Bonsai Review: Grow Your Tree Branch by Branch, Tile by Tile

Grow your bonsai tree, tile by tile, carefully laying out the branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit, gathering helpers and growing your abilities.

Bonsai is a drafting, tile placement board game from DV Games, designed for 1-4 players, with a 40-minute game time.

Gameplay

On a player's turn, he may choose to either meditate or to cultivate. When a player meditates, he takes one card from the display, also taking the tiles indicated by the position of the card in the display. There are four types of tiles: wood, leaf, flower, and fruit.

Tool cards will increase the number of tiles a player can keep between turns, and growth cards increase the number of tiles a player can add to his bonsai tree when he takes the cultivate action. There are also parchment cards that earn extra points at the end of the game, master cards which allow a player to take an extra tile, and help cards, which allow the player to add tiles to his tree that turn.

After a player has taken a card and ended his turn, cards in the display are shifted to the right as needed to fill the gap left by the card taken, and a new card from the deck is drawn.

When a player uses the cultivate action, he can add tiles from his hand to his bonsai tree. At the start of the game, each player can add one wood tile, one leaf tile, and another tile of his choice. However, as he gains more growth cards, the number of tiles and types of tiles he can add increases.

The tiles in the game are hexagons. Wood tiles must be placed adjacent to another wood tile, as must leaf tiles. Flower tiles must be placed adjacent to a leaf tile. Fruit tiles must be placed between two leaf tiles that are adjacent to each other. Fruit tiles cannot be placed next to one another.

Each game, there are three sets of three goal tiles of three different colors, with the three goals being of increasing difficulty level. On a player's turn, if he fulfills a goal's requirement, for example having a certain number of leaf tiles, he may claim that goal tile and earn its points; or, he may choose to renounce it in the hope of completing a higher difficulty goal of that color, which will be worth more points. Once a player has renounced a goal tile, he cannot claim that tile and must go for one of the more difficult ones, and once a player has claimed a goal tile he cannot claim another one of the same color.

The game ends once the last card from the deck is drawn and everyone has had a final turn. Players earn three points for each leaf tile in their tree and seven for each fruit tile. Finally, each flower is worth one point for each side not touching any other tile, meaning they can be worth up to five points each. The player with the most points wins.

Review

Bonsai is a thoughtful game with a slow buildup, as players expand the number of tiles they can hold and place on a turn, bit by bit, drafted card by drafted card. Which tiles are most useful to collect, also shifts as the game proceeds.

Wood tiles aren’t worth any points (unless playing with one of the goals that count them) but they’re necessary for building off of. Flowers, meanwhile, can be worth lots of points, but are more likely to have a higher value if placed towards the end of the game.

This is a very mellow game, and following on that pattern there’s not much player interaction here, outside of taking a card someone else wanted. Even then, you’re more likely to be focusing on your own plans.

It’s a beautiful game, though, and it’s lovely to see your tree come together. Each tree takes on a unique shape, and some of the goals even push you towards unusual patterns. The goals are one of the more unique features of this game, with an almost push-your-luck element to choosing when to take a goal. Do you push for a more valuable one and hope another player doesn’t beat you to it first? There’s no going back once a goal has been renounced.

Bonsai is a nice, relaxing game, with some enjoyable choices and a lovely aesthetic. Turns are fast and downtime is minimal even at the higher player counts. Despite having little player interaction, it plays nicely and doesn’t overstay its welcome.

Pros: An aesthetically lovely game, quick turns with minimal downtime

Cons: Minimal player interaction

Disclosure: we received a complimentary review copy of this game.