YORKTON - If you haven’t had an opportunity to check out the games of Pencil First Games, you really should.
The company has released several games but this week we’ll look at two, one in greater depth, and mention a third ‘sister’ game just so you are aware of it.
The trio of games, connected by the common designers and garden themes sort of started in 2017.
It was in 2017, when Herbaceous from designers Eduardo Baraf, and Steve Finn released. Herbaceous is a card game where players are herb collectors competing to grow and store the most valuable medley of herbs. While this one hasn’t hit our table, it is on a list to one day add.
In 2021, Baraf and Finn were back in the garden releasing another card-based game Floriferous.
“Spend the afternoon in your Floriferous garden,” noted a www.boardgamegeek description. “Relax while enjoying this elegant game of strolling through your garden and collecting flowers. Find joy in the abundance of nature. Find the most joy by collecting flowers and pairing them with abundance, desire, and mastery cards.
“Floriferous is played over three days, which are divided into five turns. Each turn, a player moves one step through the garden. After each move, the player picks up a flower or desire card. After three days, players sum their scores for their desires, mastery, and points earned during the game. The player with the most points wins.”
This one has hit The Meeple Guild table and the first impression was simply the beauty of the cards. Artist Clémentine Campardou created some beautiful pieces for this one. Cards typically have flowers – some statuary – and they really are rendered well. The layout on the table in very nice.
The rules of Floriferous are straight forward and easy to pick up, although grasping what exactly is a good approach in terms of collecting cards to score well is less apparent – even after some play time. Scoring feels a bit to random to elevate this one to the upper levels, but it fits snugly in the realm of ‘filler’ game – quick to learn and play – and comes in an easy store small box, so maybe that’s enough especially as it looks so pretty.
Then in 2022 the same duo released Delicious.
Again from a BGG description “spend the afternoon in your rooftop or backyard garden. Relax while enjoying this artful game of picking, pairing, and planting fruits and vegetables. Grow your plants in whatever container you can. Wheelbarrows, boots, suitcases – use anything you can to grow delicious eats! Will you create the most delicious garden?
“Over the course of a game of Delicious, players fill their respective gardens with fruits and vegetables by sketching them based on cards and tokens that are revealed in the community area. Players take their turns sketching simultaneously each round as these plants are revealed. Earn the most points by planting fruits and vegetables in your makeshift containers and planters.”
In Delicious the designers again use cards at the heart of the game, but add in players having individual sheets (gardens if you will), where you make decisions about what you plant where in the ‘garden’, so players can opt for different paths to scoring points.
And since you each have a ‘garden’ to grow it can be played by literally any number of players, which makes it a flexible offering to pull out.
This is another quick game that is a ‘filler’ option for the table.
That art here is again nice – really that’s the strength of these three garden-themed offerings – and that’s a plus. Aesthetics count in games.
Delicious isn’t wildly deep, but you do have decisions to make which provide that element in a game where you feel, at least in part, in control of your own destiny.
So thanks to email we were able to ask Delicious designer Steve Finn a few questions.
Of course Finn is a gamer, much as we are where usually the best game is the one yet unplayed – although we do have our long time favs too.
“Yes, I own and play a lot of games,” he replied via email. “I have a hard time saying I have a favourite game because I enjoy trying new games and rarely play the same games many times.
“However, there are a few games that have gotten multiple plays over the years. I’d probably say El Grande has been a consistent favourite of mine.”
It was interesting to learn how a game such as Delicious comes into existence.
“When I design games for Pencil First Games, (PFG), the initial idea often comes from Eduardo Baraf,” said Finn. “I have my own company, Dr. Finn’s Games, and these games are usually inspired from a variety of sources.
“But Delicious, like many of my collaborations with PFG, started with a conversation with Eduardo. It was probably something like Ed saying – ‘I think we should make a flip and write game that can be played with any number of players.’
“Up to now, our themes on collaborative projects have been focused on nature – so I believe that was also part of the conversation.”
As noted the games – Delicious included – are easy access, and that was by design notes Finn.
“Like many games we co-designed, we were trying to develop a game that is both accessible and quick, yet confronts the player with a variety of choices. PFG is also excellent at game presentation, so I am sure great aesthetics were a goal,” he said, which means players can expect, “quick, fun, yet challenging and puzzle-like experience.”
In terms of Delicious Finn said he likes how players can take risks at times.
“For shorter games like this, I enjoy the press-your-luck element of the game,” he said. “Each turn, you must question whether you should do ‘X’ now or try to do ‘X’ later when it might be more profitable.”
So what does this game offer others don’t? “I think the inclusion of ‘how to draw’ examples makes the game more fun, as players can choose how much time and effort to put into drawing the fruits and vegetables,” said Finn. (To be clear we used initials as being far easier and quicker). “At game’s end, if you are playing with someone with artistic talent, their player sheets can look awesome.
“Similarly, you can poke a little fun at those whose fruit are not so appealing.”
In the end Finn said he feels the strength of Delicious comes from having to make choices.
“I believe it is the different options you are given for each turn. In each round of the game, two cards are flipped and you have to decide, for example, whether you will use both of them or just one,” he explained when asked what sets Delicious apart. “Without going into details, the position of a card is also relevant, so you have four different options, but can only choose each option type a limited number of times. This limitation is the driver for the press-your-luck and a lot of the strategy during the game.”
Check out the full range of games at www.pencilfirstgames.com
