Four Gardens (2020) Board Game

Four Gardens is a board game released in 2020 by designer Martin Doležal and published by Korea Boardgames. The game incorporates elements of environmental themes and mythology, providing players with a unique gaming experience.

Game Components of Four Gardens

Pagoda: A central, 3D component that players interact with to gather resources.

Planning Tiles: Each player has a tile for resource management.

Resource Tokens: 15 tokens each of stone, wood, plants, and water.

Landscape Cards: These cards have groundwork and landscape sides and are used to construct panoramas.

Bonus Tiles: Provide bonus resources, points, or expand the planning board.

Scoring Cubes: Used to track points on the Gods Track.

Gods Track: A scoreboard with tracks for four different gods.

How To Setup Four Gardens

To set up Four Gardens, start by assembling the Pagoda, ensuring all parts, including the spire, are correctly attached. Each player selects a Planning Tile and receives scoring cubes, which are placed on the “3” space on each color of the Gods Track. The resource tokens are set aside for easy access, and the Bonus Tiles are placed nearby. Shuffle the Landscape Cards and deal five to each player. Three cards are placed face-up to form the market, with the rest forming the draw pile.

Gameplay Mechanics and Game Objective

Actions

Rotate Pagoda: Discard a card with the pagoda symbol to rotate the pagoda, collecting resources indicated by the pagoda’s configuration.

Take Wilds: Gather resources from the supply up to a specified value.

Place Resource: Move resources from the planning board to groundwork cards.

Draw Card: Draw a new card from the face-up market or the top of the deck.

Objective

Players aim to create landscape panoramas by completing groundwork cards.

Each completed card scores points on the corresponding god’s track on the scoreboard.

The game ends when a set number of landscape cards are completed (8 in a 4-player game, 9 in a 3-player game, 10 in a 2-player game).

The player with the most points, including bonus points, wins.

Player Experience

Four Gardens offers a dynamic and engaging experience with its unique pagoda mechanic and resource management system. Players must carefully plan their actions, as each turn involves discarding a card and managing limited resources. The game’s art style is bright, colorful, and inviting, adding to its appeal. However, as the player count increases, the game becomes more unpredictable due to the pagoda’s rotation and resource availability, making it challenging to plan ahead.

Pros

Unique Pagoda Mechanic: The 3D pagoda adds a physical and interactive element to the game.

Resource Constraints: Forces players to think and plan, enhancing the strategic depth.

Beautiful Artwork: The panoramic cards and overall design are visually appealing.

Easy to Learn: Simple actions with strong icon associations make it accessible to new players.

Cons

Limited Planning: High player count introduces significant uncertainty, making long-term planning difficult.

Limited Actions: With only three actions per turn, players must prioritize carefully.

Personal Thoughts on Four Gardens

Four Gardens is ideal for players who enjoy resource management and strategic planning. It is suitable for families and casual gamers due to its relatively simple rules and engaging gameplay. However, experienced players may find the unpredictability of the pagoda and the limited number of actions per turn to be both a challenge and a fresh twist on traditional resource management games. This game is perfect for those looking for a game that combines strategy with a bit of luck and interactive gameplay.

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