Game Overview

In Bower, you will aim to build the most beautiful nest to attract the attention of other birds and outdo your opponent’s competition.

On your turn, you must place a Nest tile on your side of the Birds board, aiming to build your nest in a 6x4 grid. While doing so, try to create groups of adjacent squares with the same material that makes up the background of the Nest tiles (Straw, Moss, or Gravel) and, in each column, aim to have more objects of the type indicated on the corresponding Request egg than your opponent. However, only 3 Request eggs are visible to you, while the other 3 are visible only to your opponent, so you can only deduce their contents.

At the end of the game you will receive Egg tokens for the following conditions.

• The largest group of each of the 3 types of material (Straw, Moss, and Gravel).
• The majority of the object indicated on the Request egg in each of the 6 columns.
• Some Bonus tiles also provide extra Egg tokens.

The player who, in the end, accumulates the most Egg tokens will have created the most beautiful nest and, therefore, win the game.

How to play

Starting with the first player, you will take turns until each of you has played exactly 12 turns. At your turn, you must perform the following steps in order:

1. Take a Nest tile from the display
2. Play a Nest tile from your hand
3. Get a Bonus tile (optional)

TAKE A NEST TILE FROM THE DISPLAY

Choose one of the 3 Nest tiles available in the display and add it to your hand. Then, the game will draw a new Nest tile from the stack and add it face up to the display.

PLAY A NEST TILE FROM YOUR HAND

Choose one of the Nest tiles in your hand and place it face up in your nest. When you place a Nest tile in your nest, you must adhere to the following rules:

• The tile must be placed orthogonally adjacent to the Birds board or to a previously placed tile (at least one side must, therefore, touch the Birds board or a previously placed tile);
• The tile can be oriented in any way;
• The tile cannot extend, in whole or in part, beyond the 6x4 grid that you need to form;
• The tile cannot overlap, in whole or in part, with other tiles already placed or the Birds board;
• Once placed, the tile cannot be moved or removed.

If you pay attention, you should be able to easily place all 12 Nest tiles correctly to form the 6x4 grid. Be careful not to create singlesquare holes! In case you find it impossible, especially towards the end of the game, to place a tile, do not play any tile and conclude your turn.

Anatomy of a Nest Tile

Each Nest tile is divided into two squares, each characterized by a background material (Straw, Moss, and Gravel). On each square, there are 1 to 3 of the following objects, which can be the same or different from each other:

• Flowers, in 3 colors (yellow, violet and red) They are used to obtain the majority on a column.
• Feathers, in 3 colors (yellow, violet and red) They are used to obtain the majority on a column.
• Gems They are used to obtain Bonus tiles.
• Shells They break the ties during the final scoring.

GET A BONUS TILE (optional)

When, after placing a Nest tile in your nest, you have placed the third Gem in the same column or in a group of adjacent squares of the same material, you receive a Bonus tile. You can obtain only one Bonus tile in a turn, even if you were to satisfy more conditions by placing the tile. If you place additional Gems beyond the third in the same column or in the same group of adjacent squares of the same material, you do not receive additional Bonus tiles.

When you obtain a Bonus tile, draw 3 Bonus tiles from the corresponding stack, choose 1, and discard the remaining tiles to the side of the playing area. Reveal the chosen tile to your opponent and apply its effects. For details of the effects, see the Bonus Tiles Description. Important: You are never obligated to apply the effect of the Bonus tile.

End of the turn

After you have completed all 3 steps of your turn, your opponent will take their turn.

End of the game

The game ends at the end of the 12th turn of both players, when both players have completed their nest with a 6x4 grid (by placing 12 Nest tiles or less if they left holes in the grid). Now proceed to the final scoring as described below. Reveal the Request eggs and award the Egg tokens obtained by each of you for the following conditions:

• The largest groups. For each type of material (Straw, Moss, and Gravel), the player who has in their nest the group consisting of the highest number of orthogonally adjacent squares receives 1 Egg token. In the event of a tie, the player with the majority of Shells in that group receives the Egg token. In case of further tie, no one receives the Egg token. Thus, one Egg token is at stake for each material.
• Majority in each column. For each column, the player who has the most objects of the type indicated on the corresponding Request egg in that column receives 1 Egg token. In case of a tie, the player with the majority of Shells in that column receives the Egg token. In case of further tie, no one receives the Egg token. Thus, one Egg token is at stake for each column. Important! In case you achieve the majority with only 1 object of the type indicated by the Request egg, you receive 2 Egg tokens instead of 1. If a Request egg shows a white Feather or a white Flower, it means you must have the majority of Feathers or Flowers in that column in general (regardless of color).
• Egg Bonus tiles. If during the game you have acquired Egg Bonus tiles, you can obtain additional Egg tokens as described in the Bonus Tiles Description.

The player who has earned the most Egg tokens is the winner. In case of a tie, the player with the most Shells in their nest. In case of further tie, the victory is shared. If a player has placed the “Colored Shells” Bonus tile, that player wins the game in case of a tie of Egg tokens.

Suggestion: placing many objects of the type requested by the corresponding Request egg in a column could ensure you the majority; however, your opponent might easily deduce the content of the Request egg not visible to them. In some cases, successfully bluffing could be useful and earn you more Egg tokens.

Bonus Tiles description

NEST BONUS TILES

When you choose one of these Bonus tiles (which depict flowers and feathers on a brown background), after revealing it to your opponent, add it to your hand. These Bonus tiles are additional Nest tiles that increase your hand limit by 1 for the remainder of the game. You can play them in a subsequent turn as a regular Nest tile from your hand. White Feathers and white Flowers count as Feathers and Flowers of a color of your choice. Brown material (Earth) is a fourth material that does not count towards the largest group.

COLORED SHELLS

During the final scoring, in case of a tie, the “Colored Shells” Nest tile allows the player who played it in their nest to win the tie in the column(s) where it is placed or in the largest “Moss” square group, regardless of the number of Shells present. Additionally, having the Colored Shells in your nest wins the game in the event of a final tie in Egg tokens.

EGG BONUS TILES

When you choose one of these Bonus tiles (which depict a type of object, an egg token and a majority symbol), place it face up next to your nest and keep it revealed until the end of the game. During the final scoring, if you have in your nest more items (both Feathers and Flowers) of the specified color compared to your opponent, you receive 1 Egg token. If you don’t have more items, you don’t receive the Egg token. In any case, your opponent does not receive anything. Note: White Feathers and white Flowers do not count towards the majority count for these Bonus tiles.

SPY BONUS TILES

These Bonus tiles allow you to have some information, either direct or indirect, about the Request eggs that are not visible to you. The game will guide you through the effect once you acquire one of them.

TOKEN BONUS TILES

These Bonus tiles are associated with the 5 corresponding Bonus tokens from the board game. Their effects are:

• Take the “X” Bonus token and place it on a Feather or Flower of any color (including white) in your nest or your opponent’s nest. At the end of the game, the covered item should not be considered in the final scoring.
• Take the corresponding Bonus token (“white Flower” or “white Feather”) and place it in your nest on a square of a Nest tile, being careful not to cover any other item. At the end of the game, it will count as a Flower or Feather of a color of your choice in that square.
• Take the “Shells” token and place it in your nest on a square of a Nest tile, being careful not to cover any other item. At the end of the game, it will count as 2 Shells in that square, both for tiebreakers in case of a tie and for the corresponding Egg Bonus tile majority counting.
• Take the “Branch” Bonus token and place it in your nest on a square of a Nest tile, arranged parallel to one of the two sides of the tile (not diagonally), being careful not to cover any other item. The two squares adjacent to the ends of the branch, if of the same Material, are considered adjacent. This adjacency applies both for calculating the third Gem in a group of squares of the same Material and for the final scoring of the largest group.

INTERACTIVE BONUS TILES

The majority of Interactive Bonus tiles are designed to directly impact the opponent’s game. The game will guide you through the effect once you acquire one of them.