How to Play

Three Sisters

1-4 players 30-60 min 7.5 Board Game Geek Rating

In this strategic roll-and-write farming game, players cultivate corn, beans, and pumpkins using indigenous three sisters planting techniques. Each round, draft dice to plant/water crops in numbered garden zones and take wheel actions like visiting markets or gaining tools. Interconnected tracks provide bonuses and goods for unlocking additional actions. After eight rounds, highest score from harvested crops and other achievements wins.

Published 2022

Three Sisters

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Place the game board
Put the game board in the center of the table
2
Position the round marker
Place the round marker on the starting position of the round track
3
Position Farmer Edith
Place the Farmer Edith pawn on the action track space marked with the gold thumbtack
4
Distribute player sheets
Give each player one complete scoring sheet (one of each type) and a pencil (not provided)
5
Create the dice pool
Use the number of dice based on player count:
6
Select starting player
Randomly choose one player and give them the starting player marker (suggestion: whoever most recently gardened)

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Roll all dice
The current starting player rolls all dice in the pool
2
Group dice by value
Sort the rolled dice by their values (all 1s together, all 2s together, etc.)
3
Place dice in ascending order
Starting from Farmer Edith's space, place the lowest value group first, then continue clockwise with the next lowest group
4
Move Farmer Edith
Advance Farmer Edith clockwise to the next space after the highest value dice group
5
Select a die
Each player chooses one available die from the action track, starting with the current starting player and proceeding clockwise
6
Perform Garden action
Take a Garden action in the zone matching the die value (1-6):
7
Perform Sign action
Take the action indicated by the die's position on the action track
8
Use remaining die
After all players have chosen, everyone simultaneously uses the lowest remaining die for both Garden and Sign actions
9
Plant or Water
Perform a Plant OR Water action in the zone matching the die value (bonus to your Garden action)
10
Shed
Fill in any one space below a Shed item
11
1 Compost and 4 Goods
Fill one Compost space AND four Goods spaces
12
Apiary or Fruit
Fill one Compost space OR one Fruit space
13
Farmer's Market
Check the Farmer's Market chart and take actions based on your total Goods
14
Resolve the current event
All players simultaneously resolve the event shown on the round track:
15
Advance the round marker
Move the starting player marker left and push into the circular marker, then proceed to the next round
16
End game check
If this was round 8, the game ends
17
Harvesting crops
When a crop's circle is completely filled, harvest it immediately
18
Using Compost
Spend Compost to adjust die values by +1/-1 for different garden zones; cross off used Compost
19
Earning bonus actions
When filling a star space on the Goods track, immediately gain a bonus action for Perennials, Apiary, Fruit, or Shed
20
Completing Perennials
Fill from bottom to top; gain immediate actions or ongoing abilities when completing spaces
21
Building the Apiary
Fill from bottom to top; unlock new sections (Wax, Honey, Split Hive) after completing the main section
22
Harvesting Fruit
Fill fruit rows left to right; some fruits provide immediate bonuses, others score at game end
23
Completing Shed items
Fill from left to right; unlock ongoing bonuses and end-game scoring when completing items

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Trigger game end
The game ends after completing all 8 rounds
2
Calculate Garden score
Score 3 points per harvested corn and 1 point per harvested bean; pumpkins provide no points
3
Calculate Perennials score
Add points from completed perennial plants
4
Calculate Apiary score
Score each harvested bee (2/2/5 points) and honeycomb (5/5/8 points); each split hive is worth 3 points
5
Calculate Fruit score
Score 3 points per apple, 2 points per blackberry; raspberries score 1/2/3 points based on position; peaches provide no points
6
Calculate Shed score
Add points from completed Shed items
7
Total all scores
Sum points from Garden, Perennials, Apiary, Fruit, and Shed
8
Determine the winner
The player with the highest total score wins
9
Break ties
If tied, the player with the highest Garden score wins; if still tied, share the victory or settle it however you prefer
10
0-39 points
Better luck next time!
11
40-49 points
Ready for the county Farmer's Market!
12
50-64 points
Your skills won a blue ribbon!
13
65-79 points
You're a state champion!
14
80-99 points
You've become a famous influencer!
15
100+ points
You've started your own TV channel!

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

Conociendo Three Sisters

Conociendo Three Sisters

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Règles complètes en français

Règles complètes en français

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FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

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