Takenoko … or when a panda stress eats
Takenoko is an adorable panda game that gets a lot of play during my personal game nights.
My friends enjoy the cute theme, as well as the not-super-complex style of playing. It also doesn’t hurt that the rule book is this visually beautiful comic book that’s easy to follow and reference.
The game plays 2-4 players, and it takes about 45 minutes. And who doesn’t love the little panda and gardener figurines?
The story for Takenoko, which means bamboo sprouts, goes like this: a long time ago the Chinese Emperor offered a giant panda bear to Japan as a symbol of peace. The Japanese Emperor then entrusted his court to take care of the panda. The gardener then realized that the panda, who is wandering freely through the Imperial Gardens, has a voracious appetite and is eating all the bamboo.
The object of the game is to get the most victory points. Points are obtained through completing objectives.
There are three different types of objectives: plot, gardener or panda. The plot objectives give you points based on how tiles are placed (there are three different color tiles). The gardener objective is based on how tall bamboo are growing. And the panda objective is based on what the panda eats. Each card shows its value in victory points.
On a turn, a player can choose two different actions from among five.
- Draw three plot tiles and place one on the board.
- Take an irrigation channel.
- Move the gardener in a straight line; where he finishes, bamboo will grow.
- Move the panda in a straight line; where he finishes, he will eat bamboo.
- Draw an objective card.
When a player picks three plot tiles, the other two tiles go back into the stack. The tile must then be placed next to the pond tile or adjacent to two tiles on the board. If it’s placed next to the pond tile, a bamboo of the same color as the tile grows. If the plot is also placed next to an irrigation tile, a bamboo piece grows as well.
To get bamboo to grow on plots farther out from the pond tile, players must put down an irrigation channel from the pond tile. When a plot is irrigated by a channel, bamboo grows on both tiles the channel touches. Irrigation channels can be used at any time during a player’s turn.
After the first full round of play, the weather is introduced. Before each player takes a turn, the wooden dice is rolled, resulting in a weather condition. They are:
- Sun – Player gets a third action different from the other two.
- Rain – Player may place a bamboo section on any plot (the max on a plot is four bamboo).
- Wind – Player may take two of the same action.
- Storm – Lightning scares the panda, and he can run to any plot and eat a bamboo piece.
- Clouds – Player may choose an improvement chip to use immediately or save for later.
- Question mark – Player may choose one of the other five weather elements.
I’m particularly amused by the storm option. This is when the panda gets startled and stress eats. Improvement chips help bamboo grow on plots. The blue one irrigates a plot, the silver one helps bamboo grow twice as fast, and the red one prevents bamboo from being eaten by the panda.
When an objective is met, a player places his or her card face-up. It is possible that several objectives can be met in the same turn. Also, once a card is face-up, the completed objective is never lost.
I usually go for the plot or panda objectives. I find it harder to score the gardener objectives because you have less control over how the bamboo grows when other players are moving the gardener around.
In a four-player game, when a player completes a seventh objective, a last round is triggered. The person who triggered the last round gets the Special Emperor card (worth 2 points). After the last round, the person with the most victory points wins.
Who out there enjoys Takenoko?