Cow by a river / Make it sow / Marvin Gardens

[tastypastry]

Two questions:

A card like 'cow by the river' says the player may take units "equal to the number rolled from the discard piles". Does "equal to" mean that the number present must be exactly available? For example, if I roll a 9, and there's only 6 available, can I have the 6? Similarly Make it Sow's language is "that total the number". Similarly Marvin Garden is also "equal to".

Second question is, can I take the -2 or 0 cards? / Can I take any combination that adds to that number I want?

For example, I roll a 9. Does that mean I can make the combination however I please? For example, can I take a 5 cabbage card, a 0 cabbage card, a -2 cabbage card, and two 3 cabbage cards? - or do I have to take the biggest numbers?/the most straightforward combination. While perhaps trivial, let's consider that I have 'Zero Protection' saved, and after grabbing the 0 cabbage card, I now trade it in for a new one from the draw pile - likely actually increasing my total of '9' units that I had originally won - is this a 300 IQ play, or manipulating in a way that wasn't intended?.

A second scenario is that I have small potatoes saved, so I want to make sure I grab a one or two unit so that I can later use that in an exchange. Again, 300 IQ play, or manipulating in a way that wasn't intended?

[piedaddy]

Love these 300 IQ plays!! I've always taken those cards to mean you get those numbers of units (whether available from the discard pile, from the vouchers, or by keeping track). I don't think it would ever be legitimate to take the 0 or -2 units from the discard.

I think you should take the minimal amount of cards to equal the units required.

[tastypastry]

Piedaddy,

Thank you for your response(s)!

First - the easier one - you said 'minimal amount of cards'. If I roll a '6', and the discard pile has them, should I take the 5 and the 1, or two 3's? Again, the 1 would allow the 300 IQ play, while the 3's wouldn't.


I think that playing your way regarding 'you get that quantity no matter what' is reasonable enough. My main concern is that it undermines a card like Cabbage Patch, which I'm not sure is the intention. But this is a case where I truly do not know - I think multiple choices could be reasonable and argued well enough.

[piedaddy]

Hahaha I am very bored at work and I love talking KB!!

I think in that scenario then you would take the largest units possible so the 5 and the 1, though I wouldn't argue if someone was pulling two 3 unit cards. But my house rule would be minimal amount of cards with the most amount of units possible per card.

I just looked at the QCC and Cow By a River and Marvin Gardens both specifically say "Discard Pile" so I think I would actually argue that you can only take the available supplies in the discard piles and not vouchers. Vouchers are only used for making change and in these scenarios you're not making change. So if there were no cards in the Cabbage or Radish discard piles then these cards would be useless.

Make It Sow on the other hand says you can take Cabbage/Radish units from any open store. This one doesn't reference the discard pile and specifically states that the store has to be open, but doesn't say anything about whether the units are available. In this instance I think the player gets exactly how many units that he rolled (from either the discarded units, vouchers, or by keeping track)

[tastypastry]

I think that this response is very reasonable as a house rule. If anyone else disagrees here and thinks that anyone should just be able to use any combination they want - feel free to weigh in!

One thing you did not address though is the language of "equal to" or "total the number" (depending on the card above referenced). So if I play Marvin Gardens and the roll that is to be used is a 9, and there is a total of 6 units available in the discard pile, can I have the 6, or can I not, since it is not "equal to". That is, are we interpreting "equal to" and "total the number" as "EXACTLY" or "UP TO".

Enjoy work!

[piedaddy]

Hmm. So in the QCC, under Marvin Gardens there was CTA supplemental text from the website that states "The units may be all Cabbage, all Radish or a combination of both that total the number rolled." I think the only reason they specified again that "total the number rolled" was so that people wouldn't take 9 Cabbage and 9 Radish. But because this sentence says you can take partial this and partial that, I think you would be allowed to take the 6 available Cabbage, but not be entitled to any future discarded cabbage or vouchers. This card would be significantly harder to play if you had to wait for there to be at least 12 units of cabbage in the discard pile.

Definitely would like to hear some other people's thoughts on this though because it isn't very clear.

[tastypastry]

From MahoBear8 on killer bunnies discord (posted here in case anyone wants to know this answer):

"In reality, the amount doesn't need to be present in the discard piles. If the full amount isn't available, just take vouchers instead.
Very smart to consider small potatoes. You may not take the -2 Cabbage since it's immediately resolved and change is given. You may choose whatever other values you like though as long as you're following the rule that vouchers must be exchanged in for cards if able. For example, If I needed 10 Cabbage and there was a 2, 2, 5, 10 available in the discard, I would be required by default to get the 10 since taking the other 9 + 1 voucher would instantly cause the voucher + 9 to be traded in for the 10."

My response: "So even though Cow By a river expressly says 'Discard Piles'
You're saying I could play it as my first card in the game
and have the vouchers right away?"

Their response: "Correct, mechanically the same to Double No Trouble"