Is your gaming group hankering for something beautiful, quick, and engaging? Then this is the Ishtar: Gardens of Babylon review for you!
Ishtar: Gardens of Babylon is a two to four player game that can be played in about 45 minutes. Brought to you by the design team of Bruno Cathala and Evan Singh and publisher Iello Games. Immediately I knew this title was for me. Considering Bruno Cathala’s amazing track record for designs. He is also at the top of the list of my favorite designers.
Ishtar: Gardens of Babylon: $49.99
Get It For Less At Miniature Market
Ishtar, the mighty Goddess, has heard your cry! Fountains have arisen in the middle of the desert! Now your task is to create a magnificent garden. Choose the layout of your garden, gather resources, and control the fountains to surpass your opponents. The great title of Royal Gardener will reward the most visionary player…or the most opportunistic!
1. Place your tiles carefully
2. Expand your territory and block your opponents
3. Gather powerful gems
4. Plant trees and upgrade your skills
5. Become the greatest gardener in Babylon!
Contents:
6 Terrain Boards
1 Carpet Board
42 Vegetation Tiles
8 Blooming Tokens
26 Tree Cards
6 Cup Tiles
20 Trees
6 Fountains
114 Gems
16 Assistants
1 Watering Can
1 Scoring Notepad
1 Setup Instruction Sheet
Ages: 14+
Players: 2-4
Game Length: 45 minutes
Beautiful, & Engaging: Ishtar Gardens of Babylon REVIEW
In Ishtar: Gardens of Babylon you play as a gardener trying to turn the desert into the lost hanging gardens of Babylon. Based on the story where the Goddess Ishtar gave a lost gardener the ability to grow life in the deadest and driest of regions.
Each player controls a gardener who starts with two apprentices and two gems. Players will take tiles from a rondel based on where the water can is sitting. They can take the available tile or the next for free or spend gems for each spot you want to advance. You can place the tile adjacent to one of the many fountains or next to any previously played tile. The only rule is you cannot connect two fountains or two flowerbeds occupied by two apprentices.
Some tiles feature a meeple, diamond, or question mark. The meeple lets you place one of your apprentices on the symbol after placement. This helps establish area control, you gain points for each contiguous flower in your flowerbed. Also, these flowers add to your control over the fountains which range in point value based on color. Purple is the fewest points and then red followed by white for the most value.
The diamond symbol lets you unlock a special skill. In exchange for two gems, you can activate either a bonus power or an end game scoring mechanism. Two of the skills unlock your final two apprentices. Some let you place bonus flowerbeds onto your grassy area potentially creating a larger flowerbed for you. The different scoring skills give you flexibility in your play style. Of course, the question marks can be used as either the meeple or diamond symbol.
The other free actions you can perform after your main action is to plant a tree. You can spend gems required at the top of any of the five face-up tree cards. The more points a tree is worth the more gems it may require. After you claim the tree card you place a tree meeple onto any grassy area. You can use trees to block opponents’ flowerbeds or place them near your flowerbeds for potential scoring opportunities.
Ishtar is a beautiful game both in design and visual aesthetics. I love the rondel system for selecting tiles. The board looks amazing once you place all the flowerbeds and it really looks like you have created life in the desert. The card art looks really cool as well. The board and player boards while simple, have a crisp, clean look to them.
Overall, Ishtar: Gardens of Babylon is a fun, quick, engaging game. As a huge fan of Bruno Cathala, I wasn’t disappointed. You should definitely check this title out for your next game night.
