Welcome to Bohnanza!

Hey there! In Bohnanza, we get to be bean farmers and embark on an exciting journey of planting, harvesting, and selling beans. The main objective? To rake in as much gold as we can and become the ultimate bean farming champion!

This game revolves around the fascinating concepts of supply and demand and the art of savvy trading. It’s all about finding the perfect balance and making shrewd decisions to maximize our profits.

Getting Started

First, let’s set up the game. The third bean field cards should stay in the box, and the rest of the cards are shuffled. Some bean types might be left out depending on the number of players. Each player will be dealt five random cards face-down, and the remaining bean cards will be placed in the center of the table with the gold coin side up. These will be the draw deck we’ll use during the game.

Now, it’s time to pick up your hand. Make sure not to change the order of the cards! The way your hand is organized will stay the same throughout the game. You need to decide which side you’ll plant cards from and which side you’ll add cards to. The player to the left of the dealer will start the game.

Playing the Game

When playing the game, there are four steps in my turn: planting beans, drawing cards, trading and donating beans, planting the ones received, and drawing new bean cards. It’s important to complete each step before moving on to the next.

Planting Beans

First, I need to plant the first bean card from my hand. If it matches any of the beans I already have planted, I can add it to that field. I can also add it to an empty bean field if I have one. However, if I don’t have an empty field or the bean doesn’t match any of my current ones, I must uproot and sell my beans, even if I won’t earn any gold. Remember, a field with only one bean cannot be uprooted unless all the fields have just one bean.

Once I’ve planted my first bean, I can decide whether or not to plant my second bean right away. If I choose to, I’ll need to meet the same requirements as with the first bean. I’m only allowed to plant a maximum of two beans in this phase, though. If I don’t have any beans in hand, I can skip this step.

Time to Draw, Trade, and Donate Beans

After I’ve planted my initial beans, I will draw the top two cards from the deck and place them face-up on the table for everyone to see. These cards can be kept and planted, traded with other players, or donated to them. I can’t add them to my hand, though. Any beans I acquire during this phase must be planted.

Once I’ve dealt with the two cards I’ve drawn, I can start trading or donating beans from my hand. You can also initiate trades or donations, but only if they involve me.

Speaking of donating beans, I can freely give them away to you or another player. However, you have the option to decline the offer. If you don’t accept, the trade doesn’t happen, and I still keep the bean. Donating beans can be a good option if there are no desirable trades available and I don’t want to plant the bean on my turn.

Planting Donated and Traded Beans

When all trades are done, I need to make sure to plant any beans that I acquired. Planting the beans can be done in any order, but I must plant all of them. If I don’t have an open bean field for an unmatched bean, I have two options. I can either harvest and sell a bean field or I can buy a third bean field. But remember, I can only have one extra bean field.

Now, to end my turn, I have to draw three new bean cards. I’ll draw them one at a time from the bean deck and add them to the back of my hand in the order I draw them. If the draw deck is empty when I try to draw a card, I’ll have to reshuffle the discard pile and continue drawing.

Selling Harvested Beans

When playing the game, you can harvest and sell beans at any time, even if it’s not your turn. To harvest, you need to collect all the beans of the same type from your field. Then, you count them to see how many you have. On the bean card, you can find out how much gold you’ll get for selling a certain number of beans. Flip over that many bean cards and place them next to you as your gold. The rest of the bean cards go to the discard pile.

Sometimes, you won’t get any gold for selling beans. Also, you can only sell beans from fields that have two or more beans. However, if you only have fields with one bean, you can still sell from them.

Third Bean Fields

Hey there! Did you know that you can have a third row of beans in your bean field? It’s called a third bean field and it’s super useful! You can buy it for three gold and start using it right away. You can buy a third bean field at any time during the game.

Here’s how you can get your hands on a third bean field: Take the three gold from the top of your gold pile and put them face down in the discard pile. In return, you’ll get a third bean field card. Easy peasy, right?

Ending the Game

The game ends when the draw deck has been emptied for the third time. If this happens in phase two, phase three can still be completed before the game ends. Now, here’s the trick: If you can’t draw two cards in phase 2, don’t worry, you can just draw one instead.

Once the game is over, it’s time to harvest your fields and see who has the most gold. Count up your gold and the player with the highest amount wins. But what if there’s a tie? Well, in that case, the winner is the player who has both the most gold and the most cards left in their hand.

GAME VARIATIONS

Hey there! Let’s talk about some different ways to play the game. I think you’ll find these variations pretty interesting. Ready? Let’s go!

• For 3 players: We take out the cocoa beans. Each player starts with a third bean field, but you can’t buy an additional one. Oh, and here’s the twist – the game ends after we go through the deck for the second time. It’s a bit shorter, but still lots of fun!
• If you have 4 or 5 players: We remove the coffee beans from the game. Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of beans to go around!
• With 6 or 7 players: Cocoa and garden beans are out. At the start, the first player gets 3 cards, the second gets 4 cards, and the third player gets 5 cards. The rest of the players get 6 cards. In phase 4, the active player draws four cards instead of three. Oh, and if you want to buy a third bean field, it only costs 2 gold. Cool, right?

So there you have it – some fun ways to mix up your bean-growing adventure. Give them a try and see which variation you like best!