HangingGardensTextVersion

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HANGING GARDENSa game of strategy for the piecepack(v 0.2b, 29 May 2001)Copyright
(C) 2001 by James Kyle2 to 4 players - 30 minutes

BACKGROUND
King Nebuchadnezzar II has ordered the construction of a grand terraced garden
complex, filled
with trees and plant beds, to present to his wife as a gift. As royal engineers,
the players compete for the
king's favor by offering the most beautiful view upon completion of the gardens.
SUMMARY
The gardens are created turn-by-turn using terraces (face-down tiles) and terrace-
topped plateaus
built on supports (face-up tiles). The terraces are populated with plant beds
(coins) of various colors.
Gazebos (pawns) are placed atop terraces to look out over a view. There is no set
order to playing
terraces, supports, beds, and gazebos; these elements can be added to the gardens
as the players choose
(with a few restrictions). After the gardens are finished, the player with the most
beautiful view (highest scoring) wins the game.
SETUP
Put all tiles in a pile within easy reach of all players. Turn all coins suit-side
up and leave them within
easy reach of all players. Give each player a die and matching pawn. (If there are
fewer than four
players, place extra dice and pawns back in the box.) Roll to see who goes first.
(After this point, the
dice are only used to indicate which pawn belongs to which player.)
PLAY
Take turns until all tiles, coins, and pawns have been played. When the last piece
has been played, the
game ends immediately and players count their individual scores. The player with
the highest score
wins. TURN SEQUENCE
On your turn, take two actions, chosen from the following possibilities, then pass
play to the left:
1) take a tile from the pile and add it to the gardens as a terrace
2) take a tile from the pile and add it to the gardens as a support
3) take a plant bed (coin) from the pile and add it to the gardens
4) place your gazebo (pawn)
5) move your gazebo to a new space in the gardens
6) if there are no more tiles in the pile, move an exposed support (one that has no
terrace on it) to a new space in the gardens, either as a support or as a terrace
TERRACE PLACEMENT
A terrace can be placed on the table, with at least one of its spaces adjacent to a
terrace space that is
already part of the gardens (diagonal is not sufficient). (Exception: the first
tile placed on the table will
obviously not be adjacent to anything else.)
A terrace can also be placed squarely atop a stack of two supports. (continued)

SUPPORT PLACEMENT
A support can be placed on any empty two space by two space area of terrace. A
support can also
be placed squarely on another support, provided the bottom support is resting on
terrace. (That is,
supports can only be stacked two high before another terrace must cover them.)
BED PLACEMENT
A plant bed can be placed in any empty space of any terrace.
GAZEBO PLACEMENT
A gazebo can be placed in any empty space of any terrace.
SCORING
After all pieces have been placed, players take turns counting their individual
scores. When you
count your score, perform the following:
1) Choose a direction to view from your gazebo, which can be out any of the four
sides
of your gazebo's space (not diagonal). The column of spaces extending from your
gazebo's space off into the distance is called your "sight line".
2) Make note of what you can "see" from this view by tracing along the diagonal
lines
that are 45 degrees to either side of your sight line. You can see each bed in
spaces that
lie between or on these diagonals, provided supported terraces are not obstructing
your view. From your gazebo, you can only see beds that are at the height of the
terrace your gazebo rests on and beds that are below that height.
3) Count the score for each row of spaces and add them to your total score,
beginning
with the row of 3 spaces directly in front of your gazebo, then proceeding to the
next
row of 5 spaces, etc., until you have totaled the score for every plant bed you can
see.
Score each row as follows:
a) Score one point for each different color of plant beds in the row. For
example, RRBGR scores 3 points for color.
b) If the row (meaning the portion you can see in your view) is symmetrical
with your sight line as the point of reflection, score an extra bonus point
for each plant bed in the row. For example, B G B scores 2 points for
color, plus 3 bonus points for symmetry (assuming the G plant bed lies on
your sight line). For purposes of symmetry, blank spaces are equivalent to
empty table (where no terrace exists).
c) Any rows of beds that are interrupted in any way by height variance should
be counted separately.
4) Add the height of your gazebo to your total score. The terraces resting on the
table are
at a height of zero, and each "floor" above that, consisting of two supports topped
with a terrace, represents an additional level of height.
DEBATABLE BED VISIBILITY
If there is any question during scoring regarding whether or not a particular bed
is visible from a
particular gazebo, the players should endeavor to come to an agreement. If none can
be reached, use the
following guidelines:
1) After straightening all relevant tiles so that their edges match the edges of
the spaces
upon which they rest, hold a piece of string taut (or the edge of a piece of paper)
so

that it passes through the center of the gazebo's space and the center of the bed's
space. If the string does not pass over any part of a particular plateau then that
plateau
is not obstructing the view of the bed from the gazebo.
2) A particular bed is obscured by a plateau unless its distance from the plateau
is equal or
greater than the following: the product of the bed's distance from the gazebo
multi-
plied by the plateau's height all divided by the gazebo's height. Ignore any
remainder.
Both the height of the gazebo and the height of the plateau in the formula are
relative to the bed's
height, so if the bed is not on the first layer of terrace, be sure to account for
this. For the purposes of this
calculation, consider the gazebo's height to be one level higher than the terrace
on which it rests.