The Lotus Garden has preserved its secret for centuries, but you have discovered the truth. The mystical flowers grown here will provide eternal life and everlasting wisdom to those who possess them.

You must help the flowers grow to their full potential and pick them from the garden to harness their energy. Others are finding their way to the Lotus Garden and want these flowers for themselves.

By enlisting the help of Guardian Insects, you may just have the strength required to take control of the Lotus Garden and ultimately achieve true enlightenment.

Components

• 4 Player Decks: (31 Petal Cards each)
• 26 Petal Cards with one Guardian Symbol per player
• 5 Petal Cards with two Guardian Symbols per player
• 20 Wildflower Cards
• 8 Insect Guardians (2 per player)
• 4 elder Guardians: (1 per player)
• 12 Special Power Tokens: (4 of each Power)
• 30 Scoring Tokens

Setup

(1) Select a Guardian/Color: Players each select the type of Guardians which will help them gain control of the Lotus Garden during the game.

2 Prepare Player Decks (Petal Cards): For each Guardian type selected, locate the Player Decks and prepare them based on number of players in the game.

• 2-Player Game: Use the full Player Decks
• 3-Player Game: Remove one of each type of Petal Card (3-petal, 4-petal, 5-petal, 6-petal, 7-petal) from each Player Deck, making sure each card removed only has one player stamp.
• 4-Player Game: Remove two of each type of Petal Card (3-petal, 4-petal, 5-petal, 6-petal, 7-petal) from each Player Deck, making sure each card removed only has one player stamp.

Shuffle each Player Deck separately and place in front of the player who selected the matching Guardians.

3 Wildflower Deck: Shuffle and place face-down. Draw the top four cards and place face-up in reach of all players.

4 Guardians: Provide each player with two Guardians in their selected color.

5 Elder Guardians: Set aside all of the (silver) elder Guardians.

6 Special Power Tokens: Separate by type into three stacks and set aside.

7 Scoring Tokens: Set aside.

Game Play

1. Each player draws four cards from the top of his own Player Deck to form a starting hand. Players keep hands secret during game play.

2. The player with the greenest thumb begins the game, and play proceeds clockwise.

3. The active player must perform two actions on his turn, then draw back up to a four-card hand.

   Actions Include :

   • Play Petal Cards

     Play one or two Petal Cards from your hand on a single flower in the Lotus Garden.

   • Exchange Petal Cards

     Place one or two Petal Cards from your hand at the bottom of your Player Deck, and draw a matching number of new cards from the top of your Player Deck.

   • Move A Guardian

     Move one of your Guardians to any incomplete flower in the Lotus Garden (from either your personal supply or from another flower). Any two actions may be played during a turn, and in any order. The same action may be played twice during a turn. Players may not perform more than two actions during a turn.

Play Petal Cards

Play one or two Petal Cards from your hand on a single flower in the Lotus Garden.

There are five types of flowers in the Lotus Garden and each requires a different number of petals to be completed. The type and petal count is indicated by the number in the upper left of the Petal Card.

Petal Cards are played on flowers of the same type (with matching number) in a spiral shape. When placing the next Petal Card, follow the guide on the previous card to create the shape intended for that flower type. Following the guides will make it easier to see how many more petals each flower needs to be completed.

When starting a new flower, a Petal Card can be placed anywhere in the Lotus garden. A new flower may not be started if another one of the same type is already growing in the garden. Therefore, a player must complete a flower before starting another flower of that same type.

Different types of Petal Cards may never be played together on a single flower.

Exchange Petal Cards

Place one or two Petal Cards from your hand at the bottom of your Player Deck, and draw a matching number of new cards from the top of your Player Deck.

The player may not draw from the Wildflowers during this action.

Move A Guardian

For an action, a player may move one of his own Guardians to any incomplete flower in the Lotus Garden. A Guardian may be moved from the player's personal supply or from another flower. A player may never move another player's Guardian.

1 Move from personal supply to a flower, OR

2 Move from a flower to another flower.

Players use Guardians to gain control of flowers in the Lotus Garden. Control is determined by adding the number of Guardian symbols on the Petal Cards and the Guardians that are placed on the flower. Players are rewarded by having control of a flower at the time it is completed.

Draw Cards

Draw Back Up To Four Cards

After a player has completed his two actions, he draws enough Petal Cards to bring his hand total back up to four cards, then his turn is over. He may choose to draw from his own Player Deck or from the Wildflowers, or a combination of both. If the player already holds four cards, he does not draw and his turn is over.

Draw From Player Deck

All cards drawn from a Player Deck include that player's Guardian symbol in the upper left.

Some Petal Cards have one Guardian symbol and some have two Guardian symbols. Each individual symbol is counted when determining control of flowers.

Draw From Wildflowers

There are four available Wildflowers visible to all players during the game. Wildflowers do not include any player's Guardian symbols - they are neutral. After the player is finished drawing, reveal new Wildflower Cards to replace those taken.

There should be exactly four Wildflower Cards face-up at the start of each player's turn. When the Wildflower Deck runs out, continue game play as normal but do not refill the supply of Wildflower Cards.

Completing Flowers

A flower is complete when it reaches the number of petals indicated in the upper left of the Petal Card. A flower may never have more than its required number of petals.

Determine Control

At the time a flower is completed, players determine who has control of the flower. Control is determined by adding the Guardian symbols on the Petal Cards and the Guardians placed on the flower.

The player with control earns a choice of earning either:

• A Scoring Token worth five victory points at the end of the game, or
• A Special Power Token the player may use for the rest of the game.

If there is a tie for control of a flower, all tied players earn their choice of reward.

Pick The Flower

The player who completed the flower, by placing the last Petal Card, collects all of that flower's Petal Cards and places them in his scoring pile. At the end of the game, each Petal Card collected will be worth one victory point.

Return Guardians

All Guardians on the completed flower are returned to each player's personal supply.

Example: Player 2 (Blue Dragonfly) places the last Petal Card on the flower, so he collects the seven Petal Cards for victory points. Player 1 (Red Ladybug) has control of the flower and earns the choice of a Scoring Token or Special Power.

Special Power Tokens

When a player has control of a flower at the time it is completed, he may choose to earn either a Scoring Token worth five victory points, or a Special Power Token which provides the player a special ability for the rest of the game.

There are three Special Power Tokens, each with a unique ability. When a players chooses to earn a Special Power, he should collect the token and place it next to his Player Deck as a reminder of the Special Power he may use for the rest of the game.

A player may choose each type of Special Power only once during a game. If he has collected one of each type already, he will earn a Scoring Token for any additional rewards earned.

Elder Guardian

The player gains the Elder Guardian in his selected color and may use it during the Move a Guardian action.

Elder Guardians are counted as two Guardians when determining control.

Enlightened Path

The player may now hold five Petal Cards in his hand instead of four. During his next Draw Cards step, he should draw enough Petal Cards to bring his hand total to five cards. He may still choose to draw from his own Player Deck, or from the available Wildflowers, or a combination of both.

If this Special Power is earned during another player's turn, the player does not draw a fifth card until the end of his next turn when he reaches the Draw Cards step.

Infinite Growth

The player may now play three or more cards during the Play Petal Cards action; he no longer has to obey the two-card limit.

Cards played must still be of the same flower type, played on a single flower, and may not exceed the number of petals required for the flower.

End of the Game

The last round of the game is triggered when a player draws the last card of his Player Deck. At that time, players each take one final turn, including the player who triggered the last round. It is possible for that player to play his last turn with fewer than four cards in his hand.

After all players have completed their last turn, the incomplete flowers in the Lotus Garden are claimed by the players whose Guardians have control. For each flower, the player with control gets to pick the flower and keep the petals for victory points.

In the event of a tie, tied players split the petals evenly and any remainders are removed from the game. This only applies to the end of the game.

Examples

Player2 (Blue Dragonfly) has three controlling Guardians (the Elder Guardian is worth two), while Player 1 (Red Ladybug) only has two Guardian symbols. Player 2 (Blue) will keep both Petal Cards for one point each when scoring.

Player 1 (Red Ladybug) and Player 3 (Yellow Butterfly) are tied for control with two Guardians each.

Each player will keep one of the Petal Cards and the last card is removed from scoring.

All three players are tied for control with one Guardian each. Since there are only two Petal Cards, they cannot be split by three players and are both removed from scoring.

Scoring

Cards remaining in a player's hand should be placed back on his Player Deck and set aside. Player Decks are not worth any victory points but may be used as a tie-breaker.

bach player adds all of their Scoring Tokens earned and Petal Cards collected during the game, disregarding the number and Guardian symbols in the upper left of Petal Cards.

Petal Cards: 1 Point each.

Scoring Tokens: 5 Points each.

The player with the most victory points wins.

In case of a tie, the tied player with the most Petal Cards remaining in his Player Deck wins.

Example

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