Playing the Part of an Arbortect to Create Shapely Trees
Create a tree according to a client’s specifications with the proper shape and assortment of flowers in Arbortect.
There are plenty of solo games about overlapping cards, yet I continue to be drawn to many of them! I had an opportunity to take a look at Arbortect, which looked to be an interesting combination of some familiar favorites. Taking on the role of a topiary expert to craft a tree with a handful of cards seemed like a lovely sort of challenge!
Disclaimer
I received this copy for free from the designer and publisher in exchange for a review. All of the opinions presented here are my own, and I wasn’t asked to provide anything other than an honest review. As always, full transparency up front!
Game Overview
Game Name: Arbortect
Publication Year: 2023
Designer: Uncredited
Artist: Uncredited
Publisher: Silent Isle Games
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
Double-sided cards provide a random composition and construction duo as the other cards offer the options to create a tree. Overlapping elements helps create the shape and cover existing elements as the space slowly grows. It’s very fun, yet crafting a specific tree is deceptively tricky!
First Play
August 12, 2023
Complexity
2
Latest Play
January 5, 2024
Expansions
0
Setup Time
Almost None
Lifetime Plays
10
Play Time
10 Minutes
High Score
N/A
Game Area
20" x 18"
Low Score
N/A
Multi-Use Cards
I always appreciate when cards are used in multiple ways, especially in these smaller wallet-sized games. Here, the card backs offer all of the different requirements.
Compositions relate to the spread of flowers on the final tree, while constructions relate to the overall shape.
Some of these are a little extra wordy, but aren’t hard to understand. A few icons could certainly get across a lot of this information in a smaller space without tiny text.
The card fronts are used to build the tree. Flowers come in 3 colors, with a different total to better tell them apart.
Colorful Tree Regions
I wasn’t expecting this one to stand out, but I was pleasantly surprised by the challenge! There are a handful of placement rules to keep in mind when building the tree.
Empty tiles are those without any flowers, and it might seem like a good idea to limit those… But hold on! A card may only overlap a maximum of 1 empty tile. Clever.
There are interesting situations where the composition and construction feel very difficult to achieve at once.
I found myself manually counting the flower types a lot during play, although gameplay topped out at 10 minutes.
Fun Combinations
These requirements were quite fun to work through! I knew what I was working on right from the start, and having 2 cards to choose from each round was fun.
I also had a chance to see what card would be coming up next, so planning ahead was possible. My first tree looked to be a rather challenging blue monstrosity. Ha ha!
These requirements made it pay not to overlap too many cards, but I had to be careful about the flower totals.
What made it better for me personally was the easy way to tell apart the different tiles with the flowers. Very simple!
A Completed Tree
I just barely pulled off a victory with my first play! A minimum of 45 exposed tiles were needed. That’s right… I did it with exactly the bare minimum. Ha ha!
Getting the flower count correct was even more difficult and made me carefully plot out each placement.
However, gameplay still moved very quickly. A tree will always consist of just 16 cards, which is very reasonable.
Attaching a goal card to the bottom of it in the end topped off the visual experience of making it look like a tree. Just a small addition like this can do a lot for a game’s theme!
Fun with Overlapping Cards and Patterns
One of the most well-known solo games in this genre is Sprawlopolis. I own it and appreciate everything it does, yet I have some weird issue with seeing the cards and the different patterns. There are still times when I’ll bring it to my table to try it out, yet it turns into an odd struggle for me. Absolutely not the fault of the game, though!
That means I often keep an eye out for other solo games that might be a little easier for me to see the patterns. Orchard: A 9 Card Solitaire Game and Grove: A 9 Card Solitaire Game are both fantastic options that do things a little differently.
I found a mixture of all of these elements here, with the new condition of having the play area end up with a specific shape. So neat! There are a nice set of simple rules with cards that offer very interesting decisions. I had to rotate a few cards and compare my choices here and there as I worked to complete the requirements. But it moved very quickly.
Some of the requirement cards are a little rough around the edges with the lengthy text, yet the heart of gameplay feels quite solid… Like a tree? Ha! I tend to enjoy these types of games, but I do want to highlight that the visual space feels a lot easier to see for me personally. That, coupled with the right difficulty level and short play time, made it a lot of fun!
A Difficult Client
I next pulled a combination that called for equal sides and an equal assortment of flowers. Much more difficult!
This was very challenging to pull off since I had to make sure that all 4 sides had exactly 3 tiles showing.
I managed to complete that part with this assortment, but there definitely weren’t the right number of flowers! That turned into much more of a challenge.
It was interesting to see how I had to make sure I covered up some of the more common flowers without limiting myself too much. This kept me on my topiarist toes!
The Perfect Tree
Over and over, I kept trying to meet these requirements. Each play took only about 5 or 10 minutes, though, and it was simple enough to reset to start over. What a client!
Yet at last, about 5 plays in, I could see how this might work out as I got down to the final card placements.
It required a little extra planning, though, along with a little foresight into what the final flower counts would be.
Did I yell in excitement? Absolutely! I pulled it off with this rather perfect little tree. Such a pretty assortment, and I still have many other combinations to try. Lovely!
Session Overview
Play Number: 1-6
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
Outcome: 2 Wins & 4 Losses
Enjoy this sad attempt at an equal tree that failed miserably. Ha! I enjoyed this puzzle and looked at the rest of the compositions and constructions. So many possibilities! Gameplay moved quickly and my penchant for overlapping cards put this one up to a lot of scrutiny. I found it to be different enough from my other games to enjoy it, particularly with the specific arrangement of the tree cards. So glad I had a chance to review this one!
%
10 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
5
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
7
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
5
+ Pros (Positives)
- The different types of flowers are very easy to tell apart not only by color, but by how many are present on a tile.
- Having to balance the overall shape and number of flowers provides an interesting challenge with lots of variety.
- There are many different composition and construction cards to mix together, adding lots of unique requirements.
- In a space where many games exist, this one has a pleasant theme that also takes into account the play area shape.
- Even with the largest tree requirement, the amount of table space remains compact and looks like a neat topiary.
- Gameplay moves quickly with 2 cards to choose from each round and lots of interesting decisions to make.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Iconography might have been a better choice for the requirements, as these can be a bit wordy to read through.
- Checking the different counts of the flowers is a necessary step in most rounds, yet this moves pretty quickly.
- A few parts of the rules aren’t worded in the clearest way, but playing a few rounds clears up any confusion.
- Keeping the cards neatly aligned can be a challenge with the constant overlapping and stacking of most of them.
Victory Conditions
Complete Both Requirements
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game.
Continue the Conversation
What do you like about Arbortect? Are there other solo games about overlapping cards you have a lot of fun with? I wasn’t sure if there would be room for a nature-themed game in this general space, yet this one provided a very different kind of challenge for me. I had a great time meeting the requirements, and look forward to playing more!
0 Comments