The Harvesting Trilogy - Orchard, Grove, Forage
The Harvesting Trilogy is a collection of quick solitaire “tile laying” games brilliantly designed by Mark Tuck that play in under 10 minutes. Each one offers unique scoring and challenges:
In Orchard, the aim is to harvest fruit (score points) by playing cards so that their fruit trees overlap other trees already in the orchard that bear the same fruit. The more trees you can overlap, the more fruit you’ll pick. In addition to the nine double-sided cards, your 15 dice (of three colors) keep track of your increasing harvest. Your two “rotten fruit” tokens allow you to lay a card that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to — but come with a points penalty, so you must decide if and when to play them.
In Grove, its 18 cards feature orange, lemon and lime trees and a new ‘wild card’ element, glades. These open spaces without trees, combined with a new scoring mechanic, offer more ways and opportunities to increase your harvest and create a greater variety of gameplay and strategies compared to Orchard. You’ll also find a cheeky squirrel, who can either help or hinder your fruit picking, as well as a wheelbarrow – useful if you manage to get an extra large haul. The card backs have recipe challenges to provide a win/lose condition (as an alternative to the standard game’s ‘beat your own score’) for those who prefer it, adding even more replayability
In Forage, its 18 cards show different types of woodland areas, where you’ll find wild blackberries, sweet chestnuts and edible mushrooms. Some areas are split into two types which, together with the custom dice featuring hungry wood mice, offer new opportunities and different strategies to increase your harvest. The card backs have recipe challenges to provide a win/lose condition (as an alternative to the standard game’s ‘beat your own score’) for those who prefer it, adding even more replayability.
Players: 1 - 1
Playing Time: 5 - 10 Minutes
Category:
Mechanics:
Complexity: 1.5/5
Year Released: 2024