Jardin Japones - planning ponds in zen gardens

Jardin Japones/Japanese Gardens is a Roll and Write where you draw a Zen garden on a grid, the garden features and locations determined by dice rolls. Honestly, that is such a very common mechanic in R&Ws. However, Jardin Japones does get some credit for embracing its theme.

Mechanically, you are working with a six by six grid. Each turn, you roll three dice. One die will determine the row or column you will be working with. The other two dice determine what two garden features you add from a table. You also can fill in one of the three branches on your convenient bonsai tree to ignore the dice and place one garden feature of your choice anywhere. After twelve turns, you’re done.

The most novel element of Jardin Japones is ponds. Every fourth turn, you draw in a pond, outlining one or more spaces. The only restriction is ponds can’t be next to each other. (Otherwise, they’d be one big pond) Some elements have to be in ponds, like bridges, but you can draw a bridge in first and draw a pond around it.

As I mentioned earlier, Jardin Japones has some solid theming for so slight a game. Lanterns need to be far from each other. Bridges need to be in ponds. Bamboo has to be in a group. And so on. 

You can violate the placement restrictions but that will affect scoring. At the very least, an item will score no points. A bridge on dry land or a lantern in the water will score you negative points though.

Ultimately, the two things that give the game interest to me are the possibilities that drawing ponds unlock and the fact that you will get a drawing of the Zen garden at the end of it.

There are advanced rules that… actually make the game more interesting. Some of the scoring is made a touch more intricate, forcing you to be a little more specific in your choices. But, more importantly, it adds bonus points. These give more focused goals for your play.

Jardin Japones does remind me of an older roll and write game, Yard Builder, where you create a backyard. I do find Yard Builder to be the stronger game because it has more elements for you to work with and your choices are more flexible.

Jardin Japones is ultimately in the hinterlands for me. It is enjoyable enough that I can see myself adding it to the regular rotation. At the same time, it has enough in common with other games that I play that it doesn’t really stand out.