Bohnanza
by Uwe Rosenberg
for 2 to 7 players
setup time - 3 mins
play time - 40 mins
teach time - 5 mins
Planting beans have never been so fun. You trade beans, plant beans, harvest beans, and plant some more. Oh the joy. Not convinced? Read on...
Bohnanza is a well designed card game where players are bean farmers trying to collect coins by planting, trading and harvesting beans. This is tricky because you are only given 2 fields to plant your beans at the start of the game. A third bean field can be added by paying up 3 coins. Only beans of the same kind can be planted on one bean field (e.g. stink beans are planted on the empty field or the field with stink beans). Listed on each card are the following:
- Bean name
- Number of the same bean card available in the deck
- How many beans needed to be planted in the same field to get a certain amount of coins (4 coins max)
Players receive 5 cards at the beginning of the game. They are not allowed to rearrange any of the cards in their hand. The first card will be the one that faces the player and the last card will be the one at the back of the hand.
At the start of each turn, a player will follow the following steps:
- Plant the first bean card (the one fully facing the player in their hand). This is a must and if there are no empty fields or fields with the same bean cards, then a field has to be harvested in order to plant this bean card (even if it means you do not get coins).
- Draw two cards from the deck and place them face up so that everyone can see. These beans are to be planted in this round and there is no exception. So the current player has to either trade those beans away or plant them on his/her bean field.
- Draw two/three cards (depending on the number of players) and at them one at a time at the back of your hand.
These simple steps to follow allow anyone from newbie gamers to core gamers to enjoy this game. This game is packed with deep strategy and at the same time not intimidating for players new to board gaming. A certain amount of luck comes from the drawing of cards but the strategies one uses can push them towards winning. In other words, you do have some control over your game. The small luck element ensures that every game is filled with good decisions to make and this is evidence of good board game design.
My take on the game:
This game is becoming a favorite for me and wifey. Since I bought Bohnanza two months ago, we have been seeing consistent plays. Everyone thoroughly enjoys it and wifey would ask to play Bohnanza even if it is only the two of us. Two player games are different than normal games because there is no trading involved, but wifey enjoys it just the same.
I myself enjoy trying to figure out good strategies to gain the most coins. Do I go for beans that give better coin values or do I keep the ones that I know are going to be played next from my hand? Do I get the 3rd bean field but lose 3 coins? Would that cost me the game?
Furthermore, who doesn't like gaining rewards after hard bean planting work? I reckon the designer had plenty of play testing with this game to tweak and tune and design one that I can say is very well balanced. Every bean has its merits and demerits of planting. Every bean is unique.
So yes, we love this game. It is cheaper than most board games in the genre. I would play this over Settlers of Catan. Bohnanza is faster, trading is better, interaction is more, and it can support up to 7 players.
Pros:
Cheap
Lovely artwork on the cards
Well-designed = well balanced
Good for the casual and hard-core board gamer alike
Cons:
The box insert is not designed for cards with sleeves.
