Review on 🎮 BGZ110039 Trellis: The Ultimate Game Changer by Breaking Games by David Pirlet

Start with 15 flowers and three hexagonal tiles with intertwined color vines and be the first player to get all your colors on matching vines bloom with clever tile placement. After placing a tile and the flowers have bloomed, fill up your hand up to three tiles. Play then continues clockwise until a winner is determined. When placing a tile, the vines don't have to match, but it's better if two match, and even better if they extend to vines of the same color on adjacent tiles, as you can bloom additional flowers. . There can't be more than three colors on a single tile, so it's difficult to get rid of more than two colors in one round, four wins are practically guaranteed, especially if your opponent(s) can't do the same immediately. Flowers bloom on each empty vine segment of the same color, even if the flowers belong to another player. Why might you want to make the opponent's vine blossom? Well, every flower that blooms for another player gives the active player another flower of their own. This bonus flower must be placed on the current tile if it does not already have three flowers, in which case the active player can place it on any face-up vine in play. If you know your tiles in hand, you can organize a profitable game next turn. unless your opponents intervene first. And therein lies the trellis strategy. Trellis promises to be a zen experience, but it's far from a relaxed game. There's some strategy involved here, and it almost takes some cunning, if not ruthless, play to win. When exactly should you give your opponent a gift to prepare for the next move? Should you tie vines of the same color to make your own flowers bloom, or block opponents' different-colored vines to thwart their flowering efforts, or perhaps make a move that involves a bit of each of them? The timing of your gift blossom is crucial, as the last blossom is the win condition. That means someone can win before your last flower blooms. Breaking Games is known for outstanding production values (like Rise of Tribes, Expancity, Dwellings of Eldervale, and Beasts & Bronze). The grid is no exception with thick tiles, beautiful floral figures, a very pleasing overall aesthetic, and even a great box insert. The rules are quick and clear, although it will take a few games to figure out the margin of choice for optimal play as you are seemingly at the mercy of blind tile games. I don't mind this randomness. It takes experience to figure out how to place just three tiles to get flowers faster without setting up an opponent. Of course, if chance discourages you, use the "draw two/choose one tile” house rule to better control your ultimate destiny. It is actually a misconception that trellis is said to suffer the most. Trellis was widely criticized for its poor game design, particularly in 2P, resulting in significant first player bias. I won't go into details here, you can read more about it on the forums. While I understand that the tendency to take the lead is what most often decides the winner (especially for inexperienced players), I can confidently tell you that after 80+ games, that tendency doesn't exist and I can beat any rookie who does becomes second. However, if you want to eliminate any bias towards the first player advantage while learning the game, a simple variation solves this problem. Just use the 15th flower arrangement as a late game trigger instead of an instant win. Your opponent(s) are then given one last turn to try to exceed the total number of suits. Of course, you need a few complementary colors to play this variation. These can be unused player colors when playing in a two player game. Or you can do the same as us and buy a second copy of this affordable game so everyone has enough of their color. If they get 18 while you only get 17 in the same number of moves, they win even if you get 15 first. If there is a tie, simply place another tile until there is a winner. While I don't think this option is necessary to fix a broken game, we like to play in a way that messes up the victory condition at the end of the game and the strategies you use to achieve victory. Trellis is totally underrated in my opinion. A trellis is a frame that provides structure for climbing plants to reach light. It's an apt name for a board game whose ruleset might need a small tweak or two to take its rightful place in the sun.