Is Abandon All Artichokes good for kids? Age and difficulty

How do you set up Abandon All Artichokes?

Checked against the Gamewright English rules for Abandon All Artichokes (copyright 2021). The rules are one sheet with no page numbers, so each line names the panel it comes from.

1. Give each player a reference card (Setup panel).
2. Pull out all 40 Artichoke cards. Deal 10 face down to each player as their Personal Deck. Put any left over back in the tin (Setup panel).
3. Shuffle all the other cards and put them face down in the middle as the Garden Stack (Setup panel).
4. Turn the top 5 cards of the Garden Stack face up side by side as the Garden Row. Leave room on the other side of the Stack for the Community Compost Pile (Setup panel).
5. Each player draws 5 Artichokes from their Personal Deck into their hand. Leave room next to each Deck for a Personal Discard Pile (Setup panel and Playing area setup panel).
6. Whoever most recently ate a cooked, green vegetable goes first. Play goes to the left (How to play panel).

Start over

How do you teach Abandon All Artichokes to kids?

The box says 10 and up. We suggest 9 and up with an adult helping, and 10 and up on their own. Each vegetable card has its own power, and several of them mess with another player, so younger kids may need an adult to read the cards.

Say this

1. Your deck starts with 10 Artichokes and nothing else. You want to get rid of them.
2. On your turn, first the garden gets topped up to 5 cards. Then you take one vegetable from the garden into your hand.
3. Then play as many cards as you like. Each vegetable does something different, and most of them get rid of an Artichoke. You can never play an Artichoke on its own.
4. When you are done, put the cards you did not play on your discard pile, then draw 5 new cards from your deck.
5. If your new hand has no Artichokes, you win. Show it and say, Abandon all Artichokes!

The rules have no beginner variant, so the ideas below are house rules.

First-game simplifications

• House rule Let a grown-up read each new vegetable's power aloud the first time it is harvested.
• House rule Keep the reference card next to each player and walk through the five phases together on the first turn.

Watch-outs for kids ages 9 to 10

• A turn has five phases in order: top up the garden, harvest, play, discard, draw (How to play panel).
• You can only play a card if you can do everything it asks. If you can't, it stays in your hand and goes to your discard pile (How to play panel).
• Artichokes can only be played when another card tells you to (How to play panel).
• After you play a card, put it on your discard pile before you play the next one (How to play panel).
• Composted cards go in the Community Compost Pile and are out of the game for good (How to play panel).
• You only win when you refill your hand at the end of a turn. Having no Artichokes in the middle of a turn does not win (Ending the game panel).
• If four or more cards in the garden row are the same, shuffle the row back into the stack and reveal five new cards (How to play panel).

Back for another game?

• Turn: top up the Garden Row to 5, harvest one card, play any cards you can, discard the rest of your hand, then draw 5 (How to play panel).
• If your Deck runs out while drawing, draw what you can, shuffle your discard pile into a new Deck and finish. Don't shuffle early (How to play panel).
• You win when your refilled hand at the end of your turn has no Artichokes (Ending the game panel).
• Beet: swap a random card with an opponent. Two Artichokes get composted instead. Broccoli: needs 3 or more Artichokes in hand, composts one (Card powers panel).
• Carrot: your only play of the turn, composts two Artichokes. Corn: play it with an Artichoke, then put a Garden Row card on top of your Deck (Card powers panel).
• Eggplant: composts an Artichoke, then everyone passes two cards left. Leek: take the top card of an opponent's Deck, or put it on their discard pile (Card powers panel).
• Onion: composts an Artichoke and goes to another player's discard pile. Pepper: puts a card from your discard pile on top of your Deck (Card powers panel).
• Peas: one card from the Garden Stack goes to your discard pile and one to an opponent's. Potato: composts the top card of your Deck if it is an Artichoke, otherwise discards it (Card powers panel).