iOS Universal, Android •
Usually when we’re told of a new release only a day before it’s coming to the App Store, I’d say we were surprised. When that release is Bohnanza The Duel and the developer is DIGIDICED, however, it’s less surprise and more of course they’re releasing that game. After all, it’s another 2-player Uwe Rosenberg title which, other than Terra Mystica, is what DIGIDICED does, so it was only a matter of time before it went digital. Now that the intro’s out of the way, are we ready for some bean farming?
Bohnanza The Duel is a 2-player version of Uwe Rosenberg’s famous bean farming card game, Bohnanza. The original game was released 20 years ago and was something of a mega-hit back before the board game hobby in the US had a lot of mega hits. Bohnanza The Duel takes the trading and deal-making of the original and condenses it into a “gift” mechanism that works with 2-players.
I haven’t played the physical version, and the digital one doesn’t come until tomorrow, so I think it’s best if I blurb a bit:
In this two-player variant of Bohnanza, both bean farmers give each other gifts of beans they can‘t use themselves – to make life harder for their opponent, if possible. Trying to fulfill their secret “bo(h)nus” requirements, they both need to keep a vigilant eye on the other player’s bean fields.
• True digital conversion of Uwe Rosenbergs famous board game
• 2 players locally, online or even cross-platform
• Family friendly – non violent theme
• Worldwide ranked multiplayer and casual play with your friends
• fast real time games or asynchronous games with 24 hour time limit per turn
• Easy interactive tutorial to learn the game from scratch
• Analyze your best games or learn tricks from the best with playback
• 3 different computer opponents
• uses the newest rules of the board game
There, that clears it up. Or maybe not. Here’s the bottom line: all the other 2-player Uwe Rosenberg titles that DIGIDICED has produced, Patchwork, Le Havre The Inland Port, Agricola All Creatures Big and Small, have been great conversions. No reason to think this one will be any different. If you’re looking for a quick euro fix, these are some great options. Bohnanza The Duel will be available tomorrow for iOS and Android and will run $3 and there’s also a Steam version coming down the road.
Digidiced gets my money; it barely matters what game they make. I don’t know that Digidiced always uses the best UI, but other than that they are buy-without-thinking developer for me, much like Playdek used to be before their 1-game-every-two-years phase.