Last Updated on July 20, 2025 by The Official Game Rules Team

Garden Variety is a light, fast-paced card game where players compete to grow the biggest collection of cards in their garden bed. Each round starts with a roll of the die that sets a target number, and players must strategically choose a card from their hand that gets them closest to it. Whether you’re playing with family or friends, these Garden Variety rules will walk you through setup, gameplay, and how to win.

Garden variety card game box product photo

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How to Play Garden Variety (Base Game)

Objective

In Garden Variety, your goal is to win rounds and collect the most cards by the end of the game. The player with the largest garden bed (scoring pile) when the draw pile runs out is crowned the winner.

Game Info

Players: 2–5
Ages: 7+
Play Time: 10–15 minutes
Genres: Family, Card Game
Complexity: Light
Strategy: Light
Luck Factor: High

Setup

To get started:

Shuffle all 54 cards thoroughly.
Deal five cards facedown to each player. Players may look at their own cards but should not reveal them.
Place the remaining deck in the center to form the draw pile.
The youngest player goes first and will roll the die to begin the game.

How to Play Garden Variety

At the start of each round, the current player rolls the die. The number rolled determines the target number that round. Everyone will play a card from their hand, trying to get as close as possible to the target number:

0 – Closest card to 0 wins
3 – Closest card to 3 wins
5 – Closest card to 5 wins
7 – Closest card to 7 wins
10 – Closest card to 10 wins
! – Play proceeds as usual, but the die is rolled again after all cards are played to determine the target

Once the die is rolled, all players take turns (clockwise) choosing one card to play face up. After all cards are played, the winner of the round is determined through elimination.

Eliminating Players and Determining the Winner

Card comparisons begin with the player who played first, comparing their card to the player on their left. The player whose card is farther from the target number is eliminated. The remaining card is then compared to the next player’s card, and so on, until only one player remains.

Tiebreaker Rules

Sometimes two cards will be equally close to the target number. In that case, the following tiebreakers apply:

Critter vs. Critter: Use color hierarchy, similar to Rock-Paper-Scissors:
- Blue Opossum beats Red Snail
- Red Snail beats Green Frog
- Green Frog beats Yellow Bee
- Yellow Bee beats Blue Opossum
Wildflower vs. Critter: Wildflower always wins.
No Clear Winner? If a tie still exists, the player closest clockwise to the starting player wins the matchup.

The final player standing wins the round and collects all played cards, adding them to their garden bed (score pile).

End of Round & Drawing Cards

After a round ends:

Each player draws from the deck until they have five cards again, starting with the round winner.
If the deck is empty and a player has no cards left, the game ends immediately.

Card Types in Garden Variety

Critter Cards

Critter Cards are numbered 0 to 10. Some cards are marked as 0/10—you must decide which value you’re using when the card is played (and you cannot change it later).
Critter cards participate in color-based tiebreakers.

Wildflower Cards

Wildflower Cards are numbered 1–9 and beat Critter Cards in any tie.

Gnome Cards

Gnome Cards have no numbers, but include special effects that trigger as soon as they’re played. These effects can change the flow of the game in unpredictable ways. Gnome Cards are also used in final scoring if there’s a tie.