1) Place the Basin board on its stand in the center of the table in reach of all players.

2) Each player starts with a reference card, starting Fountain tile, 1 wooden Scoring meeple, and set of 3 matching Point tokens. Return any unused Starting Fountain tiles, Scoring meeples, and Point tokens to the box.

3) Separate the Fountain tiles by shape and randomly draw a number of each according to the player count chart below, returning any extras to the box.

1 player - 12 tiles

2 players - 8 tiles each

3 players - 10 tiles each

4-5 players - 12 tiles each

Shuffle the tile stacks and place each face up beside the matching icon on the Basin board.

4) Shuffle the Bonus tokens and leave them in a face-down pile above the marked space on the Basin board. Then randomly draw five tokens and place them face up on the Basin board.

5) Place the Green, Blue, and White Basin pawns onto the matching color spaces on the Basin board.

6) Place the Pond Weed tokens in a pile within reach of all players.

7) Place the Score Track board beside the Basin board. Place each player’s wooden Scoring meeple on the “Start” space of the Score track. Players place their Point tokens in their play area.

8) If playing the Advanced Variant, shuffle the 12 Fountain Design cards. Draw and place 3 face up beside the Score track. Return all unused cards to the box. For your first game, we recommend playing without these cards.

9) Randomly choose a starting player and give that player the First Player token.