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Andy Van Zandt
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Bohnanza » Forums » Reviews
The importance of bean ernest.
The Game:
You've got a hand of beans, which you'll plant and harvest for money, and the rarer the bean the fewer it takes to get rewarded. You can't change the order of your hand, and you're forced to use cards from the front of it every turn. You'll also get 2 cards off the top of the deck every turn, which you'll be forced to use as well. The only way to have control over what you're planting is to trade, from your hand and/or from the 2-off-the-top. At the end of the turn, draw more beans to the back of your hand.

The Good:
This game forces players to trade (which is a good thing). That's what this game is. There's a little strategy as far as bean choice optimization, but that is dwarfed by the importance of trading well. You can look at virtually every mechanic, and see how it lends itself to this. Only 2 fields to plant in, at least 3 beans which you must plant every turn, hm. You can't change your hand order besides trading out of it, and even when you've traded well to set that up several turns in advance, you're going to get random cards off the top you're forced to deal with.

The Bad:
I'm surprised that a game with such a forced social mechanic is rated as well as it is. -I- like social mechanics, but BGG'ers on the whole tend to frown when the social mechanic isn't very small compared to the strategy mechanics. The worst thing for me is how evenly balanced the beans are. I'd prefer the wabi-sabi of more strongly "better" and "worse" beans.

The Ugly:
The cards are solid for use, and the box comes with a tray that's more adequate than average for storage. I kinda wish I had the fan edition, just because I'm a fan of art variation.

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Overall a good game, and well suited for play with a larger than average crowd (with the normal english version). The fact that the game is powered so heavily by its forced-trade engine keeps everyone at least somewhat interested every turn, because each turn is a new opportunity for some stink beans.

7/10
Juan José Fernández Quiroga
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