Last Updated on May 29, 2025 by The Official Game Rules Team

Leaf is a nature-themed tile placement and action selection game for 2–4 players, where you control the autumn wind to guide falling leaves to the forest floor. As you connect leaves by their tips, you trigger actions tied to each color—growing mushrooms, collecting animals, gaining sun tokens, and climbing the great tree with your squirrel.

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How to Play Leaf

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Table of Contents

1. Game Overview
2. Components
3. Setup
4. Turn Overview
5. Leaf Actions
6. Reactions
7. Game End and Scoring

Game Overview

In Leaf, 2–4 players take on the role of the autumn wind, guiding colorful leaves to the forest floor. By cleverly connecting leaf tips, players grow mushrooms, attract animals, gain Sun tokens, and help their squirrels climb the mighty tree. As the season progresses and winter approaches, players must plan their turns wisely to support the forest’s health. The player who contributes the most by the end of the game wins.

This guide explains all rules for setup, gameplay, actions, and scoring.

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Components

• 32 Leaf Tiles
• 36 Leaf Cards
• 48 Animal Cards
• 1 Tree Board
• 1 Animal Board (double-sided for player count)
• 1 Leaf Board
• 35 Acorn Tokens
• 25 Sun Tokens
• 15 Mushroom Tokens per player
• 4 Player Boards
• 1 Season Track Token (disc)
• 1 Squirrel Token per player

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Setup

1. Game Boards:
   Place the Tree Board and Leaf Board at the top of the play area. Leave space in the center for leaf placement. Place the Animal Board beside the Leaf Board (use the correct side based on player count).
2. Player Setup:
   Each player receives:
   • 1 Player Board
   • 15 Mushroom Tokens
   • 1 Squirrel (in their chosen color)
3. Leaf Cards:
   Shuffle the Leaf Cards. Deal 3 to each player. Place the rest face down on the Leaf Board to form the draw deck.
4. Tokens:
   Place all Acorn and Sun Tokens on the Animal Board.
5. Animal Cards:
   Shuffle and place the Animal Cards face down on the Animal Board. Reveal 5 face-up cards in the designated spaces.
6. -3 Acorn Tokens:
   Place these next to the Animal Board.

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Leaf Piles Setup

1. Starting Leaves:
   Take the two starting leaves (Green “Sweetgum” and Orange “Silver Maple” marked with an “S” on the back). Place them in the center of the table with two leaf tips touching.
2. Sorting Leaves:
   Sort the remaining leaves by shape into separate face-down stacks. Shuffle each stack individually, then place them face-up on their matching spaces on the Leaf Board.
3. Color Check:
   Ensure all five colors—Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, and Brown—are represented in the top leaves. If not, rotate the top leaf of a duplicate color to the bottom until all five are visible. (One color will appear twice.)

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First Player

The first player is the one who most recently touched a tree.

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Turn Overview

On your turn:

1. Choose a Leaf Card and Take a Leaf Tile:
   • Play a Leaf Card from your hand. Take the top Leaf Tile of the matching shape.
   • Leaf Boost (Optional): Discard a matching card to place a baby mushroom on the tile.
   • If you have no cards, gain a -3 Acorn and draw 2 Leaf Cards.
   • If the corresponding leaf stack is empty, take the top leaf from any stack.
2. Place the Leaf Tile:
   • Connect at least two of its tips to other leaves already on the forest floor. Stems count as tips.
   • Gingko Leaves: These have fewer tips and come into play with a baby mushroom automatically.
3. Gain Leaf Actions:
   For each tip your leaf touches, gain 1 action of that leaf’s color.
4. Trigger Reactions:
   Other players may gain Sun tokens if your leaf touches their mushrooms (see Reactions below).
5. Refill Animal Cards:
   After your turn, refill empty animal spaces.
6. Next Player’s Turn:
   The next player clockwise takes their turn.

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Leaf Actions

Gain 1 action per leaf tip (or stem) touched by your placed leaf. A tip can touch multiple leaves, earning multiple actions.

1. Green – Draw a Leaf Card
   Shuffle the discard pile if the deck is empty.
2. Yellow – Gain 1 Sun Token
   You may spend 3 Sun once per turn to advance the Season Track.
3. Orange – Gain an Animal Card
   • Choose a face-up card or draw from the deck.
   • Place the animal in your forest (above your player board).
   • Animal sets in your Winter Den score at game end.
   • Some animals have Acorn icons for bonus points.
4. Brown – Move Your Squirrel Up the Tree
   • Gain any visible rewards as you pass or land on them.
   • Skip spaces occupied by other players.
   • Choose your path at each tree branch intersection.
5. Red – Grow a Mushroom
   • Add a baby mushroom to any leaf without one of yours, or
   • Flip a baby mushroom into a full mushroom.
   • Groups of full mushrooms score points.
   • Baby mushrooms do not connect groups or score points.

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Reactions

When a player places a leaf:

• Full Mushrooms: Each full mushroom on adjacent touched leaves gives 1 Sun to its owner.
• Baby Mushrooms: Also give 1 Sun unless there’s a full mushroom on the same leaf.
• No Self-Rewards: Players do not gain Sun from leaves they touch with their own mushrooms.
• Multiple Rewards: Players may earn multiple Sun if multiple mushrooms are triggered.

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No Action Bonus

If you would gain no benefit from an action (e.g., can’t move up the Tree), gain 1 Sun instead.

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Season Track

• Advance the Track:
  Spend 3 Sun once per turn to move the Season Token forward and gain the reward shown.
• Cold Snap:
  Taking the last leaf from a stack automatically advances the Season one space (no reward given).
• Frost Line:
  When crossing a frost line, all players move their largest animal group into a Winter Den.
• Winter:
  Reaching the Winter space triggers the end of the game.

Important:
The Season Track length depends on player count. Use the correct side of the Animal Board and start the Season Token in the correct spot.

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Winter Dens

Only animals in Winter Dens score. Each player may only score up to 3 sets of animals. Each set scores separately, even if the animal types match.

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Game End and Scoring

After reaching Winter:

1. Finish the round so all players have equal turns.
2. Each player moves their largest remaining animal group to a Winter Den.
3. Score as follows:

Scoring Breakdown

• Acorns:
  +1 point per Acorn
  −3 points per -3 Acorn
• Animals in Winter Dens:
  • 1 animal = 1 point
  • 2 animals = 3 points
  • 3 animals = 6 points
  • 4+ animals = 6 + 1 per additional animal
  • +1 point for each Acorn icon on animals in your forest or Winter Den
• Mushrooms (Full Only):
  • 1 mushroom = 1 point
  • 2 mushrooms = 3 points
  • 3 mushrooms = 8 points
  • 4+ mushrooms = 8 + 1 per additional mushroom
  • Groups must be connected by leaf tips; baby mushrooms do not count or connect groups
• Tree Climb:
  • Highest squirrel = 6 points
  • Second highest = 3 points
• Sun / Leaf Cards:
  Every 2 Sun tokens and/or Leaf Cards = 1 point

Victory

The player with the most points wins.
In case of a tie, the player with the most unplayed Leaf Cards and Sun Tokens wins. If still tied, players share the victory.