❥ Herbaceous

Published on 23 December 2021 at 15:00

 Herbaceous

1 - 4 players
15 - 30 min
Age: 8 +
Weight: 1.17/5
Publisher: Pencil First Games - Quality Beast


Do you have green fingers? Then Herbaceous is the game for you! Enjoy this beautiful set collection game and pot the herbs to earn points.


How do you play Herbaceous?

In Herbaceous you try to gain points by collecting and potting herbs from the community garden and your private garden.

Each player is gets four Container Cards. The herb cards and special herb cards are shuffled into one deck. Depending on the number of players, you place the deck as a draw pile. In the center of the table is the community garden and all players have their own private garden. The game proceeds in 2 steps.

Step 1. Pot Herbs (optional action)
At the start of your turn, you may choose to pot herbs. You may use each Container Card one per game and turn. In the first turn, step 1 is not possible.

Step 2. Plant (mandatory action)
In this step you will plant herbs in your private garden and in the community garden. You take the top card of the deck and decide whether you want to place it in your private garden or in the community garden. The second card is placed in the 'unselected' yard.


Containers

Large Pot (identical Herbs)
Here you collect 1 to 7 herbs of the same kind.

Wooden Planter (different Herbs)
In this you collect 1 to 7 different herbs.

Small Pots (Pairs of Identical Herbs)
Collect 1 to 6 pairs of herbs.
Glass Jar (Regular and/or Special Herbs)
You can put up to 3 random herbs in this. Special herbs are only allowed in the glass jar. If you put each value of the special herbs (1, 2 and 3) in your Glass Jar, you will get the Herb Biscuit which is worth extra points at the end of the game!


When the deck of cards is empty, continue taking turns potting herbs. When all players cannot continue, the game ends. Each Container Card shows how many points you get for the collected cards at the bottom. For each special herb you score bonus points, leftover herbs in your private garden are worth 1 point.

❥ My Thoughts

I'm a huge fan of Herbaceous, the game has a nice ambiance and has artwork that makes me happy! I was allowed to play this game for the first time at a game fair in the Netherlands. It's a nice quick and simple game that I like to play in between. There is also a bit of luck involved in choosing the right cards and the choice of the other players. Do they put cards in the community garden that will help you? You should also keep a close eye on when you are going to pot herbs before your opponent beats you to it. I've had that a few times. In addition, you can also play Herbaceous solo, which in my opinion is a real plus in games.


Quality Beast provided this review copy.