How to Play

Verdant

1-5 players 45-60 min 7.3 Board Game Geek Rating

Players compete as plant collectors, building spatial card tableaus representing their homes. Each turn, select adjacent card-token pairs to expand your display. Position plants strategically to meet light requirements and fulfill objectives. Use tokens for nurturing actions while developing "green thumb" abilities for bonus moves. Victory goes to whoever creates the most verdant, cozy collection.

Published 2022

Get Ready

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

Place tokens in bag

Put all 45 Item Tokens and 45 Nurture Tokens in the Cloth Bag, shuffle well, and place within reach of all players

Reveal market tokens

Draw 4 tokens from the bag and place them in a row to begin forming the Market

Prepare plant deck

Shuffle all Plant Cards into a single deck, place facedown in the center, then reveal 4 cards faceup in a row above the item tokens

Prepare room deck

Shuffle all Room Cards into a single deck, place facedown below the Plant deck, then reveal 4 cards faceup in a row below the item tokens

Set out verdancy and green thumb tokens

Place all Verdancy Tokens and Green Thumb Tokens in piles adjacent to the Market within easy reach

Determine pot tokens needed

Use 4 of each bonus type for 1 or 3 players, 3 of each for 2 players, 5 of each for 4 players, or 6 of each for 5 players, plus all terra cotta pots

Distribute player aids

Give each player 2 Player Aid Cards and 1 Storage Card faceup; return unused cards to the box

Deal starting cards

Randomly draw 1 Plant Card and 1 Room Card from the facedown decks and place them in front of each player

Determine starting player

The player whose plant card has the highest verdancy requirement goes first; ties broken alphabetically by plant name

Distribute green thumb tokens

Starting player receives none; last player receives 2; all other players receive 1

Position starting cards

All players simultaneously place their starting Plant and Room cards orthogonally adjacent to each other in any configuration

Collect initial verdancy

Any player whose starting cards create a lighting condition match immediately adds 1 verdancy to their Plant Card

Optional advanced setup

Shuffle each Goal Card deck (Plants, Items, Rooms), draw 1 from each, return others to box, and place the 3 drawn cards visible near the Market

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Use green thumb tokens first

Before selecting from the Market, you may spend Green Thumb Tokens to perform special actions

Token Reset action

Spend 2 Green Thumb Tokens to remove 1-4 tokens from the Market, draw replacements from the bag starting closest to the bag, then return removed tokens to bag and shuffle

Card Reset action

Spend 2 Green Thumb Tokens to remove any number of cards without Green Thumb Tokens from the Market, draw replacements from decks, and place wiped cards at bottom of their decks

Ignore Selection Restriction action

Spend 2 Green Thumb Tokens to select any card and any token from the Market regardless of column

Add Verdancy action

Spend 2 Green Thumb Tokens to add 1 verdancy to any one of your plants

Select a card and token

Choose 1 Item Token and 1 Card (Plant or Room) from the same column of the Market

Collect green thumb tokens on cards

Take any Green Thumb Tokens that are on the card you selected

Place card in your home

Add the selected card to your personal 5x3 grid following placement rules

Check lighting conditions

Compare lighting symbols on adjacent Plant and Room card edges; add 1 verdancy to the Plant Card for each match with any of the plant's preferred conditions

Place furniture or pet item tokens

Optionally place a Furniture or Pet Item Token onto any Room Card with an open space; only 1 token per room allowed

Use fertilizer nurture token

Discard to add 3 verdancy to any single plant; excess verdancy beyond completion requirement is lost

Use hand trowel nurture token

Discard to add 1 verdancy to up to 3 different plants; cannot add more than 1 to any single plant

Use watering can nurture token

Discard to add 1 verdancy to all incomplete plants surrounding a single chosen room

Complete plants

When a plant reaches its verdancy requirement, remove all Verdancy Tokens from it and add the highest value Bonus Pot Token remaining from the supply

Store unused item token

Place up to 1 Item Token on your Storage Card for use on a later turn; discard any additional unused tokens

Check green thumb token limit

You may hold a maximum of 5 Green Thumb Tokens; discard excess to the supply

Refill the market

Draw a new card and token to fill the empty spaces in the Market

Place green thumb token

Add 1 Green Thumb Token to the remaining card in the column from which you selected your card

Pass play

Your turn ends and play proceeds clockwise to the next player

Winning

How to claim victory.

Game end trigger

The game ends when all players have completed a 5x3 home consisting of 15 cards, which occurs after exactly 13 turns per player

Score completed plants

Each completed plant scores the number of points printed below the verdancy requirement on the Plant Card

Score extra verdancy

Total all verdancy remaining on incomplete plants, divide by 2, and round down to the nearest whole number for points

Score bonus pot tokens

Add points printed on all Bonus Pot Tokens: Concrete pots score 3, Wood pots score 2, Ceramic pots score 1, Terra cotta pots score 0

Score room bonuses

Each Room Card scores 1 point per adjacent matching plant type; if the room contains a matching color/pattern Item Token, score 2 points per adjacent matching plant instead

Score furniture and pets

Score points based on number of unique item types collected: 1=1, 2=3, 3=6, 4=9, 5=12, 6=16, 7=20, 8=25 points

Score plant collector bonus

Score 3 points if your home contains at least 1 of each of the 5 different plant types

Score decorator bonus

Score 3 points if your home contains at least 1 of each of the 5 different room types

Score goal cards

If using Advanced Setup, add points earned from each Goal Card's conditions

Determine winner

The player with the most total points wins

Break ties

If tied, the player with the most Green Thumb Tokens wins; if still tied, players share the victory