Ocrhard: 9 card solitaire game

Orchard Game Review

An empty ground to some, yet to the gardener’s eye- it is an orchard waiting to bloom!

With a spade in hand and a heart full of dreams, the gardener seeks to craft an orchard so bountiful, where fruits of fortune shall fall at his command!

But even the most vibrant orchard bears its fair share of rotten fruit.

Are you ready to step in as the gardener and harvest the most fruit in your orchard?

Orchard originated from a print-and-play competition on BoardGameGeek in 2018, designed by Mark Tuck. The game won the Golden Geek Award for Best Print & Play Game and was subsequently published by Side Room Games. It is a game based on layering cards to overlap matching trees in order to harvest fruits. The more you harvest, the higher your points!

In a nutshell- Orchard is a game that’s:
+ Easy to Learn
+ Easy to teach
+ Easy to Set Up
+ Easy to carry.


But get this. The game is also:
+ Involving 15 dice that don’t require rolling
+ Not as easy as it seems
+ Simple, yet a workout for your brain
+ Solo, yet a highly immersive game in competitive mode


Now that I have your full attention, let’s get to know Orchard!

Orchard Game Review by PnP Time

All you need to play Orchard

To try the print-and-play version of the game, you need to print 18 cards. A combination of thick/cardstock paper with card sleeves is what I’d highly recommend for the game. With the cards sorted, you need to have a total of 15 D6 dice of 3 different colors (e.g. 5 purple dice, 5 yellow dice, and 5 red dice). With the dice sorted, you will need 2 tokens that represent the rotten fruits. I used black pawns for that, but I leave it to your imagination.

Notice how I mentioned the print-and-play ‘version’? That is because the game is also available for purchase at a steal! It contains 18 high-quality cards, 15 custom dice, 2 rotten fruit tokens and a manual; all well-contained in a small box that will fit on your palm!

Though for beginners, I recommend trying out the PnP version before making a purchase. Let’s call it a litmus test!

Orchard is:

Easy to Learn

Orchard is a game that can be taught in less than five minutes, and can be played twice in less than ten minutes. If you find my claims doubtful, head over to watch a couple of videos of one of my favorite PnP content creators, Sir Thecos! I have attached the videos at the end of the review.

Easy to Set up

It takes less than a minute to assemble the gaming pieces for a quick round of Orchard:
– Shuffle and take 9 out of the 18 cards
– Turn over the top card, which represents the plot of land
– Put the 15 D6 dice and the 2 Rotten fruit tokens by your side
– Deal out 2 cards to yourself to start the game.

That’s it!

Easy to Carry

Be it the PnP version or the retail version, the game is pretty handy in size for shelving or for being your companion in your backpack/pocket.

Orchard is also:

Involving 15 Dice that don’t require rolling

A game that has 15 D6 dice but you don’t need to roll them. Who’d have guessed that?!

As I mentioned earlier, the game needs you to have 3 different colored dice, 5 of each color. Because they represent 3 unique fruits- apple, plum, and pear. Dice-rolling mechanisms may not be a part of the game, but the numbers on them (1,3,6 and 5) will be. These numbers are essentially points you will get by layering cards with matching trees.

Simple, but not as easy as it seems

Orchard is easy to learn, teach, carry or set up- but mastering the game will give your brain a real workout!

Overlapping cards to match trees and earn points from it. How hard can it be?

In my first few attempts at the game, I barely passed the passing score of 25. With more rounds of play, I realized how you need to analyze the many ways that the cards can be layered. Other than the element of luck in the sequence of cards, the game undeniably relies on:

– your ability to layer the cards in a way that maximizes your chances of earning points.
– when to, and not to, use the Rotten fruit tokens. Using them will deduct your points, but at times that might be necessary to earn more points!
– your ability to use all or most of the dice that you have in the offering.
– your ability to sense the pattern of the cards and understand which card you need to play in the next round.
– Your ability to use the cards to form a more compact cluster of trees, rather than spreading them out. A compact structure will enable you to earn more points.

Such is the beauty of the game. Orchard is a fairly simple game, but the depths you can reach with it is spectacular.

Orchard game review by PnP Time

Solo, yet a highly immersive game in competitive mode

I played the game in solo mode, in my relatively quieter evenings. I listened to music, played multiple rounds at-a-go (averaging 5 to 8 minutes per round) and assessed my scores with the pun-filled harvest scoring.

Pretty fun, but competitive? 

Oh, yes. Things took quite a turn when I discovered the Orchard Solo challenge that takes place on BoardGameGeek EVERY MONTH!

Get onboard as the creator of the game guides you through the rules, card-drawing sequence, and the conditions for winning awards- and even securing a spot on the elite scoring table! It’s an amazing initiative taken by Mark Tuck, and it shows how the game is still super-relevant even after 6+ years of its release!

Where to find Orchard

For me, Orchard is a game I play 4 to 5 times in a row if not more! It has clean game mechanics that are quite catchy, and it’s beautifully simple. As a game designer myself, I know that creating simple games is often the toughest thing to do, and I applaud Mark Tuck for his beautiful creation!

Find the PnP version for free in BoardGameGeek, and purchase the game at a great price from Amazon.

Handy recommendations

Game Overview

Publisher: Side Room Games
Designer: Mark Tuck
Artist: Mark Tuck
Number of player/s:
1
Difficulty level: Medium
Rounds of gameplay needed to learn: 1 to 2 rounds
Game duration: 5 to 10 minutes
Available on: BoardGameGeek and Amazon
Theme: Layering Cards to match trees | Creating an Orchard 
Number of pages and color: 2 to 4 pages (colored, preferably on cardstock paper)
Assembling difficulty level: Medium (Cutting up the cards and putting them in sleeves is all you have to do
Lamination: Not recommended, opt for Card Sleeves instead
Additional elements required:15 D6 Cards of 3 colors (5 dice per color) and 2 Rotten Fruit Tokens
Time to learn: Within 10 minutes
Travel-friendly: 9/10
Shelving friendly: 10/10
Rating from PnP Time: 9/10

Scroll to Top