Honor System

Harvest Time

AGES: 4 years to 7. Some 3 or 8 year olds might enjoy the game as well.

PLAYERS: 2,3 or 4. If more wish to play, have several players team up on one garden. If fewer than 4 play, each take one garden to look after or when you get good at the game, someone might want to look after more than one garden.

EQUIPMENT: playboard showing 4 garden and an early Fall scene, 6 white Winter Pieces & 6 colored Fall Pieces for the Extended Game, a die with colored spots, 48 vegetable tokens, rules & ziplock storage bag.

GENERAL IDEA: Youngsters play this game together not against each other. Each player looks after one garden to harvest, but the OBJECT is for the players to harvest as many vegetables overall as they can before Winter comes. Only by helping each other will the harvesting go well for all the neighbors.

HOW TO PLAY:

1. The 4 gardens are assigned to the players. Then each garden’s vegetables are planted. The seed package tells you what to plant on each of the 3 holes in its row. Thus, the 3 red tomatoes are put in the tomato row, 3 green peas in the pea row, 3 orange carrots in the carrot row and the three yellow corn tokens in the corn row. When all 12 pieces are in place, the garden is now ready for harvesting.

2. In turn, players roll the die. The colored spot rolled determines the action the player may take. If red, 1 tomato token may be harvested (that is, removed) from the garden. If yellow, 1 corn may be harvested, etc. Each player stores their picked vegetables off the garden and in front of them. If a black spot comes up, this represents the good, warth earth and so the player is lucky and can harvest any vegetable desired. If a white spot is rolled, this is Winter coming, and the player must put out 1 of the white Winter Pieces to cover the appropriate place on the Fall scene. Gradually, in this way, the scene will be changed into Winter. Note that we are not “fighting against' Winter. Winter just comes naturally and we try our best to gather our food before it does.

3. If a player rolls a color and no vegetable of that color is left to harvest in any garden, roll again until some play can be made.

4. Players continue to roll the die and make plays until the game is over.

GAME IS OVER when either (1) all the vegetables from all the gardens are picked and Winter still has not come. Then we all give a cheer, “Hip hip hooray! We did It!” Or (2} the Fall Scene is completely covered with Winter Pieces and there are still vegetables left to pick. In this case we say things such as, “Too bad, the frost got some of our vegetables. Let’s try again.” “I didn’t get all my tomatoes in this year. I’ll pay more attention to them this season.”

VERY SPECIAL RULES FOR HELPING EACH OTHER!

SPECIAL RULE #1: On any turn, after a player has rolled a colored spot, this player can be a HELPER by picking the appropriate vegetable from a neighbor’s garden for them! “Would you like help?” we ask. The picked vegetable is added to that neighbor’s pile. Often children wait to be a HELPER only when the rolled up vegetable is not needed for their own garden. But you can be a HELPER even if you do have that vegetable left in your own garden. It might be better strategy to do so!

SPECIAL RULE #2: As soon as a garden is completely harvested, the player is allowed to take 1 WInter Piece away from the Fall scene. This helps the other players still harvesting. Players who finish their garden, still keep playing, using their turns to help their neighbors.

SPECIAL RULE #3: Also, a player with a finished garden has another important privilege. From now on, whenever you roll a White Spot, take away 1 WInter Piece! This helps the other players by giving them more harvesting time.

EXTENDED PLAY THE PLANTING GAME

Some fam1lies may wish to lengthen the playing time of the game and add a little complexity. Try the following. Make the PLANTING of the garden a part of the game and not just a quick filling in of the vegetable. Pretend that the picture in the middle of the board is SPRING now and that FALL is coming. Use the 6 colored FALL PIECES instead of the white Winter ones.

We play in the usual way, except that we are now trying to help each other plant as many vegetables as we can BEFORE FALL COMES. Players, in turn, roll the die to see which vegetable they plant in their garden. Rolling a BLACK SPOT is still lucky, so the player may choose any vegetable to plant. Rolling a WHITE SPOT now means that FALL is coming! The player puts a FALL PIECE down on the center picture.

Let the other special rules apply for the PLANTING GAME, too. Players can be HELPERS at any time and plant something to help a neighbor. When a player finishes planting a garden, he or she is allowed to remove a Fall Piece. And, after finishing a garden, from then on, players remove a Fall Piece every time they roll a White Spot.

THE PLANTING GAME IS OVER if all the gardens get completely planted before Fall arrives OR if the Fall Pieces cover the picture before all the vegetables are planted. When the Planting Game is finished, remove the Fall Pieces from the board and put them away along with any veggies not planted..

But leave whatever vegetable, you managed to plant on the board, because now you play the regular HARVESTING GAME. Sometimes you manage to get a big crop in and have lots to harvest. Sometimes, alas, you get in a small crop and don’t have much to harvest. Remember to use the white Winter Pieces and good luck with your harvesting!

You can see how adding this PLANTING GAME will lengthen the game for older children. Otherwise for the very young or those Just beginning, we recommend playing only the regular HARVESTING GAME.

We are happy to answer any questions you may have about this or any of our other cooperative games. Ask for our current catalogue. Send your Inquiry to:

FAMILY PASTIMES
RR4
Perth, Ontario
Canada K7H 3C6