A Pepper Breeding Game by Ed Marriott (Twitter: @EdPMarriott)

Print & Play Version 3.0

Rules Updated 9-9-13 to Version 0.8 2013 Ed Marriott

Ages 10+

2-6 Players

40-120 Minutes

THE STORY OF SCOVILLE:

Wilbur Scoville was born on January 22nd, 1865. The world would never be the same. In 1912 Scoville
developed the Scoville Organoleptic Test (SOT), which was used to measure the hotness of
peppers. Scovilles test is still used to measure the capsaicin in a pepper, expressed as Scoville Heat
Units. Ever since, people have tried to breed hotter peppers.
The town of Scoville was founded in his honor as a home for those who believe that the hottest
peppers are the best peppers. Theyve hired you to meet their need for heat! Your role as an
employee of Scoville is to cross-breed peppers to create the hottest new breeds. Youll have to
manage the auctioning, planting, and harvesting of peppers, and then youll be able to help the town
by fulfilling their orders and creating new pepper breeds. Help make the town of Scoville a booming
success! Lets get planting!

INSPIRATION:
I created this game with the idea of starting with basic resources (primary colors), using them to
create better resources (secondary colors), and then using those to get even better resources. In
Scoville players work toward better and better resources, so they can fulfill the hottest recipes!

2013 Ed Marriott

COMPONENTS:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

(LABELED IN BLUE IN SETUP IMAGE BELOW)

Planting Field
100+ cubes in 10 colors
6 player shields
6 player pawns
Coins
30 Recipe Tiles
12 Bonus Point Tiles

SETUP:

8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

Stage 1 and Stage 2 Auction Cards (Note: Tiles are

used for the PnP with an auction track)
18 Bonus Ability Tiles (6 each of three types)
48 Order Tiles (24 Stage 1, 24 Stage 2)
Turn Order Track
Cross-Breeding Charts
Guide sheets

Here is a typical setup for four players:

These following setup steps are labeled in Green in the setup image above:
A. Give each player a red, yellow, and blue cube, a player shield, one of each bonus ability tile (3 total tiles), and $10
B. Take a red, yellow, and blue cube into your hand. Randomly choose two of them and place them on the Start Cube
locations on the fields. Return the other cube to the supply.
C. /

D. Choose the following number of recipes (C) and orders (D) based on the number of players:
Players:

Recipes:

12

16

20

24

Orders:

11

13

15

E.

Place the cubes into sorted piles on the table.

F.

Randomly draw a number of Stage 1 Auction Tiles equal to the number of players. Place them on the Current
Auction spots on the auction track. Also fill the Future Auction spot. These will be available at the next auction.

G. Determine the initial player order by randomly placing a cube of each players color on the Turn Order Track.
H. Place the bonus point tiles next to the board, sorting them by color and placing them in order with the highest
values on top. NOTE: for 2 or 3 player games, remove the highest scoring bonus point tile of each category.
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GAMEPLAY:
Each game of Scoville consists of a variable number of rounds, each consisting of these four phases:

1) Auction (Set Turn Order) 2) Plant 3) Harvest 4) Fulfill

Auction:
There is no auction on the first round of the game. Player order was randomly chosen during the
setup phase and that order will be used during the first round.
In all other rounds players will be bidding for turn order. Before the auction, slide the cubes on the
turn order track off of the turn order circles while preserving the turn order from the previous round.
During the auction phase each player will select any amount of money (including zero) and hold it in
their hand. All players will reveal their bids simultaneously. The player who bids the most will choose
their spot in the turn order. (i.e., they could choose to go last during that round this would allow
them to harvest first). The next highest bidder chooses their spot in the turn order. In the event that
several players who did not bid zero tie, the player who went first the previous round will choose their
spot first. In the event that all players bid zero, the turn order is left unchanged.
Then, in TURN ORDER, the players will choose which pepper auction tile they wish to receive from
the current auction tiles. The player takes the cube(s) shown on the tile and discards the tile. After the
auction is complete, slide the future auction tiles to the current auction spots and draw new auction
tiles from the deck for the future auction locations for the current stage of the game. In the rare event
that all of the auction cards are used up, the discarded cards should be shuffled and the deck should
be placed face down so that it can be drawn from.

Plant:
During the planting phase all players in TURN ORDER MUST plant one
pepper. Peppers must be planted orthogonally to existing peppers. A
player MAY plant one extra pepper if they use their bonus ability tile. (see
Bonus Ability Tiles these are different from the bonus point tiles)
BONUS POINT TILES: Bonus point tiles are awarded to players for being the first, second, or third
player to plant certain peppers. If a player plants a pepper with the corresponding bonus tile still
available then they will receive that bonus point tile. Players should take the highest valued bonus
point tile for the pepper color that was planted. Players may only earn one bonus point tile per

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round even if they use the Plant one extra pepper ability tile. Players may earn more than one of the
same color of bonus tiles are earned in different rounds.

Harvest:
In REVERSE PLAYER ORDER during the harvest players will move their player pawn up to 3 spaces.
In the first round players will place their pawns on the START location in the fields. They will then
move their pawn at least one spot and at most up to three spots. Players cannot double back through
any intersection that they traveled through on the current turn. Players cannot move through other
players pawns. Players cannot occupy any spot where another player is already located. The +1
Move bonus ability may not be used on the first turn such that the player would end with their pawn
on the START location. Players can move their pawn between any fields whether or not those fields
have pepper cubes planted on them, including around the outside edge of the fields. If a players
pawn moves between two fields with planted peppers then they will receive a pepper(s) according to
the cross-breeding chart (labeled 12 in the setup image on the setup page). When starting
subsequent harvest phases players pawns will start from where then ended in the previous round.
An example of the red player performing their harvest action:

To use the cross-breeding chart, choose one of the two peppers that are next to your location in the
fields. Locate that pepper on the left column of the cross-breeding chart. Then follow that peppers
row across the chart until it reaches the column for the other pepper next to your location. Here is the
example for move #1 in the example above.

2013 Ed Marriott

Fulfill:
In TURN ORDER players can do one of each of the following options:
A. Fulfill one ORDER by paying its cost in pepper cubes. Place the order tile behind your shield.
Take the rewards shown. Note: the pepper symbol on ORDERS represents points.
B. Fulfill one RECIPE by paying its cost in pepper cubes. Place the recipe tile behind your shield.
C. Sell any one type (color) of pepper cubes from your supply players receive $1 per cube for
every TWO of that color currently planted in the fields, rounded down. For example, if there
are 4 blue cubes planted in the fields, each blue cube that a player sells would earn them $2.

END OF STAGE 1:
The game consists of two halves. The first half uses the Stage 1 Auction Tiles and Stage 1 Orders. The
second stage of the game is triggered when the number of ORDERS becomes fewer than the
number of players. If that is triggered, the first half is over at the end of the current round. Remove
any remaining ORDER tiles. Then randomly draw and place the appropriate number of Stage 2 ORDER
tiles. Also remove the remaining Stage 1 Future Auction tiles but leave the current auction tiles as
they are. In the second half of the game the Stage 2 Auction Tiles will be used. Refill the Future
auction spots with Stage 2 auction tiles.

ENDGAME:
The end of the game is triggered by any of the following conditions:
A. There are fewer Stage 2 ORDER tiles remaining than there are players. One more round will be
played as a final round.
B. There are fewer RECIPE tiles remaining than there are players. One more round will be played
as a final round.
If both A and B are met in the same round, the game ends at the end of that round. In that case there
would not be another round. After the final round is completed players will add their points together.
These will come from five different categories:
1. Completed ORDERS

4. Unused Bonus Ability Tiles

2. Completed RECIPES

5. Coins: 3 coins = 1 point

3. Bonus Point Tiles Earned

The player with the most points wins. In the case of a tie, the player with the most coins wins.
2013 Ed Marriott

BONUS ABILITY TILES:

These tiles give special one-time abilities during a game of Scoville. Each player starts the game with
one of each type of bonus ability tiles. These should remain behind the player shields so that other
players do not know who has bonus abilities remaining in the game. If a player uses a bonus ability
they must discard the bonus ability tile. At the end of the game any unused bonus ability tiles are
worth 4 points each.
+1 Move (Harvest): This ability allows a player
to move one extra spot during the harvest
phase of their choice.

Plant One Extra Pepper: This ability allows a

player to plant a second pepper for free in any
planting season of their choice.

Double Back Once (Harvest): This ability

allows a player to move through one
intersection that they already moved through
once during the harvest phase of their choice.

Thanks for taking a look at my game! I hope you enjoy it.

Any questions regarding these rules can be asked of me via email: emarriott@gmail.com

2013 Ed Marriott

A PRINT & PLAY Pepper Breeding Game by Ed Marriott (Twitter: @EdPMarriott)

PnP Version 3.0 09-09-13 2013 Ed Marriott

COMPONENTS:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Planting Field
1 inch Tiles in 10 colors
6 player shields
6 player pawns (Not Included in PnP)
Coins in denominations of $1, $5, and $10
30 Recipe Tiles
12 Bonus Point Tiles
30 Stage 1 Pepper Auction Tiles (Used instead of
cards)

2013 Ed Marriott

9.

35 Stage 2 Pepper Auction Tiles (Used instead of

cards)
10. Auction Track (Used instead of cards)
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.

36 Stage 1 Order Tiles

36 Stage 2 Order Tiles
Turn Order Track
Cross-Breeding Charts
18 Bonus Ability Tiles
Guide sheets

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TURN ORDER TRACK:

GUIDE SHEET:

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(MIGHT WANT TO PRINT TWO)

BONUS POINT TILES:

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AUCTION TILES: (Stage 1 have a 1 and Stage 2 have a 2)

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RECIPE TILES:

Continued

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REMAINING RECIPE TILES:

AUCTION TRACK: (Use this to display the

current and future auctions with the auction
tiles.)
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STAGE 1 ORDERS: (MARK THESE WITH A 1)

SOME COINS SQUEEZED IN HERE:

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STAGE 2 ORDERS: (MARK THESE WITH A 2)

SOME MORE COINS SQUEEZED IN HERE:

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CROSS BREEDING CHART: (MIGHT WANT TO PRINT TWO)

EVEN MORE COINS SQUEEZED IN HERE:

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PEPPER TOKENS: (IF YOU DONT HAVE THE CUBES, PLANT THESE IN THE FIELDS
INSTEAD THEN THE HALF CIRCLES WILL CROSS BREED WITH THE ADJOINING HALF CIRCLE.
PAWNS WILL MOVE FROM CIRCLE TO CIRCLE)

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BONUS ABILITY TILES:

By the way Youre Awesome! Thanks for checking out Scoville!!!

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USE THESE FOR THE PLAYER SHIELDS:

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