Review | Bonsai game review

The board game was at SPIEL in Essen Bonsai Unfortunately, the Italian publisher DV Games sold out very quickly, so I unfortunately had to wait until the game was recently released by Kosmos.

Then we can finally start creating the tree. We create many different trees in a very short period of time.

See for yourself if the wait is worth it…

Game description

in Bonsai We have exactly two actions that players perform in turns. We can “Meditate” and take a card from the display or “Plant” and add cuttings to our bonsai. In most cases we get tiles when we take a card from the screen. We get them in slots 2, 3 and 4. There are four different ones:

• Tribe (gives 0 points): Placed next to another existing chest
• Green (wins 3 points): Placed on the torso
• Flower (gives 1 point for each free space around it): Always placed on green
• Fruit (worth 7 points): Always placed on two green leaves, but never next to another fruit.

The tiles are built during the planting process. In this we can add tiles to our existing tree as per the building requirement (initially, one trunk, one green and any one).

We can create better conditions through cards. In addition to these, there are e.g. B. Also the watering can, which increases the storage capacity from 5 to 7 (9, …), the main tools with which we create additional tiles, the helpers that also enable us to carry out building activities while making the card, and the various victories and point cards.

You can get more points from target tiles. However, when you reach the conditions in one of the three categories, you have to decide whether to take the piece or move to the next level; Even at the risk that another player will achieve the goal more quickly.

If the last card is drawn from the draw pile, another full round is played and then the best bonsai master is chosen.

Author: Rosaria Battiato, Massimo Borzi, Martino Chiacchera ■ Chart: Daoud Moghaddam
Publisher: DV Games | Cosmos ■ Year of release: 2024

1-4 players

From 10 years

About 40 minutes

Game rules (External link to Cosmos)

Gaming feeling

Game board Bonsai It is easy to access first and foremost. Two actions, the placement rules and scoring of victory point boxes, do not need to be understood further.

Of course, the appearance of the game is important. Not at all when we open the box and take out the individual components of our gaming experience, but especially when we allow the individual trees to emerge. Depending slightly on the victory point tiles, trees grow larger or expand sideways. The whole thing is complemented by very attractively designed instructions with an additional introduction to the basic styles of bonsai.

The game itself plays calmly and at an enjoyable pace. Most of the time, it's very quiet at the table and you're focused on your own tree. The fact that it doesn't get too isolated is partly due to the combined card presentation and competition for victory point boxes. It's important to keep an eye on your opponents so you can make the best individual decisions as you reach each level. This is where the real surveillance battles arise.
The individual actions happen so quickly, that there is hardly any pause, even with a full cast.

However, there is also a certain luck factor Bonsai Identify. Come for example. For example, if watering cans are in different piles, this can sometimes cause the player to lag behind, as the storage capacity of five resources is limited. Then there are sometimes 2-3 interesting cards on offer that you would like to have all of them.
Thanks to this card mechanic, the game becomes more tactical than strategic in nature.

Individual games also depend on their variance. Even if we end up doing nothing but collecting tiles and merging them into our tree, there have been plenty of them in every game so far Bonsai Different tree growth and path games. This is also due to the choice of additional tiles.

As a rule, the matches were always very close. However, I always found it difficult to count points during the match, so at the end of the match we always had a little surprise as to who won the match.

Games 2, 3 and 4 are relatively similar, with the number of cards and the number of bonus pieces changed. However, I find a two-player game to be a more strategic game, where we have more “influence” over the card display. With four people, it feels completely different after one round.

summary

Bonsai It's a feel-good game with a light combat factor. “Building” a tree is a lot of fun, the materials are very attractive and the game thrives, among other things, on short movements.

• Great article
• Express entry is possible
• Short, clear movements with minimal pausing
• Interact via target tiles

• A certain element of luck with the cards
• Reactivity is relatively low
• It may be a little quiet for some people

From my point of view as a player: Game board Bonsai It is designed to be a family game that makes you feel happy. We're all messing around in silence. You have to love it (I thought it was okay).

There are no big strategic considerations in the game, but you do have to consider card selection more tactically and spontaneously from turn to turn. However, despite this effect, the downtime is pleasantly quiet. A beautiful game that you can play as an experienced player in just over 30 minutes.