Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
Discard 1 card from your hand into your personal discard pile, face up. This can be any card from your hand, including a card that you drew this turn. I did my research going into Arboretum, critics and fans raved about it: fantastic game, but it's mean. I didn't think too much of it. I've played mean games before and public opinion at the moment is unreliable. It's too sensationalist. So when people said it was mean I thought they were being big babies. This is a highly-interactive mean game, which is something I like, very different from games like Wingspan where you better just play it individually in your own houses without talking and the experience is the same. However, due to the meanness, it might not be for everyone. Imagine this, your opponent builds over something that could score them a lot of points, and they planned around that and executed that for the whole game, and they felt contented about it and happy. The problem? You hold in your hand the set of cards that will prevent them from scoring, bwahaha! Their whole game, for just 0 points :D My girlfriend didn't like it as she doesn't want her plans go to waste totally due to an action by an opponent. But for me, I like that. Make sure your discard pile remains visible to your opponents. After discarding, you should have exactly 7 cards in hand.
Mechanically, arboretum is simple to teach: Each player receives 7 cards, and each turn (including the first turn), each player takes turns doing the following: However, the wonderful balance of the game lies in the fact that players can only score those points, which they have worked so hard for, if they have the highest total value of that tree species in their hand at the end of the game. So, if you have put down a beautiful run of Maples, but only have the Maple five left in your hand meanwhile one of your opponents has both the four and the two, then you will not score any points, undoing all of your grand landscaping efforts. Seeing the Wood from the Trees My rules explanation, with a helpful bit from the designer's post on BGG, is below. The bottom line is that this is a far more tense and strategic game than its theme would suggest. The basic idea is that each player is building a personal arboretum full of different trees, but players only receive points for their tree paths if they play tactically and arrange the trees properly. Setup is a breeze. Each player count uses a specific number of tree species – suits – which are numbered 1 through 8. Though the rules do not require it, we’ve enjoyed laying out the ten possibilities and drafting the collection for the game so that everyone can hold out hope that they’ll work with their favorite tree. Once the collection is complete, the cards are shuffled and dealt, seven to each player with a common draw pile set face-down in the middle of the table.Introduced my partner's youngest sibling - eight years old - to dungeon-crawling on Thanksgiving. He wants to come over next Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, too, because those are the days he doesn't... The game was a hit with the family, drawing in children and parents alike. The age recommendation (8+) is spot on, though I tend to think the strategic choices will be difficult for anyone under the age of ten. The timing on the box is accurate. A four-player game may stretch past 30 minutes if anyone is prone to paralysis, but a 25-minute play is also not out of the question if folks are on the ball. Now, what you’re trying to do is create a pathway between cards of the same species. As long as the first and last card in that path are of the same species and the numbers continue in sequence, you can score. Numbers don’t need to be consecutive, so don’t worry about skipping some.
Depending on the player count, you take out a number of tree cards for your game, and it’s fun at the beginning choosing which set of trees you like the look of most and which to leave out. I’ve played this over and over with different group sizes, but find it works best at two players, and we tend to exclude the same trees each time. Sorry, Dogwood! It’s nothing personal! So, Is The Deluxe Edition Worth Adding To Your Collection?At the end of the game, you'll go through all of the plant species in play. You will call out the species one at a time, then only the player who reveals the highest numbered sum of cards of that species from their hand gets to score the points for the species. One additional rule is if a player has a 1 in their hand at the end, the value of the 8 in someone's hand of that same species is treated as 0. The cards from the Renegade reprint feature illustrations from Beth Sobel (of Wingspan and Calico fame). Every tantalizing species card includes a matching icon for easy identification, as well as a name. At first, I singled out the Blue Spruce as my favorite. As the number of plays increases, I find myself more enamored with each of the cards. It would be impossible to oversell the game’s overall visual appeal. Setup & Gameplay
Exception! If you have the "8" of a species in hand, but an opponent has the "1" of that species in their hand, the value of the "8" is considered to be "0" when determining who has the highest sum for that species. (The "1" is always considered to be "1"). Because now Arboretum gives you another compelling reason to hold cards in your hand, while at the same time making you discard every turn. While this is easy at the beginning of the game, you'll soon hit that point where you'll have a hand of cards you want to keep, and then how do you make the decision on which cards to throw away? It's agonizing, but it's brilliant. It provides the same depth, and level of tension as Hanamikoji. Which is an incredible feat of board game design. A delightful walk through a carefully cultivated garden, Arboretum nearly caused me to let down my guard as I fell captive to its beauty. But as the endgame approached, just as I prepared to celebrate my efforts, this botanical puzzle revealed its true plot and laid bare its most unfriendly secrets. Once friendships and family ties have been strained by the uncovering of secret sins, the points are tallied and a winner is declared. If your experience is like mine, you’ll then choose a new set of species and go at it again. Parting Thoughts Arboretum is a card game that blends hand management, set collection and tile-placement. Or, in Arboretum’s case, card-placement. An arboretum is a garden dedicated to trees, and in Dan Cassar’s game, players compete to build their own layouts. Who will make the best paths through their own tranquil woodland?
Game Play
You must choose which cards to plant in your arboretum and which to keep in hand, as only the most expert curator will win the renown of nature enthusiasts everywhere. It's hard to call this a review, it's more a cautionary tale and because I've only played it the one time be sure to take my word with a grain of salt.
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