Bohnanza is all about planting, trading, and harvesting beans. Trade beans with the other players and plant them in your fields. That is great fun! And the more beans you have in your field, the more gold coins you get when you harvest them. If you have the most gold coins at the end of the game, you win!
The following rules describe the original Base-Game for 3-5 players, with the original bean kinds.
The three additional bean kinds - Cocoa Bean, Wax Bean and Coffee Bean - are only used in the variant for up to 7 players.
Components
- 24 Coffee Bean Cards
- 22 Wax Bean Cards
- 20 Blue Bean Cards
- 18 Chili Bean Cards
- 16 Stink Bean Cards
- 14 Green Bean Cards
- 12 Soy Bean Cards
- 10 Black-eyed Bean Cards
- 8 Red Bean Cards
- 6 Garden Bean Cards
- 4 Cocoa Bean Cards
- 7 3rd Bean Field Cards
- 1 Rule Booklet
Setup
Give one of the bean field mats to each player. These mats have one side showing three bean fields and one side showing two fields:
If there are three players, use the mats with the three bean fields side up.
If there are four or five players, start with two bean fields each.
Pick a starting player and give them the starting player card. (The second starting player card is a replacement card if you need it-you can keep it in the box).
Shuffle all the cards and deal five cards to each player.
Attention: This is the most important rule of the whole game!
You cannot change the order of the cards in your hand at any point during the game!
The first card you are dealt is the first card in your hand. It is completely visible to you. Put all other cards you receive behind it, in the order drawn. You may never sort your cards for any reason.
Put the remaining cards in the center of the table as a draw pile, gold coin side up. During the game, you will create a discard pile next to it and a gold coin stack in front of each player.
The layout at the start of a four-player game:
Game Play
The starting player is the first active player. After that, players take turns going to the in clockwise order. The starting player keeps the starting player card for the whole game.
When it is your turn, you play through these four phases in order:
- Plant Bean Cards From Your Hand
- Turn Over And Trade Bean Cards
- Plant Turned-over And Traded Bean Cards
- Draw Bean Cards
Important Rules for Planting Beans:
You can only plant one kind of bean in each field at a time.
You are allowed to plant the same kind of bean in two different fields at the same time, but not two kinds of bean in the same field.
Put the bean cards in your field on top of each other, as shown to the left.
Phase 1: Plant Bean Cards from Your Hand
You must plant the first card in your hand (i.e. the one that is completely visible) in one of your fields (see both illustrations below).
After that, you may choose to plant one more card - the one that is now completely visible - in one of your fields (see both illustrations below). You cannot plant a third bean at this time.
When planting, you start or extend the column of cards in the field.
If you have to plant a kind of bean you do not have space for, you must harvest a field first..
If you do not have any cards in your hand at the start of phase 1, skip it and go straight to phase 2.
Phase 2: Turn Over and Trade Bean Cards
Turn over the top two cards from the draw pile and put them next to it face-up for all players to see.
The turned-over cards belong to you: You can plant them in your fields or use them to trade with the other players.
Example #1: Natalie has turned over a Soy Bean and a Blue Bean. She keeps the Blue Bean, but there is no space for the Soy Bean in her bean fields, so she offers it up for trade to the other players.
She asks: "Would anyone like this Soy Bean? I'd like to trade it for a Red Bean".
Rules For Trading Beans:
Only the active player is allowed to trade with the other players. The other players cannot trade with each other.
You may all trade using your hand cards, no matter where they are in your hands.
The active player can use the two turned-over cards for trading in addition to their hand cards.
You cannot trade cards you have received in a trade.
You cannot trade the cards in your fields, either.
You are allowed to trade any number of beans for any number of other beans (e.g., two Blue Beans for one Green Bean).
Example #2: No-one wants to trade with Natalie, so she ups her offer: "I'll give you the turned- over Soy Bean and a Chili Bean from my hand for a Red Bean".
Note: Only remove beans from your hand once the trade has been agreed on.
Both players have to agree to the trade. This way, you can avoid discussions about where the card was in your hand after having taken it out of order too soon.
Put any bean cards you receive in trade next to your bean fields horizontally for now. Do not add them to your hand!
Example #3: Anna accepts Natalie's offer of the Soy Bean and the Chili Bean Natalie puts it next to her bean fields horizontally. Anna does the same with the Soy Bean and the Chili Bean.
Note: As a special form of trade, you can also give another player bean cards. Players receiving gifts have to agree to take them, though. If they refuse, you cannot give them the cards.
You may continue trading for as long as you like, even after the turned-over cards are gone. When you want to stop, tell the other players. This ends phase 2.
Phase 3: Plant Turned-over and Traded Bean Cards
All players who have horizontal cards next to their bean fields now have to plant them. As the active player, you will also have to plant any turned-over cards you have not traded away.
You can plant your new bean cards in any order you choose.
Example #4: Natalie plants the Red Bean she received in trade and the Blue Bean she turned over in her two fields. Anna plants the Soy Bean and the Chili Bean in her two fields.
If you have to plant a kind of bean that does not match the beans you already have in your fields, you will have to harvest a field before you can plant your new beans.
Phase 4: Draw Bean Cards
End your turn by drawing three cards, one after the other, from the draw pile.
Put them in the back of your hand, behind the last card, in the order you draw them. Then, the player to your left becomes the new active player.
Harvesting Beans
You may harvest beans from your fields at any time during the game, even when you are not the active player.
Each kind of bean has its own "beanometer". This tells you how many Gold coins you get for a given number of beans you harvest.
Note: Some harvests may not earn you any gold coins!
The Stink Bean's beanometer tells you: If you harvest 1 or 2 Stink Beans, you don not get any gold coins. For 3 or 4 Stink Beans, you earn one gold coin. 5 or 6 Stink Beans earn you two gold coins, for 7 Stink Beans you get three gold coins, and 8 or more Stink Beans pay out four gold coins.
When you harvest beans, follow these steps:
- Count the number of cards in the bean field you want to harvest.
- Check the top card's beanometer.
- Turn over as many of those cards as you get gold coins (according to the beanometer) so that their gold coin sides show.
- Put these cards on your gold coin stack.
- Put the remaining cards from your field face-up on the discard pile.
- After you harvest, the field must be empty-you cannot harvest only part of a field.
Example #5: Greg has 3 Chili Beans in one of his fields. The Chili Bean's beanometer tells him that these three beans are worth 1 gold coin. Greg turns one card over to its dollar side and puts it on his dgold coin stack. Then, he puts the remaining two Chili Beans on the discard pile.
The Bean Protection Rule
If there is only one bean card in one of your fields, you cannot harvest it as long as you have another field containing more than one bean card.
If the draw pile is empty
When you draw the last card from the draw pile, re-shuffle the discard pile. Turn it over and put it back in the center of the table as the new draw pile.
End of the Game
The game ends when the draw pile runs out for the third time. If this happens during phase 2, "Trading Bean Cards", complete phases 2 and 3 of your turn (even if you could only turn over one card instead of two), then the game ends.
At the end of the game, harvest all of your bean fields and give yourself the appropriate number of gold coins. Cards in your hand do not count towards your total.
Count the cards in your gold coin stack. Each card is worth one gold coin. The player with the most gold coins wins the game!
If there is a tie, the tied player who sits the furthest away from the starting player (going around the table clockwise) wins the game.
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