Let’s review Herbaceous, a simple push your luck set collection game. Pot and plant herbs into collections and sets to win in this accessible 20 minute card game.

Herbaceous Gameplay Overview

In Herbaceous, players will collect and plant herbs in their four garden pots to score points. Players only can plant once into each of their four pots, meaning the key to victory is to push your luck until the time is right to collect your set of herbs and pot them. 

Each pot allows a different grouping action:

• herbs of the same type
• different types
• pairs
• any three types (same or different)

Players gather their herbs by flipping two cards from the deck on their turn and determine where they will place them. The first card is flipped over and placed either in a community garden or the player’s private garden. The 2nd card is then flipped and will then go into whichever garden was not previously selected. 

At the start of your turn, you’ll decide whether or not you wish to pot herbs into one of your containers. If you do, you’ll assemble cards from both your personal and the communal garden to pot them into one of your containers. That container can no longer be used.

The game continues this way until all players have used their four pots. 

The player with the most points wins.

Our thoughts

Herbaceous is easy to teach card game that is a breeze. At first glance it seems quite light — and it is, but it is still a strategic with great tension and satisfying game play. 

The fun is found in the tension that comes from the push your luck elements. Balancing taking what is available to you now from the community garden or leaving it for a chance of a better haul later. While also knowing it might not be there for you later! At the same time you’re also deciding whether or not to take something from the community garden to deny a big score for your opponent, even if it means you’re using up one of your pots earlier than you’d like. 

This game is a joy to play at all player counts. I have even played it solo, which still manages to capture that enjoyable push your luck feeling you get from a multiplayer game.

We love that this is so easy to teach and that the scoring always seems to be tight making for a close game. We highly recommend Herbaceous and consider it a great choice for both the new and experienced player.

Standard Edition vs Pocket Edition.

Herbaceous comes in two versions, the standard edition and the pocket edition.

Between the two editions there is no difference except in size. Each box will give you the exact same gameplay. It’s just a matter of how large you want your game to be.

We love that the game you get in the pocket edition is the exact same as found in the standard edition. 

The pocket edition box is the size of a standard playing card deck, less than half as big as the original! The standard size cards from the base game were replaced with mini cards to fit inside the new box. The cards still maintained the elegant Beth Sobel art but removed the names of the herbs from the cards to avoid small print. 

I usually am not a fan of mini cards in games, and I consider the Ticket to Ride 1910 expansion essential because they replace the mini cards with standard-size cards. However, since in this game I am never holding the mini cards in my hand, the card size doesn’t bother me. 

Smaller cards make the game playable now on an airplane seat-back tray, which wouldn’t have been feasible in the original edition. 

Which Herbaceous Edition Do We Play?

Thanks to its small size, we tend to store the pocket edition in our kitchen game drawer, the travel bag, or in the car. With it more in reach, we’ve found we play the pocket edition more now than we did the standard. Since the pocket edition doesn’t take up much space and plays quickly, it is a great spur-of-the-moment-pull-out-and-play game. 

Summary

Herbaceous is an excellent set-collection card game that is a welcome addition to any gaming library. It is a great choice for anyone looking for a game to enjoy over their coffee or to take with them on their travels.

You can’t go wrong with either the standard or pocket version of the game!

Bring home a copy of Herbaceous for your family.

The pocket edition is sold exclusively on the Pencil First Games Webstore 
You can find the standard edition, along with all our top board game picks, on our Amazon Storefront. 

A special thank you to Pencil First Games for sending us a copy of Herbaceous and Herbaceous Pocket Edition for review. As always, our thoughts and opinions are our own.

If you liked this post you may also like:

Skulk Hollow
The Whatnot Cabinet
5 Great Card Games You Should Own