Pieces
Required: one 4x4 game board, 20 Reversi game pieces, and one game pawn.
Story
Welcome to the Wizard's Garden. In this part of the garden is the Alesalitis plant, a rare and strange little plant that has a tendency to change its color, and flowers every time another Alesalitis is planted next to it. From this plant you can harvest two types of needed flowers: Dovetail, which is a white flower, and Ravenclaw, which is black.
Introduction
Wizard's Garden is a game about planting and harvesting. The Reversi pieces are called seeds. Players take turns planting (placing game pieces) from a common seed basket (the pile of game pieces). Once a player has four pieces of the same color in a row, he harvests them by removing all four from the board and keeping one. The remaining three game pieces go back into the seed basket. The wizard who harvests the most flowers wins.
Setup
Place the 4x4 game board between the two players. Place the 20 seeds in a pile (called the seed basket) next to the game board so it is accessible to both players. Place the game pawn halfway between the players. Determine who will move first.
Both players take two seeds from the basket. The first player places one of his seeds (with either side up) on any space on the board. The second player then places one of his seeds (with either side up) anywhere on the board, as long as it is not orthogonally adjacent to an existing seed (he may place it diagonally adjacent to an existing seed). The first player then places his second seed followed by the second player placing his second seed, each being careful not to plant seeds orthogonally adjacent to seeds already on the board.
It is also illegal to place a piece that would create a harvest condition (four pieces of the same color in a row) during the setup stage.
Planting
The game begins with players taking turns planting seeds. After setup is complete, seeds must be planted orthogonally adjacent to existing seeds. You may plant a seed with either side up. All existing seeds orthogonally next to the seed you planted are then flipped.
Example: if the seed next to the seed you planted was white, flip it to black. If it was black, then flip it to white. Seeds in the diagonal direction are not affected. See the Planting Diagram.
Harvesting
Whenever you plant a seed and there are four seeds of the same color in an orthogonal or diagonal row, you have created a harvest condition, and must harvest. Remove all four pieces from the board, place one piece in front of you to represent the flower you harvested and to keep score, and place the other three seeds back into the seed basket.
It is possible to create more than one harvest with a single move. If the harvests share a common seed, you may only harvest one row (your choice). If the rows contain no common seeds, you must harvest them all.
Wizard's Staff
Ravenclaw flowers are slightly more rare and valuable then Dovetail. Any time a player harvests Ravenclaw (black), he takes the wizard's staff (game pawn) and places it next to his harvested flowers. If there is a tie, the player who currently has possession of the staff wins. The player with the staff is always the player who harvested Ravenclaw flowers most recently.
Game End
The game ends when no further moves can be made. The three possible reasons a player cannot make a move are that there are no seeds left in the seed basket, there are no seeds left on the board to plant next to (the board is empty), or there are no spaces left on the board to plant on (the board is full).
The player who has harvested the most flowers wins.
Hint
Be careful not to use your harvested flowers as seeds when it's your turn -- it's a great way to reduce your score by accident. And please don't mix in seeds with your harvested flowers -- that's cheating!
Wizard's Garden: The Alesalitis Plant © 2004 by Tim Schutz. Schutz also designed Alpha Playing Cards, published by his own TJ Games.
