New
Arboretum Deluxe
Arboretum is a strategic card game that challenges players to create the most beautiful path through the garden.
30m
2 - 4 Players
Ages 8+
Arboretum is a strategic card game that challenges players to create the most beautiful path through the garden.
Alan Stern
I really want to like this more. I really should like this more... but I don't. The mechanics are sound. Play time is a bit long for the game (it's >30 min.). What bothers me is that the random draw of cards (your personal card selection) is more impactful than any strategy you might attempt to implement. Yes, your card play and discard are meaningful, but they're heavily (and obviously) limited by the cards you draw. Draw a lot of cards from one or two suits early = win! Draw a mediocre selection from among the suits = lose! I don't care what your play or discard is, that's the underlying truth. I do like the scoring rules and they heavily weigh in on decisions (particularly late in the game), but that's not enough. So this is not really a game I want to play. If it were shorter, I'd be happier (my rating would go up 1-2 stars).
agentpatman
I love card games that have simple rules but in depth strategy. I am not sure about the rules about scoring what is in your hand so I'll need to play it more to form an opinion on that. Played this a few more times and it is such a thinky game. So much thought needs to be put into how to lay out your cards, which cards to keep, and which to discard. I ended up liking that you score based on the cards you have as it adds another layer of thought on blocking your opponents and what you can potentially score. Being able to draw from discards makes it important to control what gets released or grab a much needed card. It's incredibly thinky on every aspect. Scoring is not completely straight forward but it's easy to reason about after going through each species one at a time.
ADubbs25
Absolutely brutal and satisfying at the same time. The idea of scoring big streaks of trees while you have to hang onto the same trees in your hand at the end of the game. Crazy to think that ONLY the person with the highest values in there hands will score for that particular tree. It's a chaotic but it's a masterpiece.