The path is laced with opportunities for cruelty . I would imagine every group will play the game according to its personality. Some will aim purely to achieve, exuding a fairly positive vibe. Some will shoot to kill. Ideally, the endgame will hold one or two stunning reveals as the score swings like a blighted pendulum, leaving one supremely happy tree enthusiast standing tall. 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 Arboretum is for two to four players. However, the total amount of cards you play with is dependent on the number of players.

On your first turn, play a card from your hand face up in front of you; this is the start of your arboretum. Note 2: Even if you have multiple viable scoring paths for a species, you still may only score a single path. Choose your most valuable path! As a reviewer, I make sure to play a game 3 or more times before a review. This depends on the game, as heavier games take a lot more plays before I'm comfortable enough to say I've seen all their nooks and crannies. What is an Arboretum? For those who don’t know, it’s an outside space full of trees of a variety of species. It can be quite relaxing wandering through this collection of trees, admiring the Willows and the Maples – and Arboretum the card game captures that sense of beauty and relaxation perfectly. You can imagine yourself casually strolling along admiring the trees as you lay down your cards. What’s In The Box?

Object of the Game

Talia scores points for her Jacaranda, Oak, and Royal Poinciana paths. She doesn't have any Maples in her arboretum, but she did prevent Jonte from scoring his Maples. Arboretum pits two to four arbor enthusiasts against each other in a contest of wits, tile laying, and hand management with a hint of set collection. The rules are simple enough to obscure the tension that makes this little card game a gem.

The player whose revealed cards have the highest sum for that species gains the right to score the single highest scoring path (i.e., not necessarily longest) of that species in their arboretum. In case of a tie for highest sum, all tied players gain the right to score their highest scoring path of that species. Scoring any given species is determined by what is left in the players’ hands. Only a player with the highest total of a given species in their hand can score for that species. If there’s a draw for the highest, they both may qualify for the points. Rina scores points for her Dogwood and Willow paths. She would have scored for her Royal Poinciana path as well, but Talia has the "1" in hand, negating Rina's "8". 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 ThoughtsYou 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. I have had positive experiences with all Z-Man titles I have played, and this is by no means the exception. The Pieces Nature’s Beauty 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. 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.

Each tree in the path counts for 1 point. If, say, you have a 3 of Maple, a 5 of Dogwood, and a 6 of Maple in an uninterrupted path, you have a 3-point maple path. There are some bonuses: Each card counts for 2, instead of 1, if the path contains at least 4 cards and each card is the same tree color. You also get +1 if your path starts with a 1, and a +2 if your path ends with an 8. Score 1 additional point per card if your path is at least 4 cards long and all cards are of the same species. I prefer the two-player experience as the benefits of your own actions help you rather than another player. With a three or four-player game you can often find someone has won purely by the remaining players all cancelling each other out rather than their own efforts. This doesn’t lend itself as well to the overall light experience to me. However, others may enjoy the rivalry and the additional risk that this brings. The twist in Arboretum is that only one player can score each tree type. At the end, players reveal their remaining hand. Whoever has the highest tree card in their hand scores that tree species’ path in their arboretum. Meaning, everyone else scores zero for that tree type! Beware though, because a 1 wraps round and beats an 8 in this manner, so it’s no good hoarding all the 8s… 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").On each subsequent turn, you must play a card adjacent (horizontally or vertically) to 1 or more cards already in your arboretum. 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. 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. All this sounds very frustrating, yet surprisingly, Arboretum is really quite a relaxing game. It’s very thinky and puzzly as you’re trying to work out which cards to play at what time, which to keep in your hand for end scoring, and also keep an eye on your opponents tableau. Ideally, you want a good mix between cards for end scoring that match your tableau trees and cards that will prevent your opponent from scoring. Final Thoughts On Arboretum