The Premise

Players live in an economy where berries are prized. They compete to create successful berry farms, which include raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, gooseberry, and salmonberry fields. The winner is the player with the the most valuable berry farm by the end of their career, which is typically 25-30 years (rounds), but can be customized.

To accelerate their quest for berry-farming success, players can choose to recruit llamas to their farms, each of which has a special ability. Players must strategically balance purchasing berry fields and hiring llamas to build up their farms.

Gameplay

The header at the top of the screen shows whose turn it is. Players choose one of the following options on their turn:

1. Pick berries: Pick up to three berries from the berry bank, with a maximum of two of the same kind. To pick berries, click on the berries you’d like and then click Pick Berries. Berries function like money and enable players to buy berry fields and hire llamas.

   Once you’ve clicked Pick Berries, the berries will appear instead in your “Farm”. An example farm is shown in the image. In the game, your farm is shown vertically in the left sidebar, and other players' farms are shown horizontally at the bottom of the screen. Note that a player may hold a maximum of 12 berries on his or her farm at once.

   
2. Buy a berry field: As shown below, the fields are represented by cards. The color of the card and the large berry in the upper left show the type of field. The number in the upper right shows the field’s value. If you buy the field, this number will be added to your total score, which is tracked in the “Scoreboard” section.

   The column of smaller berries shows the field’s cost. For example, the gooseberry (green) field in the image above costs two blueberries and one raspberry.

   You can pay these costs with any combination of berries you previously picked from the berry bank and fields you own. Fields you own are represented on your farm by rectangles of the appropriate color. For example, if you have purchased a gooseberry field, the green rectangle on your farm will show a “1” instead of a “0.” Once you have purchased a field, you can use that field for all future turns when purchasing other fields; unlike berries, its value is never paid back when you make a purchase.

   To buy a field, click on it and select Buy Field, as shown in the image below.

   
3. Salt a berry field: Alternatively, a player can use their turn to “salt” a berry field in the menu, which removes it from the board and shuffles it back into the deck for later use. A player salting field does not need to pay its cost.

4. Hire a llama: Llamas contribute to your score, and they have special abilities that give you an additional boost. The number of points you earn from a llama is based on the total number of llamas that you have on your farm, calculated by 2^(n-1). For example, if you have 1 llama, that's 1 point, 2 llamas are 2 points, 3 llamas are 4 points, and 4 llamas are 8 points. The llamas are displayed at the top of the screen above the berry fields. Each llama card includes an abbreviated description of its ability. Clicking on the card displays a full description.

   Most llama cards include a number in the right corner, which is the number of berries (of any color) required to hire them. You can only use berries, not fields, to hire a llama. To hire a llama, click on the card on your turn, and select Hire. Then choose which berries you would like to use.

   Hiring a llama doesn’t preclude other players from hiring the same llama--unless it is Grump Llama. Instead Instead of a hiring fee, Grump Llama joins the farm of the first player to amass two gooseberry (green) fields. Other players can “steal” Grump Llama by amassing more gooseberry fields; Grump Llama will automatically move to the farm with the most.

   
5. Spit: The player with Grump Llama also has the option to click the Spit button (located in the farm menu). As described in more detail on the Grump Llama card, this ability can be used up to three times per player per game, and involves stealing berries from other players.

Before choosing one of these five actions, a player can opt to “exchange berries,” which means trading them back back to the berry bank for a different berry at a 3:1 ratio. For example, if it’s your turn and you really need need one more raspberry to buy a field, you can trade three other berries for one. To do so, click Exchange Berries in your farm menu.

The player with the highest score at the end of the game is the winner. The scoreboard at the top of the screen screen updates as players buy fields and hire relevant llamas, and the “Years Remaining” section shows the number of turns left in the game after the current round.