• Classic Eurogame

• For 2-7 playes

• Lots of replay value

• The game is all about planting, trading and selling beans

• Players try to collect large sets of beans to sell for gold

The premise is simple: You are a bean farmer, trying to make as much money off of bean growing as possible. You have only two bean fields, and each field can only be planted with a single kind of bean at a time. You have to accumulate a certain number of beans in a field before it is worth anything as a sale. How many beans this is depends on the kind of bean planted - the more of a bean there are in the deck, the less each is worth. Thus, while it's easy to collect coffee beans (with 24 in the deck) you need 4 of them before they're worth even a single gold coin. At the opposite extreme, cocoa beans are worth a gold coin each. (You still have to accumulate two before they can be sold.)

The twist that makes this all fun is that your hand of cards (beans to be planted) always remains in the order that you drew it, and you MUST plant the bean-card at the front of your hand every turn, even if this means wrecking one of the fields you had been trying to build up to a good value. The only way to change your hand is by trading cards with other players. Thus, you have to plan ahead, take some risks, and keep a good name.

I rank this game a 5 for educational value because of what it rewards. No where is it written in the rules of bohnanza that you must play honorably, or treat the other players well. However: after many games, I've seen time and again that the players who most often win are the ones who treat other players fairly and honor their bargains. Keeping a good name is vital. You have to play hard-nosed to win, and bargain hard. However, you also need to be known for being a good person to trade with. It's worth it to trade in abstract 'favors' with the other players and to take the occassional loss to keep your name good and your rivals happy with you. You also need to know when to advertise what you have, and when to keep your mouth shut and surprise your rivals. These are lessons that children and adults alike could use more training in!

I have one friend who declared that if she were to be exiled to a desert island Survivor style, and allowed only one luxury item, a copy of Bohnanza would be it. What better review can a game get?

41 of 41 found the following review helpful:


And you thought beans were boring,  Feb 16, 2005 By Timothy Young "Wasatch Tim"
Everyone I've played this with agrees- This is a fun game! I was more than a little skeptical when I first discovered this game- bean planting?, come'on. But I kept reading one enthusiastic review after another, so I decided to give it a try. Turns out this is an uproariously fun game!

The premise is simple- you're a farmer in the business of growing and selling beans. You start out with only two fields for planting your beans and you can only plant one type of bean per field. You can harvest the beans to sell them whenever you like, even when its not your turn. The more beans of a particular type that you have in your field when you decide to harvest, the more gold you get for that harvest. The goal is to have more gold than your fellow bean planters when the game is through.

And you're asking yourself, "So when does the fun part come in?" Just bare with me.

The element that adds so much excitement and fun to this game are the strict rules regarding placement of beans (cards) in your hand as well as planting those cards. The order of the beans in your hand cannot be changed, and when it's your turn you MUST plant the top bean in your hand. If it's your turn and your top bean doesn't match the beans allready in your fields you'll be in a fix if you were hoping to continue increasing your "crop" before the harvest, because in order to plant that first bean, which you must do, you'll have to harvest one of your fields to make room for it. The solution- you should have traded that bean with someone before it was your turn.

The trading is what causes all the commotion. Don't say I didn't warn you if you find yourself in the midst of a bean trading war at your dinner table, complete with embargoes against certain players and other players creating bean cartels. (Ok, so the rules don't mention anything about embargoes and cartels.)

Keep in mind that different types of beans are more valuable than others. The 4 cocoa beans in the deck bring in one gold for each card, while you'll need to harvest 4 of the 24 coffee beans just to get a single gold.

The rules take a little getting used to. Like most games, this one is easier to learn if you play it for the first time with someone who allready knows the ropes. But even if you're playing with all new players it shouldn't be more than a game or two before you've got the rule book memorized.

Another nice aspect of this game is the ammount of players that can play. Anywhere form 2 to 7. The rules are significantly different for two players, but they're easy to learn as well, and just as fun.

So you're still a little skeptical. I don't blame you. I was too. But I took the plunge and I've been happy I did.

I've plaid this game with folks who are die-hard Rook fans as well as fans of the classic trading game PIT, and other people who don't really care what kind of game they play. They all loved this one.

Twenty bucks may seem a little steep for a game that's nothing more than an oversized deck of cards. (You keep track of the gold pieces with the reverse side of the cards.) Even the $14 I spent for it at my local shopping mall might deter a few of the more frugal shoppers, but it shouldn't. If it's any help the cards are high quality with well done, entertaining artwork. Fork over the cash- you won't be disappointed.

11 of 11 found the following review helpful:


Fantastic for 2 or even a large group  Jul 18, 2006 By Marc "Polyglot, Linguaphile, and Technophile"
My wife and I love this game. It is about the only game we play any more because it is quick, easy and enjoyable. More importantly it expands to play with up to seven players. So if we have company we can play it as well. So far we have introduced several other people to the game who have gone and out bought it right away. Definitely recommend it to any game lovers.

8 of 8 found the following review helpful:


how can you not love the bean game??  Dec 04, 2004 By Alexander
I have been playing the bean game since I was 15. I first played the original German version. So when I play I still use the German names which confuses people. The bean game is great. The pictures are cute, it's easy and fun. The only hard part is younger players (or people like my mom) have a hard time understanding the way a player's turn progresses. It's a little tricky because you aren't allowed to change the order of the cards in your hand and you are only allowed to plant beans from the FRONT of your hand, etc. But once you get the hang of it, it's totally easy. This is a game that you'll never get sick of, and if you do, you'll come back to it after time. It's one of those things, it's so simple you don't know why it's so fun but you just can't stop playing.

7 of 7 found the following review helpful:


I love the bean game!  Jan 04, 2006 By K. Scherrer "bean game lover"
The bean game is fun for kids of all ages. As a graduate student I spent the last weekend with several other hyper-educated individuals, who all found the bean game to be captivating.

What is most captivating is that really this game is about your ability to communicate and cooperate with the other players. I highly recommend this game!

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