Sanssouci: Another Wonderful, Cozy Solo Game of Gardens
Create beautiful palace gardens with unique, orderly features as visitors explore the vast grounds in Sanssouci.
Perhaps I already explored the main strategies that Sanssouci has to offer, yet I wasn’t quite ready to pack it up! With such a quick play time and enjoyable gameplay, I wanted to see if I might be able to break 100 victory points. And if not, I had a bunch of meeples from another game to add some flavor! Back to the palace for another day of fun gardening!
Disclaimer
As with my previous session, I replaced the standard noblemen meeples with the upgraded Meeple Source meeples for Obsession. Perfect! In the interest of transparency, I received a full set of these meeples for free from the publisher. This may mean they’ll show up in many more posts, though. How could I resist with those awesome details?! Ha ha!
Game Overview
Game Name: Sanssouci
Publication Year: 2013
Designer: Michael Kiesling
Artists: Julien Delval and Harald Lieske
Publisher: Ravensburger
Solo Mode: Unofficial Solo Variant
A garden takes shape as tiles are added in specific columns and rows, while visitors slowly make their way through the areas. Paths are important, especially since each visitor must stick to their preferred feature. The rules may be very simple, yet there are a lot of tiles to choose from!
First Play
September 23, 2022
Complexity
2
Latest Play
July 25, 2024
Expansions
0
Setup Time
Almost None
Lifetime Plays
10
Play Time
15 Minutes
High Score
93
Game Area
24" x 16"
Low Score
51
Random Bonuses
Although gameplay is all about building the garden and moving the meeples, bonus cards help form the basis for some choices. These are the esteemed visitors!
A pair of these is drawn during setup. Depending on the final row of the specific meeple, more victory points are earned. So it’s worth it to focus on these visitors the most.
I thought this would be another element that could be repetitive, yet it changed up my main goals a lot!
Connecting paths so that meeples traveled through other columns was a great strategy to earn the most.
Delicious Herb Tips
Maybe it was sheer luck, but the herb garden was almost always a bonus card. My cook was most pleased! She learned a few flavorful tips to bring back to Derbyshire.
Note, too, that I figured out how to best utilize the gardener tiles to complete her column! Many a moment was spent chatting with the gardeners. Ha ha!
Even with a few plays to my name, I was far from a master. There was a lot more going on here. So many paths!
It didn’t feel like there was the perfect way to play, but I got the sense that I wanted to keep going over and over.
Decisions, Decisions
My small hand of 2 cards provided me with some options, and I particularly enjoyed feature cards that were wilds when no matching features were available. Awesome!
Early on, I thought the meeples would move very rarely, so stopping them on rows 1 and 2 seemed like a good move… Despite the very low number of victory points.
How I learned! Picking up duplicate tiles to fill in other spaces connected more paths and led to lower rows.
This one won’t be considered a deep or complex game, but for a lighter option, it has a lot to offer. And tile-laying!
Clear Rules to Win By
Only a single feature marred the rulebook for me, and that was its brochure folds. No staples probably helped, but I had to fold and unfold in a way I’ve never preferred.
Yet the content more than made up for it! I found a nice opening to set the stage, and all of the rules were written in a way that made them easy to grasp right away.
Great rulebooks are never to be taken for granted! I’ve seen my share of confusing ones. Never a fun time.
There’s also an included expansion I’ll have to try out someday. More easy rules, but a lot more strategy!
Lightweight and Familiar for a Cozy Game
My collection includes a wide variety of solo games, yet one category I came up with a few years ago contains my cozy games. What are these? There isn’t a specific formula, but I typically find them to be pretty lightweight, quick to play, easy to learn, limited in terms of components, and low-conflict. When I play them, I get a sense of coziness!
This one ticked all of the boxes. I have enough cozy games, so I haven’t really been looking to add more. Yet, here’s another one! To be able to go through the sequence of play and have some relaxing fun was everything I needed. Having more cozy games isn’t a bad thing. When I’m tired and want to play a solo game, now I have another great option.
I’ll also note that familiar mechanics don’t make a bad game. Some can be found in heaps of games, like tile-laying, worker placement, action selection, or tableau building. However… Guess what? Those familiar elements often make a game’s rules easier to learn and internalize. And there’s always a new twist or theme out there for something unique!
Session Overview
Play Number: 5 and 6
Solo Mode: Unofficial Solo Variant
Outcome: 86 and 89 (2 Losses)
Just shy of my victory threshold! The last few turns of both plays had the wrong card and tile combinations. I made better choices in terms of connected paths, along with completed columns. Those rows were still very tricky, though! I’ll get there with some more plays. All of my choices made some sort of difference, aside from a rare few where I didn’t have better options. I continue to be thrilled to have picked this game up on a random whim!
%
10 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
10
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
9
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
6
+ Pros (Positives)
- Gameplay is generally pretty light, yet enough choices exist to make impactful decisions during each play.
- The randomness in the order of the cards and tiles adds some variability, as does the pair of bonus cards.
- Play time is very quick with minimal setup for about 15 minutes per play, which feels perfect for the experience.
- All of the little artwork details help bring the garden to life and provide some interesting visual elements.
- Nearly every component fits on 2 boards so that the required table space is very reasonable and easy to manage.
- Enough strategies and variety exist to make it fun to play multiple times in a row to try for a high score.
– Cons (Negatives)
- The brochure fold on the rulebook makes it a little annoying to use for some of the pages, though this is minor.
- Gardener tiles aren’t always that easy to spot at a glance, and sorting the II, III, and IV tiles can be a little tricky.
- A certain degree of bad luck can spoil a play, particularly near the end when none of the tiles are worthwhile.
- Drawing tiles from a bag or single stack makes a lot more sense than spreading them out on the board spaces.
Victory Conditions
Score 90+ Points
- Overall Goal Progress 50%
Goals and Milestones
Complete at least 2 columns.
Score at least 90 points.
Complete at least 2 rows.
Score at least 100 points.
Continue the Conversation
Are there aspects of Sanssouci you like, or that remind you of games you enjoy? Have you ever played with the included expansion? I’m packing this one up for the moment, yet it’s certainly sticking around on my shelf! It turned out to be a wonderful mixture of tiles, cards, and meeples in a decision space that worked for me. Another awesome solo game!
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