards show 0 or 10. If you play a 0 or 10 Critter card, you must immediately declare whether you want it to cound as a 0 or a 10 for the round. After you've made your choice, you cannot change it later in the round.
If two players tie based on the numbers on the card they each played, you can use the character and color of the Critter cards to determine the winner using the following logic:
- Blue Oppossum beats Red Snail
- Red Snail beats Green Frog
- Green Frog beats Yellow Bee
- Yellow Bee beats Blue Oppossum
Wildflower cards: Each Wildflower card displays a number 1-9.
If two players tie based on the numbers on the card they each played, a Wildflower card beats any Critter card.
Gnome cards: Each Gnome card has a special effect that adds a little mischief to the round. If you play a Gnome card, immediately use its effect. These cards don't display a number, but they can give you an advantage if you play them at the right time!
WINNING A ROUND
To determine who wins a round, always start with the player who played their card first and compare their card to that of the player on their left. Using the round rule, determine which card wins between the two. The player with the losing card is eliminated from the round, and the winning card is then compared to the next player's card clockwise (and so on, until only one player remains in the round.) That player collects all Critter, Wildflower, and Gnome cards played in the round and adds them to their garden bed before initiating the next round.
When comparing two cards, start with the numbers. If those two numbers have the same value in the round (for example, a 6 and an 8 when the round rule is "closest to 7"), you'll next compare the color and character. If you still cannot determine a winner (for example, a Red 6 and a Blue 8), the player who played their card first wins.
Here are an example to show how to determine the winner in each round:
EXAMPLE
Round Rule: 
(closest to 0 wins)
Green 3 beats Red 4 (3 is closer to 0)-
Red 1 beats Green 3 (1 is closer to 0) -
Red 1 beats Red 2 (1 is closer to 0) Red 1 wins
WINNING THE GAME
When the game ends, add any cards remaining in your hand to your garden bed, then count all the cards you've collected. The player with the most cards wins the game!
If two or more players tie for the most cards in their garden bed, the player among them who collected the most Gnomes wins. (And if you still have a tie on your hands, it's time for a round of good old-fashioned rock paper scissors...)
