LogFAQs > #932469628

112. Bohananza (1997)

Category: Player vs Player
Genres: Trading, set collection
Rules complexity (0 to 7): 2
Game length: 30 to 45 minutes
Experience: 2-3 plays over 2 sessions (2015, 2018) with 4-6 players
Previous ranks: 96/100 (2016), NR (2018)

Summary - You're collecting beans as cards and planting them in sets so they give you victory points. You can also trade beans with others on your turn.

Experience - My first play with Bohnanza was with friends, but six of them, and slightly competitive ones. My next play wasn't 'til three years later, but it was with my then-regular gaming group of four, and people spent a lot less time negotiating.

Design - Bohnanza isn't fancy or pretty, but it does offer you a bunch of troublesome decisions because of the way you can't manage your hand the way you'd like. It's slightly interactive in trading, but not overly damaging, and there aren't a lot of negative feelings involved. The theme is also pretty fun - planting beans. That said, I'm not certain its central mechanic is fun. The decisions are tough and I'm not sure it always feels particularly good.

Future - That said, I'd like to get a bit of a better feel so I can be more articulate about the game! Uwe Rosenberg is one of the most respected dudes in the biz and others of his games do feature on this list.
---

yet all sailors of all sorts are more or less capricious and unreliable - they live in the varying outer weather, and they inhale its fickleness