BANAPPLES

Welcome to Banapples – a solitaire game that will keep you on your toes just like Skip Bo. The goal of this game is simple: be the first to empty your seed pile. How? By strategically playing cards to your trees, canopy, and your opponent’s canopy. Each area has its own set of rules for card placement. Getting rid of all your cards will give you a scoring bonus, and the first one to reach 500 points wins!

CONTENTS

What’s in the box, you ask? Well, you’ll find four decks of 40 cards each. Each deck has its own distinct-colored back. You’ll also find 20 apple cards (two sets of 1-10) and 20 Banana cards (two sets of 1-10).

Getting Started

First, we need to set up the game. I’ll walk you through it step by step:

Start by grabbing your deck and giving it a thorough shuffle. This will mix up all the cards and make sure there’s no funny business going on.

Once your deck is shuffled, it’s time to deal out your seed pile. Take the top 10 cards and place them face down in front of you. This pile represents your starting resources.

Now, flip over the top card of your seed pile. This card will be face up and can be used in the game.

Next, you’re going to create your trees. Deal two more cards from your deck and place them face up next to each other. These cards will provide you with additional options and strategies during the game.

Lastly, we’ll create the compost pile. Deal three cards in a staggered row below your trees. These cards will serve as a discard pile and can be used to grow your resources or sabotage your opponents.

All the remaining cards in your deck will form the draw pile. Make sure to keep it face down next to your compost pile. You’ll draw cards from here throughout the game.

And that’s it! Now you’re all set up and ready to start planting and growing your garden. Remember, each player will have their own setup, so make sure everyone gets their own deck and follows these steps.

THE GAME:

Get ready to play an exciting game! In this game, everyone plays at the same time. No waiting for turns!

Now, pay attention. The goal is to build your own tree by playing cards from your seed or compost pile. But there are rules!

First, you must start by placing cards in descending order on your tree piles. And here’s the catch – you have to alternate by fruit. So, if you start with an apple, the next card has to be a different fruit. Make sure to follow the order!

Whenever you play a card from your seed pile, turn the next card face up. This keeps the excitement going!

If you want to play a card from the compost pile, you have to make sure it matches the fruit on top of your tree pile. But here’s the tricky part – if the top card of the compost pile can’t be played, or if the compost pile runs out of cards, don’t worry! Just deal three cards from the compost pile until you find a playable one.

And what happens if the draw pile runs out of cards? Well, don’t panic! Just collect the compost pile and turn it face down to create a fresh draw pile.

GROW YOUR TREE:

Once you begin playing Canopy Piles, they will be placed on top of your Tree Piles. A Canopy Pile should always start with a 1 of any fruit, and then you can continue adding cards of the same fruit in ascending order. Remember, you can play a card from your Trees, Compost Pile, or Seed Pile at any time.

STARTING NEW TREES

If one of your Tree Piles is empty, don’t worry! You can start a new pile by choosing any card from your Seed or Compost Piles.

Furthermore, if every player has already dealt their entire deck to the Compost Pile at least once, you can even begin a third Tree!

COMBINING TREES

If you want to, you can move an entire Tree Pile on top of another Tree Pile in your layout.

PLAYING ON AN OPPONENT’S CANOPY

Whenever you want, you can play a card from your trees, seed piles, or compost pile onto the canopy of your opponent. The rules remain the same. If you play a card on your opponent’s canopy, you will still earn points for those cards.

Ending a Round

A round ends when your seed pile is empty.

Scoring

If you empty your seed pile, you earn 25 points.

You earn points for the cards you play in canopies, even if they’re played on the opponent’s canopy. Each card is valued based on the number on it. You then deduct points for any cards that are still in your seed pile.

The cards in your draw pile, trees, or compost pile don’t affect your score.

Winning

The game is won by the first player who earns 500 points from cards placed in canopies.