- Ages 8+
- 1-4 Players
- Playtime: 30-40 minutes
- Gameplay: Tile Laying, Drafting
- Publisher: The OP and Sidekick Games
- Buy Hutan here on Amazon
Overview
Set in the Indonesian rainforest, players choose flowers from the market to plant in their rainforest. If they plant enough flowers, trees can grow, and with enough trees in an area animals enter the rainforest.
With beautiful components and table presence Hutan is easy to learn, yet jam packed with strategy. There are also achievements players can work on to expand their experiences with Hutan. The game includes variants to make it more challenging as well as easier. Plus, there are Scenarios, Challenges, and Modifications. Between these options and the variations with the player boards, there is so much that keeps the game fresh and exciting for whatever kind of gaming experience you are looking for.
Components
- 16 Rainforest Boards
- 130 Flowers in 5 varieties
- 64 Trees in 4 varieties
- 15 animals: Sumatran Tiger, Orangutan, Rhinoceros Hornbill, Cassowary, and Sumatran Rhino
- Pangolin Token (first player token)
- 70 flower Cards
- 24 Ecosystem Cards ( Used for more advanced variants)
- Scorepad
- Also included is a box insert to assemble to keep the components organized.
Gameplay
Hutan is played over nine rounds and each player takes two turns each round. The player with the Pangolin token sets up the market that round and then takes the first turn. The market has one less card than needed for the players to take two cards. The Pangolin token is also included in the market, so one player will get that instead of a flower card each round. Being the first player token gives an advantage the next round, plus the player choosing the Pangolin can choose one flower of their choice to place.
Rounds
A round consists of three phases: Plant Flowers, Grow Trees and Complete Areas, and Perfect Habitats.
To Plant Flowers, the player chooses one flower card (or the Pangolin) from the market. Then they place the matching flower tokens on their board. As typical with tile laying games, the flowers must be placed starting next to already placed flowers. The flowers placed in that turn must also be placed in adjacent squares. Flowers must always be orthogonally placed (along the flat sides of the squares) and never diagonally.
Players Grow Trees and Complete Areas, by stacking like flowers. Once there are two flowers stacked then the top flower is replaced by a tree. On the player boards, there are areas bordered by water that have 2-5 spaces. When an area has all the squares covered with flowers of the same color it is considered complete.
A Perfect Habitat then attracts animals. To achieve a perfect habitat, the area must be complete and have a tree on every flower. Once that happens the last tree placed is replaced by an animal of the same color as the flowers. The animal then fertilizes the squares around it (orthogonally only) which allows the player to add a flower of their choice in each square that is open.
Once the final round is complete, players score their rainforests. Scoring is made easy with the included scoring pad.
Family Game Assessment
Hutan is a great family game for the whole family. The base rules are easy, even for a player with limited experience with tile laying. The game is played over nine rounds; however, the rounds are very fast. The animals, trees, and flowers are beautiful, and based on the native flora and fauna of Indonesia. It can subtly provide a launching point to learning more about that region of the world.
One of the variants is labeled Family, and it takes away the most frustrating aspect of scoring, the negative points for unfinished or mixed flower sections. This variation is a great asset to those who find that aspect of the game too frustrating or want to make the game have a more cozy feel by being penalty free. Especially with the Family variant, Hutan could be used as a gateway game to learn the tile placement mechanic.
Final Thoughts
With a range of variants and challenges there is a version of Hutan to meet the gaming level of a huge range of players. Variations can make the game as hard and complex or simple and cozy as is desired. These options make it a great fit for the whole family whatever your skill level in board gaming.
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