Orchard: 9 card solitaire game (2018)

About this game

Orchard is a quick solitaire "tile laying" game that plays in under 10 minutes and that won the 2018 9-Card Nanogame Print and Play Design Contest. The aim of the game is to harvest fruit (score points) by playing cards so that their fruit trees overlap other trees already in the orchard that bear the same fruit. The more trees you can overlap, the more fruit you'll pick. There are 18 cards, of which you use 9 in any one game. For "print and play" you'll need 15 dice (5 each of three colours) to keep track of your increasing harvest, and two cubes to represent "rotten" fruit. These allow you to lay a card that you wouldn't otherwise be able to — but come with a points penalty, so you must decide if and when to play them.

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Strictly 1 player — no more, no fewer.
• Rules load. At 1.2/5 this is a light game — explain it in a few minutes, good for a table that has not played much.
• Age. The publisher suggests 8 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.