North Star Games - Paint The Roses Board Game - Alice in Wonderland Strategy Puzzle Board Game - 2 to 5 Players - Average Playtime 60 Minutes

Product Information

Although the trays look quite nice, I feel only the bottom tray adds some value to the game by organizing the cards and the expansions. All tiles could probably be better stored in the bag to be ready to be used instead of in the tray. Also, the tray does not have space for sleeved cards which for me is a big fail.

When the active player places a tile on the board, all players look to see if the placed tile and the surrounding tiles match what is on their card. If so, they place their cubes on the tile as well. Ideally, you’re looking to place your tile such that it meets only one possible condition—an idea that’s harder than it may seem. Easy card example.The first player will then choose one of the four tiles in the Greenhouse—featuring a combination of a hedge shape (spade, heart, diamond, club) and a color (red, pink, yellow, purple)—and place it adjacent to another tile on the board. Let’s get this to the table so you can see how Paint the Roses plays. The Best Way to Explain It Is to Do It You and your teammates win if the royal garden is filled without the Gardeners being caught by the Queen. Once you are setup, turns play out the same throughout the game. A player will place a tile from the greenhouse (which has 4 different tiles available) anywhere in the garden adjacent to an existing tile. All players will then put cubes on that tile if it meets the conditions of the whim card they have. So in the red-to-yellow example, if a player places a red tile so it’s adjacent to two previously placed yellow tiles, I’ll put two of my cubes on the newly placed tile.

The high level of repeatability added by the expansion is another of the strengths of this game. As expected, after a few games you will probably start to feel you found your strategy to beat the queen and that the randomness associated with the tile drafting could be managed efficiently.The game aims to work together to finish the palace garden according to a random set of cards that represent the Queen of Hearts’ whims. A nicely sculpted gardener miniature traces your progress while another one, the Queen, chases you. If the Queen reaches you before you complete your goals, the last thing you hear will be, “Off With Their Heads!” and the players will lose the game. If you are a fan of deduction games, routinely play with 3-4 players, and don’t mind having to really struggle with the first couple plays, I highly recommend Paint the Roses. Obviously, the added benefit of the depth is that you really benefit from additional plays as time goes on. And I highly recommend going for the deluxe edition as the expansion modules provide new wrinkles that give the game even more legs. The Red Queen starts with a single red rose under her. This means for each correct guess she’ll only move one space closer. For each incorrect guess, she’ll move twice that number, or two spaces. As players move around the board, there are set spaces where, once you pass over them, The Red Queen acquires another rose. And another rose. Two roses means two spaces for a correct answer and four for an incorrect guess; three roses means three spaces for a correct guess and six for an incorrect guess.

After my first play of Paint the Roses I was a little put off by what I perceived to be the imperfect information the game insists you play with. Color to color was fine, but the Medium and Hard cards presented too many choices with no clear idea as to which choice was correct. This was, I think, more of an issue when playing the game with two players. Having the consequences of a wrong guess, along with the possibility of losing the game, resting solely with my guess, didn’t sit all that well with me.

1. Look at Choices the Active Gardner Didn’t Make

The first impact of opening the box is amazing: the box is nicely done, sturdy, and with a great aesthetic. I especially love the rendering of the characters and the overall art by Jacqui Davis. It also doesn’t hurt that the deluxe edition also has some nice minis and acrylic tiles that give everything a nicer presentation.

And of course, as the game goes on you have fewer options on where to place. So along with everything else, you’ll also want to try to keep open as many combinations as you can as you play.

Paint the Roses Expansion: Escape the Castle

Game Contents: 1 Deluxe Game Trayz Insert, 1 Deluxe Dual Layered Garden board, 32 Deluxe Acrylic Shrub tiles, 1 Dual Layered Greenhouse board, 132 Whim Cards, 30 Clue Tokens, 3 Notepads, 3 Character Miniatures, 4 Flower Tokens, 1 Velvet Bag, 1 Royal Log Notebook.