- BGG rating
- 7.3
Formosa Tea: Tea Trees
- 2–4 players
- 40–90 min
- 2024
- BGG rank
- BGG #3,109
- BGG rating
- 7.3
Formosa Tea
2019
Rules assistance for Formosa Tea
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–4 players
- 40–90 min
- 12+
- Complexity 3.4/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for Formosa Tea
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Formosa Tea is a board game released in 2019 for 2–4 players, 40–90 minutes per game, and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Chu-Lan Kao and its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Events, and Tech Trees / Tech Tracks.
Expansions
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About the game
The sub-tropical climate and environment of Taiwan makes the island highly suitable for cultivating top quality tea. But it wasn't not until the 19th century after English businessman John Dodd discovered some amazing Oolong tea there that the Taiwanese tea business truly begin to bloom and "Formosa Tea" became world-reknowned. In Formosa Tea, players are tea farm owners competing to harvest the best tea leaves, improve their tea processing techniques, and produce tea of the highest quality for not only the domestic market but also for the international market. With the unique worker placement and worker advancement mechanisms, along with the tea dehydration and scenting processing, players must use their workers wisely to make the best tea in the market. A game of Formosa Tea is played in four rounds. In each round, players take turns to perform one of the five possible actions: Send a worker to harvest tea leaves Send a worker to a tea factory to process tea leaves Retrieve a worker from the tea factory after tea processing is completed Send a worker to sell tea in the domestic market Send a worker to sell tea to international merchants. After the end of the fourth round, the player who has the most prestige points wins!
Categories
Designers
Publishers
- BoardM Factory
- Tasty Minstrel Games
- Strohmann Games
- Soso Studio
Questions and answers
Formosa Tea supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Formosa Tea is 40–90 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Formosa Tea for ages 12 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Formosa Tea has a complexity rating of 3.4 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-weight game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Formosa Tea belongs to these categories: Farming and Industry / Manufacturing. Its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Events, and Tech Trees / Tech Tracks. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Formosa Tea are: Chu-Lan Kao. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Formosa Tea as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.