See
Sample Board for 4-6 Players
1.
Place
a Letter Tile from the bag on
each of the Blue Squares. Placement is completely random.
(See
Sample Board for 4-6 Players with random letter placement)
2.
Place
the Target Cards off the board
next to the matching Target Board:
green Target Cards next to the
green squared Target Board etc.
3.
Each player gets 3 Letter
Tiles drawn at random from the bag.
These are not hidden – everyone gets to see them.
4.
Each player gets 1 Gardener
Card.
5.
Each player chooses a Playing Piece, and all Playing
Pieces are placed on the Start square.
6.
Any unused Maze
Boards, Letter Tiles,
and Gardener Cards are
placed back in the box and are not used during the game.
7.
The player with the first letter in the alphabet goes first.
If there’s a tie, the next best letter tile wins.
You
move by spelling out words from the letters printed on the Maze Boards and/or the Letter
Tiles laid on it. You can move vertically, horizontally, or
diagonally, in any combination of directions across adjoining squares.
For example, Red Players
spells HIDE; Yellow Player spells LAWS
Even if you can’t spell a word, you may
always move a minimum of one space. Once you have spelled your word and moved, your turn is over
unless you get a Bonus Move –
see below.
You may lay down on the
letter squares one or more of the Letter Tiles in your hand to make it possible to spell a word.
If you lay down a Letter Tile it stays on the board until another player (or you) uses
it to spell another word. You
cannot lay down a Letter Tile
(1) on top of another Letter Tile,
(2) on an uncovered Blue Square,
or (3) on a Target letter
square. For
example, Green Player lays down a T on top of the R square and can now
spell LATE.
Game
board before laying down letter
|

Green
Player Moves and lays down letter T
and
spells LATE
|
When
you go over a square with a Letter Tile on it, you pick up the tile and add it to your hand.
If the square beneath the tile is a Blue
Square, then the Blue Square
becomes impassable for the rest of the game.
For example, Purple Player moves over the E that was covering
the Blue Square, adds it to his hand and spells LESS.
Game
board before picking up letter
|
Purple
Player moves and picks up letter E
and
spells LESS
|
You
may also pick up a tile left behind by another player and add it to your
hand, after which the square reverts to the letter beneath that tile. You
may combine placing and picking up tiles in the same turn.
You get a Bonus
Move (it stays your turn and you move again) if (1) you spell a word
with 5 or more letters, or (2) you spell a word that uses one of the Premium
Letters. The Premium Letters are J, K, Qu,
V, X and Z.
These are either the letter squares marked in black on the Maze
Boards or one of these letters from your hand.
You may get up to two Bonus
Moves in a row, but only one from each method.
For instance, if you spell a word with 5 or more letters and take a
Bonus Move, the only way to earn
another (and final) Bonus Move
is to use either a Premium Letter
Square or Premium Letter
tile from your hand. You
cannot get 2 Bonus Moves from one move: if you spell a 5 or more letter word and
use a Premium Letter you must select which of the 2 possible Bonus
Moves you wish to take. You
cannot get a Bonus Move as a result of moving just 1 space.
1.You
cannot move through a hedge (except with a Gardener
Card – see below).
2.
You cannot move through a square occupied by another Playing
Piece.
3.
You cannot move through an uncovered Blue
Square.
4.
You cannot use the same square twice in the same turn.
5.
You cannot use the letter you start on in that turn.
The Qu
on the Maze Board or on a Letter Tile
counts as one letter, not two. It
can be used either as a combined Qu
(as in queen) or as a letter Q
on its own (as in qadi).
Either way, it only counts as 1 letter.
You collect a Target
Card when you land on and use one of the colored Target
letter squares on the Target Boards.
You can collect a Target Card even if you land on a Target letter square as a result of moving just 1 space.
You can choose to play
your Gardener Card in order to
“cut through” a hedge. By
“cutting through” the hedge you are able to move as if the hedge does
not exist. You can use your Gardener
Card once only during the game.
3 player and 4-6
player games: the winner is the first player to collect 3 differently
colored Target Cards and reach
the bottom row of the Game Board. You
do that by either using or finishing on a letter square located in that
row.
2 player game: the
winner is the first player to collect 2 differently colored Target
Cards and return to the row adjoining the Start square.
You do that by either using or finishing on a letter square located
in that row.
Tip:
Remember, the important thing is movement, not trying to spell
long words. A
small word that takes you in the right direction is usually better than a
long word that doesn’t.
Optional
Rules for Advanced Play
If you spell a word of 8
or more letters, all the other players must pay tribute by giving you half
of the Letter Tiles in their
hands (fractions rounded down). Each player can decide which Letter
Tiles to give.
In addition to the normal
Rules of the Game, for Advanced Play you may also lay down Letter
Tiles on top of a Target
letter square. If this
happens, the Target letter square cannot be used (and a Target Card thereby collected) until the Letter Tile covering it has been picked up.
©
Copyright 2007 HL Games Limited. All
rights reserved in all media.
See
Game Overview
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