Quick Takes: 1-4 players
15-20 minutes
Ages 8+
Level 1 (easy to learn, easy to play, and FUN!)
Are you going to Scarborough Fair? If so, you might do really well at this game collecting your parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.
In Herbaceous, players collect and pot herb cards into containers to score points. The game works a lot like Gin Rummy, so it will feel familiar even if you're not a big gamer yourself. Each round has two turns. The first turn ("Pot Herbs") is optional, and the second turn ("Plant") is required. In the Pot Herbs turn, choose one of your unused containers and tuck a collection of herb cards into it. These herb cards come from your private garden or the community garden. You can only pot containers once per game, so choose wisely. Your goal is to pot herbs that score you the most points. There are four different kinds of pots with different scoring mechanisms. In the Plant turn, draw a card from the draw pile and place it either in the community garden or your private garden. Then draw another card from the pile and place it wherever you didn't place the first card.
The game ends when the deck runs out and no one can pot anything else. This triggers the scoring round. Whoever has the best herb garden wins!
(If you now have Simon and Garfunkel stuck in your head all day, all we can say is - you're not alone.)
- Seamlessly combines so many of our hobbies at once - games, relaxing, gardening, and cooking! Not bad!
- Great warm-up to game night or a nice companion to afternoon tea. Easy to teach and a quick play make this a friendly and approachable game for all.
- Indie game developer Pencil First makes some really lovely games, and Herbaceous is no exception.
- Golden Geek Best Card Game Nominee - 2017