Speed Gardening Guerilla

Speed Gardening Guerrilla is a Guerrilla Gardening game. It is a short-term variant of the original Gardening Guerrilla (which has a duration of 2 - 6 months). SGG is played in rounds of 24 hours each. Players are assigned to one of three factions, try to steal plants from their opponents and raise them in their own plantings. Speed Gardening Guerilla is suitable for game environments where players can enter and exit the game at will.

Preparation

The moderator specifies the exact play area and prepares a fixed number of seedlings appropriate for the season, and suitable for the planting sites that players might find in that area. Seeds are not recommended due to germination time.

The play area should be large enough that players can to act autonomously without encountering other factions, yet encounters should be possible and players are able to discover and observe each others actions.

Gameplay

There are three factions in the game:

1. LPI: Local Plant Initiative
2. SoS: Sisterhood of Stem
3. Leafz

These factions stay fixed for the whole game period.

The game starts with the players who are present being assigned to one of the three factions. The players should have access to the map of the game area and the rules of the game.

Each faction receives one initial seedling.

The game then proceeds through the following stages:-

Planting

A faction plants seeds in one or more places ("planting spots") in the play area

A planting spot should enable your plants to grow without mutual disturbance but be identifiable as one continous location (i.e. not exceed, say, 1 - 2 meters in diameter). The inital planting move must take place during the first 2 hours of the game. When the faction has planted their first seedling they are free to ask the moderator for additional seedlings.

Moving plants

A faction may relocate their own plants at any time. All plants at a particular location (a planting spot) must be moved together, and to a single new location. The new location must be documented and sent to the moderator in the same way as for planting.

Moving opponents' plants

A team may steal plants belonging to a rival team, and add them to one of their own planting spots. You do not have to move the opponents' planting spot as a whole but may select as many plants from the spot as you like. You must put all of those plants into one of your own existing planting spots. From then on, these plants belong to your faction.

Rounds, Reporting and Scoring

A round takes 24 hours. After each round there is a scoring meeting. Each faction is required to send at least one representative to the meeting.

Each faction reports the number of planting spots in the meeting.

Other activiteies that should take place in the meeting are:

1. New players can enter the game. Players must join a faction when entering the game.
2. When players who leave the game, it is appreciated to do this during the meeting. You may not re-enter the game after leaving.

Hints

The players within a faction should come to an agreement on the best strategy for choosing a planting location, bearing in mind the available sunlight, the chance of being detected, etc. Should all the seeds be planted immediately, or some held in reserve? Should the plants be fed and watered, or will this risk drawing the attention of other teams? Relocating a plant may keep it safe, but may affect its growth. Talking to the plants may be helpful.

Ground rules

Players are allowed to:-

• Lead other teams astray.
• Try to bribe other players to find out their planting locations.
• Use super fertilizer.
• Switch teams, cheat on their team, work as double/triple agents of other teams.

Players are not allowed to:-

• Destroy any plants including other teams' plants.
• Submit false planting sites to the moderator.
• Mislead the moderator in any way.
• Use seedlings or other plants which were not given out by the moderator in order to submit them for the game. (They can plant other plants for camouflage etc.)
• Move plants outside of the playing area.
• Travel through the playing area with a flamethrower.
• Kidnap the moderator to learn the whereabouts of other faction.

Planting sites must be accessible to all players. (For example, seeds may not be planted in an enclosed space to which only certain players have a key.)

Each game action should be carried out in one move. It is not permitted for exampl, to excavate and temporarily store an opposing team's plant before replanting it.

Treat all plants, including enemy plants with respect. Avoid any negative impact on plants, soil and other facilities and inhabitants in the game area.

If players are in doubt about the application of these rules, they should talk to the moderator. The moderator may move plants or exclude players, as a result of rules being broken. The decision of the moderator is final.

Game end

The game ends at the prearranged time. The players meet up with the moderator and tour the planting sites together, to determine the winner. The winner is the faction who owns the largest planting (measured by the number of plants in the planting). In addition, a prize is awarded for aesthetic criteria. The moderator may award other prizes, such as for the most ecological faction (using no artificial fertilizer), or the most creative guerrilla strategy.

The game moderator can, during the game, record the location of the planting locations as they change over time, and make this information available to the players after the game is over, with a discussion of strategies.