There’s another two player game on Board Game Arena (BGA) and it’s Garden Rush. This one popped up last week, and I knew it’d be my new game for the week. But with all the two player games that I’ve played, Zenith, Gold’n’Crash, Toy Battle and more, where does it rank? It is going to be going up against some pretty stiff competition. Will Garden Rush beet out the other two player games, or will it turnip to be a poor game?

How to Play Garden Rush

Garden Rush is a race to forty points. Each player is building out their own garden of vegetables and then harvesting those vegetables for points. The game is over when a player has passed 40 points and players have taken an even number of turns, or until tiles run out.

Turns

On your turn you take one tile from a center row. If you place it in the column that it was taken from, you put it on the two side, that means it can be used for scoring twice. Or if it’s not you place it on the one side. If you cover a bonus spot, then you take that bonus, we’ll talk more about bonuses in a little bit.

Or on your turn you harvest one of the sections of veggies. Each type of vegetable has a specific pattern in which it will score, and three versions of that pattern. When you harvest a veggie you score a single point for each vegetable in that pattern. And you flip the veggies that show two veggies to show one, and remove the ones that show a single veggie.

Bonuses

Now, what I described above is the vast majority of the game. But there are bonuses printed onto each garden as well. Each bonus is going to provide something different. One bonus will water a veggie flipping it’s side. That can be used to turn an opponents veggie to a one, or your veggie back to a two. Another lets you take an additional tile after your first one and yet another harvest a group of veggies on a turn you placed veggies. The final one let’s you move veggies around.

Scoring

One thing about scoring is that there are specific spots on the scoring track that give you a bonus as well. This bonus spot, if you land exactly on it, is going to let you use one of the bonuses printed on your or your opponents garden. But there is a specific rule around that, that bonus needs to be visible in order for it to be used. So if you and your opponent both have the bonus harvest covered up, you cannot use that ability.

Bonus Module

There is a module that I assume comes with the game. It is something that is easy to add in, so I don’t know why it wouldn’t. The module is more tools that you add to your game. These are tools that aren’t printed on your board, but they show-up in that center row with the vegetables. You place the tools on your board like a vegetable and they block spots. But difference between them an a vegetable is that they do not come off your board.

What Doesn’t Work

I find that I don’t have much issue with the game. I think that the biggest negative might be the module with the bonus tiles. Now, I like the bonus tiles, there are just a lot of them. And they flood that center row at certain points in every game. That means that sometimes you take a move that isn’t that great for you. Now, it is an issue for your opponent as well, but the moves don’t feel like a positive move forward.

What Works

Firstly, I like the simplicity of the turns. You either play a tile or you harvest vegetables. And I think that is what I want in a two player game basically always. Because of that simplicity of each turn, I find that the games go very quickly. Even on BGA, Garden Rush is a fast game to play if both players are on at all at the same time. It is worth noting I play asynchronously.

Another element that I like is how the different vegetables score. They score in different shape patterns and it is a fun puzzle to figure out how you can have the tomatoes go between the carrots as they both work on diagonals. Or can you get lettuce and corn to interlock to best use your garden as you fill it out. It’s not a complex puzzle, but it’s something that is fun to optimize as you play. As well as optimizing the placement of veggies so you get to use them twice.

The powers on the board and in the module are fun as well. The ones in the module really change up the game. And the one on the board, you tend to activate them when you activate them, but you can create some very good turns doing that. And I appreciate how all of them work.

Speaking of the module, it is fun as well because they fill up your garden. That is some of the reason why they can be a negative in that middle row to take from. But you need to plan where you take them from so you don’t mess with your vegetable scoring. I think that the module is a very good add to the game after you play a couple of times.

Who Is Garden Rush For?

Garden Rush is a great game for couples who want a pretty easy game to learn and play and play in an evening. Set-up is fast, game play is fast, and you feel like you are doing something. It is also good for people who maybe don’t love board games as much. I think that the game, especially without the module, is easy to understand and learn how to play the game. But with the module, it adds in that extra challenge that is going to keep more seasoned game players engaged.

Final Thoughts on Garden Rush

I enjoy Garden Rush quite well. I don’t think it is the favorite of the two player games that I’ve learned this year on BGA, though. Zenith still holds that top spot. But the game is very enjoyable to play. And I think it works well because it has just enough strategy to it. With or without the module of the extra tools there is a good amount going on with it. And each turn I want to optimize how I place out my veggies to use them twice.

And I like how there are bonuses that you can get on the scoring track. I know that I am not the best at using them. In fact, that is one area that I need to get better at when I play Garden Rush. But when you can use them, you can combo into some very good turns. And it is possible to combo scoring a section of the garden, use the place an extra veggie ability, cover up your place an extra veggie, so place another tile which could cover up a another bonus and chain into a powerful turn. And I like that a lot in a game.

My Score: B+
Gamer Score: B
Casual Score: B
Luck Level: 4
Strategy Level: 6

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