Zen and the art of bamboo garden maintenance: Takenoko review

Takenoko
Designer: Antoine Bauza
Published by: Bombyx / Matagot
Players: 2-4

When trying to smooth out rocky diplomatic relations between two great nations, what gift best reflects your respect and admiration for a foreign Emperor? If you guessed a giant animal that rampages through his beautiful gardens devouring the colour-coordinated bamboo, Takenoko is right up your alley. Take on the role of a courtier in imperial Japan caring for the exotic panda and trying not to make a mess of the Emperor's gardens in the process.



Takenoko is a tile laying board building game that has players competing to craft the most pleasing bamboo garden to win the favour of the Emperor. By completing objectives in three different categories, players earn victory points - the winner is the one with the highest total after a set number of objectives have been claimed. The garden begins as a single pond tile that forms the center of the board, and from here players will add new plots to the garden, grow bamboo, and manage the troublesome panda that munches your carefully cultivated greenery.

At the beginning of the game each player receives one objective card from each of the three categories. Plot objectives each require a certain pattern of tiles to be present in the garden, irrigated and in the matching colour. Gardener objectives need a number of bamboo stacks of the right height and colour, present on the right tile(s). Panda objectives require the panda to eat various amounts of bamboo of a particular colour. Each turn players will take two actions - you can reveal 3 tiles from the stack and choose one to add to the garden, take an irrigation channel from the supply, draw a new objective, move the gardener or move the panda.

The player board looks good and is a visual reminder for actions, as well as a place to store tokens

The garden tiles and the bamboo stacks that grow on them come in three colours: pink, green and yellow. The first time a tile is irrigated, bamboo sprouts! You'll add one of the wooden bamboo base pieces to the tile matching its colour, and further bits that grow there are slotted in to the top. These bamboo components look and feel great, and coupled with the gorgeous tiles, the garden board that develops over the game is visually striking. Tiles that are placed adjacent to the pond get irrigated automatically, otherwise you will need to spend actions to buy irrigation channels and link them up along the edges of the tiles (you may place any number of already purchased channels on your turn at no action cost). The final way to irrigate a tile is by improvements. You can place an improvement tile from your stock on a garden tile with no bamboo, or some tiles in the stack come with their own improvements already. There's water (making the tile self irrigating), fertilizer (bamboo grows by 2 segments instead of 1), or a fence which stops the panda from eating bamboo on that tile.

A fully cultivated bamboo garden makes a really pretty sight on the table

Now that your tile is irrigated and you've gotten the first bit of bamboo to grow (first taste is always free...) to develop the plot further requires use of the gardener. As an action, players can move the gardener to any tile in a straight line from his starting position. That tile and any adjacent tiles of the same colour then grow their bamboo stacks - as long as they are irrigated. Tiles that aren't irrigated can't grow anything. Bamboo stacks can go up to four segments high on each tile, but getting them there is complicated by the fact that the panda is wandering the garden, and he's hungry.

The colour painted miniatures are a great alternative to counters or wooden meeples

The panda just loves eating your bamboo. Greedy bastard. The panda token makes up the other half of the yin-yang bamboo struggle. Where the gardener builds your stacks up, the panda tears them down. The panda follows the same movement rules as the gardener when you activate him, but will remove a piece of bamboo wherever he lands. The bamboo eaten on your turn is kept on your player board to cash in for panda objectives.

An additional random element is introduced by the weather die. Each turn the die is rolled to determine the weather for the turn that will introduce a slight rules change. Sun gives you three actions instead of two. Wind allows you to repeat the same action twice. Rain grows bamboo on one plot. Clouds let you pick an improvement of your choice from the supply (but you don't have to play it on a tile immediately). Storm allows you to move the panda to any tile and eat a piece of bamboo there, and the last face lets you pick which weather you want for that turn. Exploiting the weather bonuses is important as Takenoko is a game of small efficiencies and incremental advantages.

The three types of objectives: Gardener, Plot and Panda

This is definitely a game in the euro vein, but without the bland and interchangeable theme that term might sometimes imply. The theme here is expertly woven throughout the whole package, from the gameplay mechanics to the wonderful art and components. The painted panda and gardener miniatures are a lovely touch which could just as easily have been featureless plastic or generic wooden cutouts, and the slotted bamboo bits are such a pleasing tactile experience to place. Even the rules are presented in a bright colourful comic-book style. Don't let the pretty components, rich theme and top-down design fool you though. This is a eurogame, a "let's play the same game but separately" experience with little direct interaction. You may be able to work out, to some extent, what objectives another player is going for based on what they choose to place/grow. However there's little opportunity to really have any deliberate impact on them. About all you can do to affect another player is move the panda/gardener to interfere with the bamboo you think they're growing, but the objectives are variable and randomly drawn even within their category so you don't really know what they're doing until they reveal a completed objective. And anyway actions are at a premium, you'll need all your turns and actions to advance your own plans rather than trying to get in everyone else's face. 

Full colour rulebook with a comic-style backstory to set the tone

And you know what? That's fine. Not every game has to center around adversarial conflict. And the whole tone of Takenoko makes it one of those pleasant experiences where everyone is just involved in an activity together. There's still space for rivalry and running the same race against each other, you just won't be elbowing each other in the face as you do it. But do be aware that's the kind of game it is, if you're looking for an interactive experience whether competitive or cooperative, this isn't it. 

A sturdy and neatly sorted box insert is always appreciated

Takenoko is an ideal family game and will still be enjoyable for gamers up for a lighter experience. There isn't a whole lot of deep strategy here though. The objectives you need to complete are drawn randomly, and you might well end up sitting on a hand full of cards you won't be able to score while another player draws into an easier set by luck. Nominally the more difficult objectives are worth more victory points, but there isn't much spread and you'll still be subject to random luck much of the time. Pink objectives are "more difficult" than yellow which are more difficult than green, but the substance of each objective is still the same. The additional difficulty and resulting victory points come from there being slightly fewer yellow tiles than green, and fewer pink than yellow. It's random chance making you less likely to complete those objectives not skill or additional complexity, which can be unsatisfying. You might draw pink gardener objectives that you just can't complete because the specific tiles don't show up. Conversely, the pink and yellow panda objectives are no more difficult to complete, but reward more VP than the equivalent greens. The optional variant rule where you have to return and re-draw an objective card that's already complete when you draw it is a no-brainer. But it doesn't do much to offset the luck component of imbalanced scoring.

Eating two single bits of pink bamboo isn't any harder, but earns more VP

If you're not put off by a light, relaxing experience as opposed to brain-burning strategy, you can find a lot of enjoyment in Takenoko. It's bright and fun and even if it's not a game you'll pull of the shelf every session, it's one you could play a round of anytime and enjoy. It's also a great gateway game for new boardgamers as a stepping stone to deeper games, without the thematic blandness of something like Settlers of Catan. Just know going in that you won't be spending hours carefully constructing panda strategies and bamboo engines, give in to the light gameplay and luck elements and enjoy boardgaming's very own zen garden.