Bohnanza

Bohnanza is the first in the Bohnanza family of games and has been published in several different editions.

As card games go, this one is quite revolutionary. Perhaps its oddest feature is that you cannot rearrange your hand, as you need to play the cards in the order that you draw them. The cards are colorful depictions of beans in various descriptive poses, and the object is to make coins by planting fields (sets) of these beans and then harvesting them. To help players match their cards up, the game features extensive trading and deal making.

The original German edition supports 3-5 players.

The newest English version is from Rio Grande Games and it comes with the first edition of the first German expansion included in a slightly oversized box. One difference in the contents, however, is that bean #22’s Weinbrandbohne (Brandy Bean) was replaced by the Wachsbohne, or Wax Bean. This edition includes rules for up to seven players, like theErweiterungs-Set, but also adapts the two-player rules of Al Cabohne in order to allow two people to play Bohnanza.

Note: As mentioned above, the Rio Grande Games edition supports more players than the Amigo release, and also sports two-player rules. You should keep that in mind when perusing the ratings.