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- BGG #4,332
- BGG rating
- 6.6
Zany Penguins
- 2–5 players
- 20 min
- Complexity 1.4/5
- 2016
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- BGG #4,187
- BGG rating
- 6.6
Haru Ichiban
2014
Rules assistance for Haru Ichiban
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2 players
- 20 min
- 8+
- Complexity 1.8/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for Haru Ichiban
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Haru Ichiban is a board game released in 2014 for 2 players, 20 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by Bruno Cathala and its main mechanics are Hand Management, Simultaneous Action Selection, and Memory.
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About the game
In Haru Ichiban, or "The Wind of Spring", two apprentice gardeners compete to use this wind to their advantage to create harmonious patterns of their blossoms upon the lilypads. Each gardener has eight flower buds numbered 1-8, with three of those buds being in hand at the start of a round. Sixteen lilypads are placed in the 5x5 pond, with one of them turned to its dark side. Each gardener simultaneously chooses a reveals a bud, with the player with the lower number becoming the Little Gardener and the other becoming the Grand Gardener. In order: The Little Gardener places one of his colored blossoms on the dark lilypad. The Grand Gardener places one of his colored blossoms on the lilypad of his choice. The Little Gardener moves one lilypad to an adjacent space, possibly moving other lilypads at the same time. The Grand Gardener flips one unoccupied lilypad to its dark side. Each gardener takes a new bud. As soon as a gardener creates a specific pattern with blossoms of his color, he scores points: 1 point for a 2x2 square, 2 points for a horizontal or vertical row of four blossoms, 3 points for a diagonal row of four blossoms, and 5 points for a row of five blossoms. If the gardener has fewer than five points, the gardeners reset the board and start a new round with three buds of their eight; if the gardener has five or more points, the game ends and he wins!
Categories
Designers
Publishers
- Swan Panasia Co., Ltd.
- Offline Editions
- Surfin' Meeple China
- Mancalamaro
- Evrikus
- hobbity.eu
- Blackrock Games
- GDM Games
- Ace Studios
- Id&aL Editions
- Multiverso Jogos
Questions and answers
Haru Ichiban supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for Haru Ichiban is 20 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 Haru Ichiban for ages 8 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.
Haru Ichiban has a complexity rating of 1.8 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light 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.
Haru Ichiban belongs to these categories: Animals, Abstract Strategy, and Puzzle. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Simultaneous Action Selection, and Memory. 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 Haru Ichiban are: Bruno Cathala. 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 Haru Ichiban 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.