- Designer: Antonie Bauz
- Artists: Nicholas Fructus, Joel Van Aerde & Yuio
- Publisher: Bombyx & Matagot
- Players: 2-4 Players
- Playtime: 45 minutes
- Ages: 8+
Takenoko is a wonderfully adorable game from Bombyx & Matagot. Designed for 2-4 players, ages 8+, a game of Takenoko plays in about 45 minutes. The background story is illustrated through a comic that is included in the box: China gifts a giant panda to the Emperor of Japan, and you are tasked with caring for it. Luckily, the Emperor has provided you with a royal gardener to grow bamboo for the panda bear to eat. Throughout the game, you will work to increase the Panda’s garden area, irrigate the bamboo gardens, and keep the hungry bear fed. I loved this game for the panda bear concept alone, but in the end I also greatly enjoyed the play style! Are you ready to dive into the world of Takenoko?
What’s In the Box?
- 28 Plots
- 36 Green Bamboo Sections
- 30 Yellow Bamboo Sections
- 24 Pink Bamboo Sections
- 20 Irrigation Channels
- 9 Improvements
- 46 “Objective” Cards
- 4 Individual Boards
- 8 Action Chips
- 1 Weather Die
- 1 Panda
- 1 Gardener
- 1 Rule Book (and Comic)
Setup
To start your setup of Takenoko, first place the “pond tile” in the center of the playing area. You will then place the Gardener and the Panda on this plot. Mix together all of the other plot tiles and create a pile, face down, in the playing area in reach of the players. Sort improvements by type and place in the playing area, along with all of the irrigation channels. The Emperor card will be set aside. Take the remaining cards and divide into piles for Plot, Gardener, and Panda. Be sure to shuffle each pile. Each player will then receive their own Individual Board. Players start with 2 Action Chips and 1 card from each category. Players keep their cards to themselves and do not share them. Per the rules, the tallest player goes first. You are now ready to play Takenoko!
Objective
Players in Takenoko each have Objective Cards with requirements to fulfill. The objective of the game is to fulfill as many of these requirements as possible, until the end of the game is triggered. The end of the game is triggered when a player completes the requisite number of Objective Cards, their 9th objective in a two player game, their 8th objective in a three player game, or their 7th objective in a four player game. At this time, the player who triggered the end of the game earns the Emperor card. Each other player has a final turn to attempt to fulfill their objectives, and the player with the most points at the end of the game wins!
Gameplay
On a player’s turn in Takenoko, they will complete the following actions: Determine the weather conditions, Perform actions, and Meet Objectives. Such objectives include adding a plot, building an irrigation channel, moving the gardener, moving the panda or meeting objectives.
The first thing a player will do on their turn is roll the Weather Die to determine which of weather conditions occur. Each weather pattern correlates to a condition listed at the top of their board. It could allow players to perform an additional action, grow bamboo, take 2 of the same action, move the panda, or choose and improvement chip.
The second thing a player will do on their turn is perform actions. A player has two actions per turn, and unless a weather condition allows, the actions must be different. The player may: Select 3 plot tiles and choose one to place in the Garden, take an Irrigation Channel from the reserve, move the Gardener, move the Panda, or draw an Objective Card (a player may only have up to 5 cards in their hand at one time).
Players may complete objectives on their turn, which does not count as an action. There are objectives for plots (match the tile placement on the card), gardener (match the configuration of bamboo on the card), and panda (pay a certain amount of bamboo that matches the card). Players may complete more than one objective on their turn, as long as they meet the conditions of each.
Players take turns in clockwise order until the end of the game is triggered. At this point, the player who triggered the end of the game earns the emperor card. All other players complete one last turn, and then objective points are counted. The player with the most points wins! If there is a tie, the player with the most panda objective cards wins! If there is still a tie, players share the victory!
Final Thoughts
For Takenoko, I came for the panda bear and stayed for the game play! Four of us played Takenoko together the first time I played. The comic that explains the backstory of the game was a wonderful touch. I really appreciated the layout of the Individual Boards, which allow you to follow along in the order of play relatively easily. The art on the plot tiles was detailed enough to keep the board interesting, and the wooden bamboo tokens were a great feature. They stood up really nicely when building up the bamboo shoots. Given that the game is right up my alley, I was surprised it took me this long to be introduced to it. The age recommendation of 8+ is pretty accurate, but I would think that younger players may need some help keeping track of things like turn order. This is where the individual board really comes in handy, as it has lots of visual aids. Also worth mentioning is that Takenoko received the Golden Geek award in 2012. Overall, I had a wonderful time playing Takenoko and would recommend it, especially for a table of mixed gamers, with more experienced board gamers and newer board gamers!
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