Are you ready to become a master gardener at Gartenbau? Gartenbau is an abstract strategy board game that invites you to design your garden and earn prestige points by creating beautiful flower arrangements. By stacking and placing tiles, players get seeds, grow plants and arrange flowers to win the game.
Gardening and “green” board games seem to have blossomed in recent years. I’ve lost count of the number of garden games I have in my collection. However, apart from the common theme, they all bring something new to the table! Some relax, others excite. Gartenbau is a thought-provoking strategy game. In Gartenbau, players must strategically collect and manage their resources, harvest seeds, grow plants, and create beautiful flower arrangements. The goal is to earn as many prestige points as possible.
Hartenbau is a game played by two to four players, recommended for ages 14 and up. However, I think it’s a great game for kids. Games can last 30-60 minutes.
Gameplay Overview:
You and your fellow players take on the role of gardeners, trying to wield your green thumb to grow a well-balanced, mature garden before the growing season ends.
Throughout the game, you will plant different types of seeds and grow different plants to fill your garden, which is organized in a grid pattern. In addition, if you can meet the difficult growing conditions of your flowers, you will earn prestige points for your gardening achievements.
Gartenbau is a tile-laying game where each player builds their own tableau (or garden grid). On the first layer you will place the seed tiles; on the second layer, you will play with your plant tiles, which must be placed on top of specific seeds; finally, on the top layer, you will play out your flower arrangements consisting of two plants from the second level. You will get points or prestige points for flower arrangements. Gartenbau is also a resource management game where you collect water and sun tokens which are used to buy plant tokens. Seedling tiles are taken from the pan in the center of the table and do not require resources.
On their turn, players must choose and do one of the following three options: move one space on the rondel and take and place Seedling tiles or resources from the Seedling Market, which is a two-lane rondel with one lane for resources and one lane for seedling tiles; move one space on the rondel and place plant tiles from the Plant Market; where you pay with available resources, and tiles will cost more as the game progresses; or place one of your flower tiles from your hand into your garden.
Finally, each player has two special tokens: The Flower Pot token allows you to move a player anywhere on the circle; a watering can token allows you to move one uncovered seedling tile from one location in your garden to another location.
The player who earns the most prestige at the end of the game is crowned Master Gardener.
Game experience:
Gartenbau is an abstract strategy game that includes mechanics such as stacking tiles, placing tiles, layering, pattern building, resource management, table creation, and rondel. It feels like a cross between games like Carcassone, Village Rails, Akropolis and others, but with a unique twist on the tile placement genre. The characteristic composition of mechanics is technically impressive. Gartenbau is unique, exciting, attractive, challenging and tactical. This can be a challenge even for the most experienced gamers.
The settings and gameplay are simple enough for beginners, but challenging enough for experienced gamers. Players must use resources such as sun and water tokens and tools with special powers to design their gardens from scratch. In order to win the game, players must manage their resources wisely, and it is extremely important to plan ahead and decide which plants are needed and purchase the seeds they need wisely. Each round is counted to determine who is in the lead. And remember, the main goal of the game is to create the best flower arrangements to earn the most prestige points.
In terms of production values, Gartenbau’s artwork is stunning, the components are really high quality, and the whole experience is truly immersive. Game mechanics are well thought out; each turn directly affects how successful the garden can be at the end of the game. In addition, Gartenbau offers a variety of objectives so that each player can make their garden unique.
Overall, Gartenbau is an impressive strategy game with a lot of depth that appeals to casual gamers and seasoned veterans alike. Difficulty tends toward the mild to medium end of the scale. However, I think Gartenbau will become very popular due to its beautiful visuals and addictive gameplay.
Similar to Eurogames, you interact indirectly with other players using take-it tactics rather than directly engaging in competitive maneuvers to influence your opponents’ progress. Indeed, the main way to hinder the opponent’s progress is to find out his plans and take the necessary pieces. However, while you may compromise your opponent’s strategy, you may lose focus on your own. You will have to find the right balance as you want to create the optimal garden to achieve your goals and the highest result.
The randomness of the game is minimal. This is a game that rewards strategy as there are multiple scoring opportunities, just like the best tile placement games. Each player can choose a different style of play.
Final thoughts
Hartenbau is an addictive, fun and addictive strategy game with stunning visuals that will appeal to both casual players and seasoned veterans alike. It is moderately difficult and may be too difficult for board game beginners. Players must use their resources wisely, plant strategically and create the best garden possible, a harmonious ecosystem where they create beautiful flower arrangements on their way to becoming a Master Gardener!
Final score: 4.5 stars – Prepare your friends for a challenging yet rewarding game in Gartenbau, one of the best games of 2022 and highly recommended to buy!
hits:
• Exciting, fun and addictive strategy game.
• Medium difficulty, easy to learn but with deep strategy.
• Luck plays a secondary role in the game.
• It strikes the right balance between several compelling game mechanics to create something new and unique.
misses:
• This can be a challenging game for non-gamers.
• In recent years, there has been a boom in games depicting the same theme.
