How to Farm Beans

Day 6 - Bohnanza
Designed by Uwe Rosenberg



"To Bean or Not to Bean!" What is better than farming apples, oranges, or potatoes? Farming beans! Jack will tell you that farming beans, even magical ones, can be a challenge...especially if you are competing with other bean farmers. Bohnanza is a game for 2 - 7 players. The game takes about 45 minutes to play, and the concept of the game is fairly simple making it a game that kids around 8 and up will be able to play. The concept of the game is to "plant" different kinds of beans in your limited fields (you start the game off with 2, but can expand by purchasing a 3rd bean field for 3 gold) and to harvest these fields at the best time. Each player has a hand full of cards that can not be changed from the order they are drawn in. When it comes time to take your turn, you have to plant the first bean card in your hand. This may require you to harvest a field of a different bean type prematurely giving you less than you wanted to earn on it, or maybe nothing at all. The game plays very well with 2 players and with more players. The game is geared toward 3-7 players, with the best game play coming from 4-5 players I would say. The 2 player version is really fun and has its own strategy to it, and with 3 or more players the game becomes very much so about trade. It's like Pit meets Settlers. The only way to rid yourself of cards in your hand is to trade them to others who may want them and this also allows you to obtain the beans you need to make you the wealthiest bean farmer around. The Wife and I played the 2 player version tonight, and as you can see by the scoreboard - we tied tonight with 25 gold each. Definitely a great card game and I highly recommend it to everyone and that is just How Lou Sees It.

Button's Big Bang Bohnanza

Buttons vs the Zipper.

Once upon a time, I was given a pair of jeans (why they call them a pair of jeans, when there really is just one jean is beyond me). Like the old classic t.v. show and Hasbro toy, there was more than meets the eye with these pants. No, unfortunately my pants were not a transformer sent to be my guardian, but it did have buttons instead of a zipper (it also had a secret pocket located on the seam...yeah, pretty awesome pants).

There are definitely some pluses to having buttons instead of a zipper. The main benefit about having buttons ironically is not having a zipper. Take zippers in general. How many times have you had a zipper get stuck? Frustrating is it not? Now, imagine that frustration while you have to go to the bathroom, and you can't. You see the problem with a zipper? I do admit that this does not happen very often, but it is a risk of the zipper. Another reason to go with buttons instead of a zipper - its unusual and very cool. Also, not a bad conversation starter.

So, why are most pants made with zippers? The answer - belts. For the gentlemen out there who step up to a urinal with zipper pants, you do not have to undo your belt. If you have buttons instead of a zipper on the other hand, you must undo your belt. I realize it sounds like a simple thing, but it can be annoying. When it comes down to it, I still prefer the zipper. It should also be noted that most of the skater jeans I have seen utilize buttons.


The Big Bang Theory.

Penny...Penny...Penny. Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur. Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr purr purr. Scissors cuts paper, paper covers rock, rock crushes lizard, lizard poisons Spock, Spock smashes scissors, scissors decapitates lizard, lizard eats paper, paper disproves Spock, Spock vaporizes rock, and as it always has, rock crushes scissors. She's so chatty. Under normal circumstances I'd say I told you so. But, as I have told so with such vehemence and frequency already the phrase has lost all meaning. Therefore, I will be replacing it with the phrase, I have informed you thusly. I find zombies dancing in choreographed synchronicity implausible. And also it's really scary. I'm not insane, my mother had me tested! A neutron walks into a bar and asks how much for a drink. The bartender replies "for you, no charge". Bazinga!

Wow, do I really need to say anything about this show? Yeah...I do. Its awesome! When you are as geeky as I am, there really isn't a whole lot of shows out there better than this one. It has everything. It's like a geeky Seinfeld (oh, I do miss that show). Comic books, superheros, LOTR, Star Wars, math, physics, the girl next door, and great geeky fun.


Bohnanza.

To Bean or Not to Bean... Want a really fun and easy card game for 2 to 7 players? I highly recommend Bohnanza the card game dedicated to farming beans. Yes, you read correctly. If you like games like the Farming Game, Pit, and Settlers of Catan you will really enjoy this game. Even if you don't like those games, I think you will really have fun and be addicted at once. With simple game play and lots of player interaction with 3 or more, this is one of the best games ever made. So, check it out or come over to my place and I'll introduce you. Here is also a link for more information if you would like (Bohnanza Info). I say definitely Bean.

And that is How Lou Sees It.