Takenoko – Grow Bamboo, Feed the Panda 🐼🎋

At the Japanese Imperial court, long ago, the Chinese Emperor offered a sacred giant panda as a symbol of peace – and the court members must now care for it by growing its own bamboo plantation. Takenoko by Antoine Bauza is a family board game for 2–4 players aged 8+, playing in about 45 minutes.

Players cultivate land plots, irrigate them and grow three species of bamboo – green, yellow and pink – with the help of the Imperial gardener, while bearing with the ravenous hunger of the panda. On your turn, from the second round on, roll the weather die: sun gives an extra action, rain grows bamboo, wind lets you take the same action twice, storm sends the panda anywhere, and clouds bring an improvement. Then choose two different actions out of five: place a new plot, add an irrigation channel, move the gardener to grow bamboo, move the panda to eat bamboo, or draw an objective card. Objectives come in three kinds: plot patterns, gardener goals for bamboo of the right height, and panda goals for the bamboo you have eaten. Improvements such as the enclosure, fertilizer and watershed help your plans. Depending on the number of players, completing your seventh to ninth objective triggers the last round, and the player with the highest score receives the Emperor's congratulations.

🎋 Grow

Three colours of bamboo.

💧 Irrigate

Water flows from the pond.

🐼 Panda

Eats the bamboo.

🌦️ Weather Die

Changes every turn.

Why You'll Love It:

• 👨‍👩‍👧 Family Game: 8+ and easy to explain.
• 🎨 Charming Art: a lively garden.
• 🎯 Three Objectives: plots, gardener, panda. More ideas among our family games.

Quick facts

• Players: 2–4
• Age: 8+
• Playing time: about 45 min
• Designer: Antoine Bauza
• Contents: 28 plot tiles, 78 bamboo sections, 20 irrigation channels, 9 improvement tokens, 46 objective cards, 4 individual boards, 8 action tokens, weather die, panda, gardener, rules
• Editions: English, German and Croatian-Serbian-Slovenian

How many actions do I get? Two different actions per turn, plus weather effects.
When does the game end? After the 7th–9th completed objective, depending on players.

Tend the Emperor's garden in Takenoko. 🐼

⚠️ Warning: Choking hazard – small parts. Not for children under 3 years.