Bohnanza

1997

Bohnanza is a strategic card game where you plant, harvest, and trade beans to earn coins. Perfect for 3-7 players, this game combines strategy, trading, and fun in a unique bean farming adventure.

45
minutes

2 - 7
player(s)

12+

Medium Light

About the game

Welcome to the thrilling world of Bohnanza! This is not your typical board game – it’s a game that immerses you in the intriguing world of bean farming. As you navigate this game, you will find yourself trading, negotiating, and strategizing to plant, grow and harvest different types of beans to reap the maximum profit.

Bohnanza takes place in a whimsical universe where beans are not just food, but a valuable currency. Each player assumes the role of a bean farmer, and the goal is to earn the most gold by growing and harvesting your bean crops. The setting, while light-hearted and humorous, requires strategic thinking and negotiation skills to excel.

Game components Unboxing the fun!

Bohnanza is a unique card game where players trade and sell beans to earn gold. The gameplay revolves around managing your hand of cards as efficiently as possible. Here are the essential components of Bohnanza and their functions:

1. Bean Cards:

The primary component of the game, the deck contains several different varieties of beans, each with their own unique illustrations. They’re used to plant beans in your fields, trade with other players, or sell for gold coins. Each bean card also displays the number of that type of bean in the deck and a beanometer indicating how many cards of that bean must be in a field before they can be sold for gold.

2. Coin Tokens:

These are the currency in the game and represent the gold you earn from selling beans. The player with the most gold at the end of the game wins. Each bean card can be turned into a coin by flipping it over.

3. Third Bean Field Card:

This card represents an extra field for planting beans. Players start the game with two bean fields and have the option to purchase this third field for three coins at any point during the game. This can be advantageous for planting more beans and potentially earning more coins.

4. Rule Booklet:

The rule booklet provides the essential instructions and guidelines for playing Bohnanza. It covers everything from setting up the game to the specifics of trading and selling beans.

The components of Bohnanza interact in the following ways:

Planting: Players plant beans from their hand into their fields. Each field can only contain one type of bean.
Trading: Players can negotiate and trade beans from their hands during their turn. This allows players to give away beans they can’t or don’t want to plant and gain beans they can plant or sell.
Selling: Players sell beans from their fields for coins, turning their bean cards into coin tokens. The number of coins earned depends on the number of beans sold, as indicated on the beanometer.
Purchasing: Players can purchase a third bean field card for the cost of three coins, giving them more space to plant beans.

These interactions require strategic decision-making to maximize your gold and win the game.

Game setup Lay it out, line it up, let’s go

Bohnanza is a card game where players plant, trade, and sell beans to earn coins. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to set up the game:

Step 1: Shuffle the Cards
Start by shuffling the 104 bean cards. Deal five cards to each player. Players must keep their cards in the order they receive them and may not rearrange them.

Step 2: Set Up the Draw Deck
Place the remaining cards in the center of the table to form the draw deck.

Step 3: Set Up the Trading Area
Allocate a space near the draw deck for a trading area. This is where players will place cards that they offer for trades.

Step 4: Determine Player Roles
Each player is a bean farmer. There are no special roles in Bohnanza; all players follow the same rules and have the same capabilities.

Step 5: Set Up Player Fields
Each player starts with two bean fields in front of them, which are just empty spaces on the table in front of the player. The fields are where players plant their beans. A third bean field can be purchased by any player for three coins.

Step 6: Distribute Initial Coins
No player starts with any coins. Coins are earned by harvesting planted beans.

Step 7: Random Elements
The randomness in Bohnanza comes from the order of the cards in the draw deck and the trades that players choose to make. Players must strategize based on the order of cards in their hand and the beans available in the trading area.

Now that everything is set up, you’re ready to start planting, trading, and selling beans!

Game flow Round and round we go

Bohnanza is a unique trading and farming card game where players need to plant, harvest and trade beans to earn coins. The game continues over several turns until the draw deck is exhausted three times.

The game is structured into different phases in each player’s turn. Here’s a detailed explanation:

1. Planting Phase: The player must plant the first bean card from their hand into one of their fields. They may also plant the second card in their hand if they choose to. The rule is that a field must contain beans of one type only. If a player decides to plant beans of a different type, they must first harvest all the beans of the existing type and clear the field.

Harvesting Beans: When a player decides to harvest beans, they count the beans in the field and collect a certain number of coins as indicated on the bean card. The harvested bean cards go to the discard pile.

2. Drawing, Trading, and Donating Phase: The player draws two cards from the deck and places them face up on the table. They can then trade these beans with other players. Trades involve swapping bean cards from hands and/or the active player’s face-up cards. Players can also donate unwanted beans to other players. The active player may then plant these traded or donated beans.

3. Drawing New Bean Cards: After trading and planting, the player draws three new bean cards one at a time, adding each one to the back of their hand. The order of the cards in a player’s hand is very important and must not be changed.

End of the Game: The game ends when the draw deck is exhausted for the third time. Players then harvest beans in their fields and add the coins to their existing total. The player with the most coins wins.

End of the game All good games must come to an end

The game of Bohnanza ends when the draw deck has been exhausted three times. Once this occurs, the game is immediately over and players proceed to final scoring.

Victory Conditions:

The primary goal in Bohnanza is to earn as many coins as possible. Coins are earned by harvesting and selling bean fields. The player with the most coins at the end of the game is declared the winner.

It’s important to note that players can only have two (or three, with a special card) bean fields at a time, and must sell all beans of a single type when they decide to harvest a field. This means that strategic planting, trading, and harvesting are key to maximizing coin earnings.

Final Scoring:

Harvesting Bean Fields: At the end of the game, players must harvest all of their bean fields and add these coins to their total. Remember, each bean card in a field is worth a certain number of coins when that field is harvested. The number of coins earned depends on the number of beans of that type in the field. The exact values for each type of bean are listed on the cards themselves.
Counting Coins: Once all fields have been harvested, players count the total number of coins they have earned throughout the game. Each player’s coins are kept face down in front of them, so keep track of your coins carefully!
Declaring the Winner: The player with the most coins at the end of the game is the winner. In the case of a tie, the player who has the most cards left in their hand is the winner.

End Game Actions:

There are no special actions players must take at the end of the game, aside from harvesting all their remaining fields and counting their coins. Remember, strategy and careful planning throughout the game will greatly influence your final score!

Scoring Did you outsmart your rivals?

Bohnanza is a unique trading and farming game where players collect sets of beans to earn gold coins. The goal of the game is to accumulate the most coins by the end of the game. Here’s how the scoring system works:

1. Harvesting Beans:

Players earn gold coins by harvesting their planted beans. The number of coins earned is determined by the type of bean and its corresponding Beanometer, which is displayed on each bean card. The Beanometer shows the number of cards a player needs to harvest in order to earn coins.

2. Bean Sales:

When a player decides to harvest beans, they remove the bean cards from one of their bean fields and count them. They will then consult the Beanometer on any of the harvested cards to determine how many gold coins they receive. The player then places the corresponding number of cards face down in their coin pile and discards the rest.

3. End Game Scoring:

At the end of the game, when the draw deck has been exhausted three times, players count the number of gold coins in their pile. Each card in the player’s coin pile represents one gold coin. The player with the most gold coins wins.

Tie-breaking Rules:

In the event of a tie, the player who has the most cards left in their hand wins. If there is still a tie, then the player who was the earliest in the turn order wins.

Remember:

Players can only harvest beans from their fields if there are at least two beans of the same type.
Players must always plant the first card in their hand and may plant the second.
During the trading and donating phase, players can trade or donate cards from their hand to other players to help them grow their bean fields.

Particular Cases and Exceptions Wait… is that legal?

Bohnanza is a fun and strategic card game about trading and planting beans. However, there are certain special rules, exceptions, and clarifications that players need to be aware of. These are as follows:

Rule 1: The Two Field Rule

In Bohnanza, each player starts with two bean fields, and each field can only hold beans of one type. If a player decides to plant beans of a different type in a field, they must harvest all the beans of the current type in that field first. However, players can buy a third field card for three coins at any point in the game. Once bought, this third field can be used for the rest of the game.

Rule 2: The Trading and Donation Rule

During a player’s turn, they can trade or donate the beans they have drawn from the deck. The important rule here is that traded or donated beans must be planted immediately by the receiver. They cannot be added to the receiver’s hand for later use.

Rule 3: The No Shuffling Rule

Unlike most card games, in Bohnanza, players are not allowed to rearrange or shuffle the cards in their hand. This rule makes the game more strategic, as players must manage their hand carefully to maximize their profits.

Rule 4: The Harvest Rule

While harvesting, if a player decides to harvest beans from a field with only one bean, they do not get any coins. To earn coins, a field must have at least two beans when harvested.

Rule 5: The Draw Rule

At the end of their turn, players must draw three cards from the deck and add them to the back of their hand. It’s important to note that players must always draw three cards, even if the draw deck has to be reshuffled during their draw.

Rule Clarification: The End of the Game

The game ends when the draw deck has been depleted three times. After the final reshuffle and depletion, players finish the current round so that each player has had an equal number of turns. Then, players harvest all beans in their fields and add the coins to their total. The player with the most coins wins.