Pandas and Gardeners and Bamboo... oh my! When the Emperor of Japan is given the gift of a rare animal and no-one really knows how to feed it, things can't be great. Perhaps by working together you can create a beautiful garden and manage to feed the belligerent brute? Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for Takenoko...
Scanning the shelves of your local game store will turn up countless releases involving dragons, robots and trains. You can't move for games that let you trade in the Mediterranean Sea in the 17th Century, but if you're looking for something a little more out there... well, you could be a while. Take, for example, the noble panda, nature's greatest folly. Barely able to keep their numbers up and existing on a very specific diet, no wonder there's so few of them on the planet, and even fewer games that represent their black and white awesomeness. Thankfully, Takenoko steps up and represents them pretty damn well.
Designed by Antoine Bauza, he of Hanabi and 7 Wonders fame, Takenoko is the story of a gardener with a talent for growing bamboo and a panda with a very large appetite. The Emperor of China has presented the panda to his Japanese counterpart as a gift, but with it only able to eat one thing, the gardener has to get growing - and quickly. Players will have to complete objective cards that bestow points based on certain ways the bamboo will grow, how the Imperial Garden is constructed and - of course - what the panda has eaten. After a set amount of objectives has been completed (based upon how many people are sat around your table), points are tallied up and the highest total is the winner.
Of course, getting those objectives done and dusted is far from a simple matter, especially at the game's beginning. A central hexagonal tile, the central pond, has both the Gardener and Panda sitting on it (represented by some truly lovely painted miniatures). At the beginning of each turn, the active player rolls a die to see what the weather is like - the sun giving them an extra action, rain giving bamboo a growth spurt, lightning sending the panda scurrying across the board, that kind of thing. Once that's been sorted, players then get two actions - both of which must be different, unless they rolled the wind symbol - to either extend the gardens, move either of the two characters, get some irrigation built or take a new objective.
Extending is vital to complete those garden objectives. Three different colours of tile are available - pink, yellow and green - and choosing that action allows you to draw three from the pile and select one to add to the grounds, returning the other two to the bottom of the tile stack. Your selected tile can then be added to either next to the central pond or beside any two hexes already in play. If the tile you've just placed is irrigated - more on that in a minute - a single bamboo shoot springs forth. Should the landscape match the pattern shown on your card, it can be flipped and you claim your points.
Moving the Panda or Gardener are very similar in practice but they have opposite effects. They can only go in a straight line and can't leap over any gaps in the play area, but on arrival in a new space they'll either eat or cultivate a piece of bamboo. Filling up the Panda's stomach with a selection of different coloured plants lets you complete those tasks for more points, while growing the bamboo on specific tiles with the Gardener can also get you a bunch of points. Of course, nothing grows without water, so clever use of the irrigation action is key. Choosing this one lets you grab an irrigation channel - a long blue stick - that can be added to the board any time during your turn. As with placing a tile next to the pond, the moment you flood a hex with water, bamboo will grow, so you'll be looking to build a network of these channels to encourage more and more shoots. Of course, those can attract a hungry Panda, so while you're attempting to create growth, other players may be looking for a quick lunch.
Improvements are also available by rolling a Cloudy weather symbol. These can double the rate of bamboo growth, protect a tile from the rampant hunger of the Panda or even create an exclusive water source, supplying only that tile - most useful for those that are a little out of the way. As the game continues, the gardens will grow ever larger, the bamboo shoots will rise to majestic heights and the Panda's stomach will get fatter and fatter until the target amount of objectives is reached and all players get one final turn.
Takenoko is, at first glance, a very simple game. With only five different options available to you on your turn, it can initially come across as somewhat limiting, but once you get into the swing of things you will soon realise that this is a very solid design indeed. Yes, it's a light strategy game, but there are still plenty of decisions to be made and ways to hamper your opponents' progress while forwarding your own. Early progress is slow, yes, but the completion of objectives soon ramps up - remember, you don't have to be responsible for the placement of a tile or growth of a plant to claim the objective, it just has to be there during your turn. This means that the end of the game turns into a frenzy of finished tasks and, even if you think you're behind, those last couple of turns will often see players catching up and scoring some very close results.
It also helps that Takenoko is a beautiful game to look at. Pink, yellow and green dominate with pastel tiles and lurid bamboo tokens that stack up tall, and those previously mentioned miniatures are really gorgeous. The artwork throughout, from the box cover to the instruction booklet, is cartoony but not childish, showing off the Panda's attitude and the Gardener's despair brilliantly. Matagot have put a ridiculous amount of effort into ensuring that every single component is well constructed and beautiful to look at - even moreso now that there's a larger scale collector's edition due for release at this year's Essen Spiel over in Germany in October. Is 120 euro to much to pay for a game? Perhaps, but when it's as gorgeous to look at as this one... well, it'll be a hard decision. At least the regular version is both affordable and pretty, as well as being an excellent game to bring to your table.
Have you tried Takenoko for yourself? Has the Panda's belligerence driven you insane, or have you maintained the peaceful, zen-like qualities of the Gardener? Tell us here!
Scanning the shelves of your local game store will turn up countless releases involving dragons, robots and trains. You can't move for games that let you trade in the Mediterranean Sea in the 17th Century, but if you're looking for something a little more out there... well, you could be a while. Take, for example, the noble panda, nature's greatest folly. Barely able to keep their numbers up and existing on a very specific diet, no wonder there's so few of them on the planet, and even fewer games that represent their black and white awesomeness. Thankfully, Takenoko steps up and represents them pretty damn well.
Designed by Antoine Bauza, he of Hanabi and 7 Wonders fame, Takenoko is the story of a gardener with a talent for growing bamboo and a panda with a very large appetite. The Emperor of China has presented the panda to his Japanese counterpart as a gift, but with it only able to eat one thing, the gardener has to get growing - and quickly. Players will have to complete objective cards that bestow points based on certain ways the bamboo will grow, how the Imperial Garden is constructed and - of course - what the panda has eaten. After a set amount of objectives has been completed (based upon how many people are sat around your table), points are tallied up and the highest total is the winner.
Of course, getting those objectives done and dusted is far from a simple matter, especially at the game's beginning. A central hexagonal tile, the central pond, has both the Gardener and Panda sitting on it (represented by some truly lovely painted miniatures). At the beginning of each turn, the active player rolls a die to see what the weather is like - the sun giving them an extra action, rain giving bamboo a growth spurt, lightning sending the panda scurrying across the board, that kind of thing. Once that's been sorted, players then get two actions - both of which must be different, unless they rolled the wind symbol - to either extend the gardens, move either of the two characters, get some irrigation built or take a new objective.
Extending is vital to complete those garden objectives. Three different colours of tile are available - pink, yellow and green - and choosing that action allows you to draw three from the pile and select one to add to the grounds, returning the other two to the bottom of the tile stack. Your selected tile can then be added to either next to the central pond or beside any two hexes already in play. If the tile you've just placed is irrigated - more on that in a minute - a single bamboo shoot springs forth. Should the landscape match the pattern shown on your card, it can be flipped and you claim your points.
Moving the Panda or Gardener are very similar in practice but they have opposite effects. They can only go in a straight line and can't leap over any gaps in the play area, but on arrival in a new space they'll either eat or cultivate a piece of bamboo. Filling up the Panda's stomach with a selection of different coloured plants lets you complete those tasks for more points, while growing the bamboo on specific tiles with the Gardener can also get you a bunch of points. Of course, nothing grows without water, so clever use of the irrigation action is key. Choosing this one lets you grab an irrigation channel - a long blue stick - that can be added to the board any time during your turn. As with placing a tile next to the pond, the moment you flood a hex with water, bamboo will grow, so you'll be looking to build a network of these channels to encourage more and more shoots. Of course, those can attract a hungry Panda, so while you're attempting to create growth, other players may be looking for a quick lunch.
Improvements are also available by rolling a Cloudy weather symbol. These can double the rate of bamboo growth, protect a tile from the rampant hunger of the Panda or even create an exclusive water source, supplying only that tile - most useful for those that are a little out of the way. As the game continues, the gardens will grow ever larger, the bamboo shoots will rise to majestic heights and the Panda's stomach will get fatter and fatter until the target amount of objectives is reached and all players get one final turn.
Takenoko is, at first glance, a very simple game. With only five different options available to you on your turn, it can initially come across as somewhat limiting, but once you get into the swing of things you will soon realise that this is a very solid design indeed. Yes, it's a light strategy game, but there are still plenty of decisions to be made and ways to hamper your opponents' progress while forwarding your own. Early progress is slow, yes, but the completion of objectives soon ramps up - remember, you don't have to be responsible for the placement of a tile or growth of a plant to claim the objective, it just has to be there during your turn. This means that the end of the game turns into a frenzy of finished tasks and, even if you think you're behind, those last couple of turns will often see players catching up and scoring some very close results.
It also helps that Takenoko is a beautiful game to look at. Pink, yellow and green dominate with pastel tiles and lurid bamboo tokens that stack up tall, and those previously mentioned miniatures are really gorgeous. The artwork throughout, from the box cover to the instruction booklet, is cartoony but not childish, showing off the Panda's attitude and the Gardener's despair brilliantly. Matagot have put a ridiculous amount of effort into ensuring that every single component is well constructed and beautiful to look at - even moreso now that there's a larger scale collector's edition due for release at this year's Essen Spiel over in Germany in October. Is 120 euro to much to pay for a game? Perhaps, but when it's as gorgeous to look at as this one... well, it'll be a hard decision. At least the regular version is both affordable and pretty, as well as being an excellent game to bring to your table.
Have you tried Takenoko for yourself? Has the Panda's belligerence driven you insane, or have you maintained the peaceful, zen-like qualities of the Gardener? Tell us here!
