Four Gardens

Turn a 3D pagoda for resources and complete landscape cards to build the queen's best garden.

Designer: Martin Doležal
Published by: Korea Boardgames
Editions by: Arcane Wonders, Reflexshop, Albi, Gigamic, uplay.it edizioni, Arrakis Games, Board Game Circus, DICE TOWER ESSENTIALS

An ailing queen of a far Eastern kingdom summons her people to compete for the crown, and the prize goes to whoever builds the most pristine garden around a mystical pagoda. In Four Gardens you lay groundwork cards, collect resources by turning a three-dimensional pagoda, and spend those resources to satisfy each card's requirements. Finish a set of landscape cards and you create a panorama, the points engine of the game. It is a compact card-and-resources puzzle for two to four, best with two, and it has a tactile gimmick that sticks: the rotating pagoda in the middle of the table. A game takes about 45 minutes.

Turn the 3D pagoda to gain resourcesGroundwork cards with requirements to fillFinish panoramas for points

Who it's for

You like a compact set-collection puzzle with a physical gimmick, particularly as a two-player game.

Not for you if…

You want heavy interaction or deep strategy. This is a calm race to complete your own gardens.

Vibe's take

Tidy, planning-oriented and a bit tactile. You line up groundwork cards, turn the pagoda for what you need, and the satisfaction comes when a panorama clicks into place.