Draft Cider (2022)

Overview

At the start of the game, you are each given a board, this is your orchard.

At the start of a phase, a set of cards is placed in the centre of the tables. 3 cards are put down per player, or 2 if playing 3/6 player.

The players take it in turns selecting a single card and adding it to one of 8 batches in their orchard. When it's their turn the players MUST draw a card and play it into one of their batches. They will earn points depending on the batch as described below.

The Batches

Monochrome Batch All apples must be the same colour, as indicated by the card. Points are triangle numbers starting at 1. I.e: 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, 28, 36, 45, 55, 66 max:78 Apples of a Feather Batch Rule: When you place the second card, it must match the 1st card's Sweetness or Height. Any additional cards must then follow this rule. If a pair of cards have the same Sweetness and Height, you may continue with either attribute based on your next card. E.g. the first card is Sweetness 3, Height 2. The player can place either, but once he places a Sweetness '3', he must continue to do so exclusively Scoring is n(n-1), where n is the number of cards: 0, 2, 6, 12, 20, 30, 42, 56, 72, 90, 110, 132 Special Colour Tree Points 20, but only if no other apples of this colour are outside of the bad batch. Loses 20 if an apple of the same colour is played outside of the bad batch. This card cannot be placed if there is a card of its colour anywhere but the Bad Batch. However, a card of the same colour may be played at the cost of all points for this batch. Unlucky batch Sweetness must add to 13 or worthless. Points: Square numbers per card used, but only if hit 13 exactly! E.g. two 5s and a 3 would be 3 cards, so 9 points 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100, 121, 144 Fortepiano Height Batch Points are the difference in Height between each pair * 2. Heights may not be the same. E.g. Heights 1&5=8 points. 2&3=2 Max: 48 Sweet Couple Batch 7 points for each 2 of the same Sweetness. Each pair must have the same Sweetness to be played. Max: 42 Steady Height Batch Rule: Height must be within one of the previous cards each time. E.g 3-3 or 3-2 or 3-4 Points: Odd Prime numbers I.e 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41 Max: 41 Bad batch -1 point for each tree planted here. (0/1 points on easy mode) Max: -12

The game ends when each player has 12 cards, and the winner is whoever has the most cards.