How to Play

Takenoko

2-4 players 45-45 min 7.2 Board Game Geek Rating

Players compete as Japanese court members tending an imperial bamboo garden to appease a sacred panda. The main gameplay involves cultivating land plots, irrigating them, and growing three bamboo species using an Imperial gardener's assistance. Victory goes to whoever best balances optimal land management with satisfying the panda's voracious appetite for bamboo.

Published 2011

Takenoko

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Place the pond tile
Put the pond tile in the center of the table as the starting point
2
Position the figures
Place the gardener and the panda on the pond tile
3
Create the plot draw pile
Mix the remaining land plot tiles face down to form a draw pile
4
Organize the reserve
Place irrigation channels and improvements (sorted by type) next to the draw pile
5
Prepare objective cards
Set the Emperor card aside, then sort remaining cards by category (plot, gardener, panda) and shuffle each to form three face-down draw piles
6
Distribute player materials
Each player receives their own individual board and 2 action tokens
7
Deal starting objectives
Each player draws one objective card from each of the three categories, keeping them hidden from other players
8
Determine first player
The tallest player starts the game

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Step 1: Determine weather conditions
Roll the weather die and apply its effect (skip this step during the first round of play)
2
Step 2: Perform two actions
Choose two different actions by placing tokens on your individual board, then resolve them in any order
3
Validate objectives
At any time during your turn, place completed objective cards face up in front of you if their conditions are met
4
Movement restrictions
The gardener and panda can cross or end on the pond but cannot cross empty spaces between plots; they must move at least one space to gain their action benefit

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Trigger the final round
End-game conditions vary by player count:
2
Claim the Emperor card
The player who triggered the final round takes the Emperor card
3
Complete the final round
The triggering player may complete additional objectives on their turn; all other players then take one final turn each
4
Calculate final scores
Each player totals the victory points shown on their completed objective cards; objectives still in hand score nothing
5
Determine the winner
The player with the highest total score wins and receives the Emperor's congratulations
6
Break ties
If scores are tied, the player with the most points from panda objectives wins; if still tied, the tied players share the victory

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

enseño a jugar takenoko

enseño a jugar takenoko

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FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

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