I’ve been playing a lot of small games recently. Mainly because they are nice for taking in to work and don’t take up too much table space. Arboretum got brought into work last week and to the table a few times. So is it one that worked well for me, or like another game, review coming soon, that was interesting but probably will be leaving my collection?

How to Play Arboretum

Arboretum, when it comes down to it, is a set collection game, but one that has more going on in it. The mechanics of what you do on a turn are pretty simple, you take two cards from the combination of discard piles and the draw pile. You play one and discard one to your own discard pile.

As you play down cards you put them in rows and columns to create groups of trees in ascending order. The only thing that matters with that, is at the end of the game you can create paths that start and end with the same tree. In the middle it doesn’t matter. But if you can make it all of the same type of tree, you score more points.

The twist comes with how it is determined who scores a tree type. You need a card of that tree type in your hand, but not only that, you need the highest combined value of those tree types. So you can block someone from scoring well, or you might need to keep a lot for yourself. At the end, the player who scores the most points wins.

What Doesn’t Work?

The teaching of this game can be a big tricky. You need to know a few things before you get going. And I think with the first game, it is always going to be a bit of a challenge. The whole concept of ascending isn’t difficult, but the strategy of what cards to keep to score, that is trickier. I think some gamers will get it quickly, but I am not sure that most players would.

And while this isn’t a problem for me, I can see some people not liking that this game can be mean. If you build out a nice row of trees, say five of the same type starting with 1 and ending with 8, you might be in line to score a lot of points (13), but if I keep just enough points in that tree to keep you from scoring it, your hard work of building that run of trees is wasted. So, know it can be mean going into the game.

What Works?

I think that the balance of how many of a tree you play down versus you keep in your hand works well. You want to build that really big row of trees to score those 13 points, like in the last example, but also is it better to score fewer and make sure you score? The game is a very good push and pull of what you want to do. And what cards do you leave in your hand that an opponent might want?

I also like that you don’t need only one type of tree to score. I could go from an oak to a spruce to a maple and end on an oak. You score fewer points doing that, but it is still points. It can make sense to diversify and score in a number of trees versus a lot in a few. And that variety of strategy works well for me.

Then there is a game length and decision space. Not long ago I wrote about quick vs fast in board games. Read that here. The idea is the game turns don’t take too long and the game always keeps you engaged. This is a quick and fast game. Game play doesn’t take too long, and I need to know what you are doing.

Who Is This For?

I think this is a great game for people getting into the world of hobby board games. A lot of board games that you play growing up, chess or Stratego for example, give you an abstract game to figure out and a way to go up against an opponent. Arboretum isn’t as confrontational, but it feels in the same realm, just more of a gamers game.

But with that, it is not a game that is too easy for gamers. The decision space is well made for the game. And it feels like there can be different strategies. Plus, with different players, that will change up how you want to play the game as you go.

Arboretum Final Thoughts

This is a very good game. And one that I think is small enough that for a lot of gamers, it probably should be in their collection. Mainly because you can pull it off the shelf and play it with anyone. And I don’t see this being a game that can be solved. Which I think is important for these games that feel like a bit of a puzzle. There is just enough interaction that happens to keep it fresh.

And for me, the speed that the game plays at really sells it. I like being engaged. I like that I make meaningful decisions. And I like that this is a game I can play with basically anyone. I can see this becoming a staple filler type game for me. And it isn’t a mindless filler which is very important.

My Grade: B+
Gamer Grade: B
Casual Grade: B

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