Verdant | A Review | Tabletop Meeple

Verdant!

a review by Tabletop Meeple

Info:
  • For 1-5 players
  • For ages 10 and up
  • 30-45 minutes to play
  • BGG Weight: 1.97

Hello! This is my new blog, Tabletop Meeple. Here I hope to provide my opinions on board games of all flavors. And today, I thought I would review Verdant, designed by Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin, Aaron Mesburne, Kevin Russ, and Shawn Stankewich, and published by Flatout Games and AEG.


Verdant, from the cover to the cards to the tokens, lives and breathes plants.


Game Overview

In Verdant, you play the roles of houseplant enthusiasts trying to design comforting rooms by arranging houseplants and other comforting items in an ever-shrinking spatial puzzle. You do this by tactically drafting and potting plants to win the most victory points.

Now, into the actual review.

Theme

I would like to preface this by saying that I am not a big theme gamer. I play games mostly for the mechanisms but if a game wows me with its theme, then I am always along for the ride. This game’s theme is definitely there. It is pretty well integrated with the mechanics, but it didn’t take me aback like Cascadia, and, to an even greater extent, Calico. Still solid though, and it is nice to see that this game is passionate about its subject.

TM Score: 16/20

Components

The component quality in Verdant is solid. The cards are of decent quality, the plant pots, green thumbs, and household items are cardboard, and the verdancy tokens are wooden. The game also ships with a lovely bag to hold the household items in, a la Cascadia. Nothing too extraordinary but definitely appreciated.

TM Score: 15/20


Component quality is average, with some nice things that make it a bit above other games.


Gameplay

In Verdant, players draft cards and tokens into their tableau to score big. It is a tried-and-true mechanism, having been employed with few changes in Cascadia, but it works here just as well. The game, on first impression, feels like a blend of Cascadia’s mechanisms with Calico’s thinkiness. And, let me tell you, it works.

TM Score: 18/20


What a player’s tableau may look like after a few turns.

Overall

It’s a great game, done by some of the best designers in the industry. It has a great theme, that, while it may have not wowed me, it was still there clear as day. The component quality is what we have come to expect over the past few years in the hobby, and the gameplay is unrivaled. I really suggest you check this out, especially if you like Flatout’s previous work.

FINAL TM SCORE: 16.3/20

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