The Treacherous Neighbors in Mr. Cabbagehead’s Garden

Tend to a pleasant vegetable garden while the nosy neighbors attempt to ruin the harvest in Mr. Cabbagehead’s Garden.
We all have our favorite solo opponents out there. When I think of the most memorable, the simply terrible neighbors in Mr. Cabbagehead’s Garden spring to mind! They add more flavor than the planted vegetables themselves. My, oh my, the endless crises they create! Vegetable people… Everyone’s worst nightmare and best solo opponents!
Game Overview
Game Name: Mr. Cabbagehead’s Garden
Publication Year: 2016
Designer: Todd Sanders
Artist: Todd Sanders
Publisher: LudiCreations
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Fantastic awards are up for the taking when the Garden Club arrives! Vernon Cabbagehead’s garden must be tended while he goes away on holiday, and these simply terrible neighbors always stop by to interfere! It’s a very charming game with just a bit of spice and sass.
First Play
December 29, 2018
Complexity
2
Latest Play
October 21, 2022
Expansions
2
Setup Time
Almost None
Lifetime Plays
30
Play Time
10 Minutes
High Score
115
Game Area
16" x 20"
Low Score
48
Delightful Artwork
Although the vegetable people might either be adorable or terrifying, the art style is so very unique! Every element is either funny or pleasant, although Eudora’s face…
Well, I did mention how some of the characters are sometimes classified as terrifying! My husband won’t come anywhere near my solo table with this on it. Ha!
I like to play with some of the variants. Flowers provide extra ways to earn points in very specific ways.
The grasshoppers can be a nightmare for scoring, yet can be avoided in some cases and slow down the neighbors.
The Newest Neighbor
Well, well! Look who showed up in quite possibly the best costume… A Calico Critter dressed up as an eggplant!
My laughter was soon quieted by this very tough little beaver. I was informed that this was serious business being a vegetable person, thank you. I had to oblige.
Furthermore, this was no Calico Critter, but The Most Honourable Eggplant, MD. Pomme-Frites was just out of contention as a somewhat honorable esquire. Wow.
The neighborly rudeness was oozing out of this sassy little critter. I just wondered what the ability would be…
Choosing Vegetables
Now, the management of the neighbors is an important element but comes about gradually. Planting vegetables in the garden is the overall focus to earn the garden awards!
There is a lot of information packed onto each card, yet it’s very subtle. At a glance, I could see all I needed.
It’s an interesting balancing act of filling in the garden with the right vegetables but minimizing the risk with the neighbor tokens, for there’s a way to escape from them!
The neighbor with the most tokens stops by, yet if any tie for the most tokens, they squabble at the gate instead!
Squabble, Squabble
During the first holiday, it was Maisy Ballentyne who sauntered into the garden and offered to assist in the heist. Oh, terrible! But she needed an accomplice first.
Sure enough, the rest of the neighbors got into a major debate and completely lost track of their plans!
Maisy just hung around in the garden, moping about but not having it in her heart to steal on her own. She might have been the least tedious of all. Just maybe.
Since a maximum of 15 vegetables may be planted, having any stolen seriously affects the Garden Club’s opinion.
Maintaining the Crops
Vernon Cabbagehead returned to find his garden in decent enough order. 14 of 15 vegetables remained, so there were only mildly angry glances at his neighbors this time.
I managed to earn a few awards, although this was far from the best kind of vegetable garden. No blue ribbon!
Gameplay always sneaks up on me in a good way. Just when I think I have a plan in place for an award, the neighbors show up for the last time to steal something.
At least I could be somewhat proud of this effort. After all, I wasn’t a master gardener. Perhaps, though, someday!
Treacherous Eggplant
Just as I set out to reset and try for the blue ribbon, I was interrupted by an eggplant. Excuse me: The Most Honourable Eggplant, MD. What was this?!
My seed bag, normally filled with the neighbor tokens, was now overflowing with every vegetable card.
“I take everything when you’re not looking!” Oh my goodness. World’s most tedious and treacherous neighbor over here! Please do not trust the eggplants. EVER!
The sheer weight of all those vegetables quickly resulted in a nap, and I pounced on the opportunity to play again!
Callahan the Crass
All was moving along swimmingly this time. Twice, the neighbors all crowded together for some juicy gossip and never even made it into the garden. Take that!
But things started to turn when I kept pulling Callahan’s tokens over and over again. So I took a look at the garden.
Alright. I needed to find a way for him not to take a few vegetables. Oh, no! There was no time and he was going to pop in and steal something. 30 victory points. GONE.
That ruta baga was an award-winning variety. Let it be known that Callahan is terrible. Just so terrible. Ugh!
StoryWorld Fun
Let me preface this by saying that this is supposed to be a funny Halloween-themed image. The “blood” depicted here is clearly meant to be tomato juice or ketchup!
The appearance of the ax definitely scattered the vegetable people, though. No one wanted to investigate! And technically, tomato juicing might be a crime over here…
All in good fun, though! No one was harmed, but I do wonder if Vernon Cabbagehead might keep it nearby.
You never can have enough deterrents when you’re surrounded by tedious vegetable people neighbors!
Session Overview
Play Number: 26 and 27
Expansion: Mr. Cabbagehead’s Garden: Maisy Ballentyne
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Grasshoppers and Romancing Eudora
Outcome: 92 and 82 (2 Losses)
So agonizingly close to my high score! This would have been worth 112 points had Callahan not meddled with my plans. CALLAHAN! I had a wonderful time, even though I didn’t fare too well against the neighbors. This is such a fun little game with a lot of strategies. I’ll have to see if I can do better in the future. Once more… CALLAHAN!!!
%
30 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
10
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
10
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
10
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
7
+ Pros (Positives)
- There are important decisions to make each turn in relation to planting the garden and managing the neighbors.
- Only 4 random neighbors are used, leading to plenty of variety with the different possible combinations.
- Vegetable people might not be for everyone, yet they lend a charming bit of humor to the gameplay.
- Play progresses quickly with straightforward rules and practically no downtime between the various rounds.
- All of the artwork is very distinct and appealing in its own way that resembles vintage vegetable seed packets.
- Awards provide lots of victory points, yet it’s possible to find other ways to score or try for another award.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Some luck can’t always be mitigated when it comes to the neighbor tokens, which can be a little bit of a letdown.
- The text on the neighbor tiles and summary cards is very small to the point that the rulebook is often needed.
- A custom storage solution is a necessity to keep the different neighbor tokens separated for easy setup.
- Placing the Romancing Eudora cards over the vegetables hides important information is some configurations.
Victory Conditions
Score 100+ Points
- Overall Goal Progress 67%
Goals and Milestones
Earn every award at least 1 time.
Score at least 115 points.
Score at least 120 points.
Continue the Conversation
What are your thoughts about Mr. Cabbagehead’s Garden? Do you like the artwork, or are the vegetable people simply too much to handle? Callahan is not invited anywhere near my game again for a bit. Ha ha! I sometimes wonder why I don’t play more often, as this is a wonderful game filled with strategic choices and so much character. So much fun!
Thank you for the review and high marks on the photos (you always manage artful images). And I think Eudora has one of the best portraits in the game, you can see why Mr.C is smitten with her. Horace, her half brother, will always grumble, but then he only ever grows Brussels sprouts and no one in the Village likes those anyway. It is no wonder he always makes a poor showing at the Garden Club’s events.
Thank you again for such kind words! I suppose the standard for vegetable people is quite different. Ha ha! I can definitely see the appeal of Eudora, but I can always sense her judging my inability to keep all of the vegetables in the garden! Horace was definitely completely grumbly during this session… I think he was solely focused on complaining to anyone and everyone who was trying to get into my garden. Oh, Horace. Ha!