Al Cabohne: Bohnanzing By Yourself

Bohnanza is probably my favourite chaotic multiplayer card game by my favourite designer Uwe Rosenberg. Bean planting isn’t the most exciting part—the fierce bidding wars and possibilities to cheat when the opponents aren’t looking is. We’ve had ample Bohnanza sessions devolve into yelling and slamming cards on the table. It’s a classic three player or more game that everyone knows and loves, and that was treated with ample expansions and alternative versions—yes, including the obligatory roll & write one.

Al Cabohne is one of the more obscure standalone versions that’s exclusively geared towards one or two bean planters with the third party being the bean mafia, or as the German package reads, Die Bohnenmafia. Yes, I know, silly, right? And yes, I know, why would anyone want to play Bohnanza with only two players—or even by yourself—as clearly, the fun part (the yelling) would be reduced to a mere shout here and there? The average BoardGameGeeker seems to be sorely disappointed with Al Cabhone as visible by the low average rating (6.0).

However, don’t let that lower score initiate a run for the hills just yet. The average BGG rating does say something about the general “playfulness” of a game, but in this case, I think most people misunderstand the game. Al Cabohne is not here to replace your usual chaotic Bohnanza sessions. Al Cabohne is here in case you really really need a bean fix but don’t have anyone else at this very moment to play with. That’s it. But that’s also a very good reason to own and play Al Cabohne, as the busier family life gets, the more difficulties I experience trying to get together a big play group—and when we do, we usually want to dig out the big boxes.

For the unitiated, in the Bohnanza series you plant cards as beans on one of two/three “fields” (your tableau). The biggest catch of the game is that you cannot change the order of the cards in your hand, and you have to plant the first (and can plant the second if you wish). That sometimes means having to harvest one of your fields too early to forcibly make way for a bean species you don’t really want to plant but have to. The bottom of each card summarizes how many thalers (coins) gained from that harvest. The more beans, the better. Once you start a Blauwe Bohne field, you can’t plant anything else in there, and when you plant eight, you can harvest it for three coins—or wait until you manage to get ten for another coin.

Besides the ability to play solo or with two players, the unique feature of Al Cabohne is your opponent: the mafia. They are planting as well, and if you happen to share a species, you’ll have to hand over one of your precious beans. Also, during a turn, three cards are drawn from the stack, and if those happen to be the same ones the mafia is growing, everything goes to them. Mafiosi number one harvests fast, the second one a little slower, and the third one is a hoarder that will attempt to min/max their field.

You’ll sometimes be at the mercy of unlucky card draws that play right into the mafia’s plans, and if they have an empty field, you’ll have to donate another one from your hand. However, now is the time to try and steer them in an opposite direction to your own planting strategies—and also the time to get rid of that first card you have to plant next the next round but don’t really want to. Yet, the more you clear out the garbage in your hand, the more money the mafia will end up with, and the one with the most thalers wins. Except that you’re going to need to beat double the amount the mafia will collect. Ouch.

Playing with two players is weird: there’s no trading phase, there’s only avoiding the mafia. At the end of the round, the other player can pick up and plant any of the beans left from the turning cards phase, while if playing solo, you’ll have to deal with all of them—no discarding allowed. This for me makes Al Cabohne more of a solo game than a two-player game, especially since Bohnanza: The Duel also exists. The Duel is from 2016, and Al Cabohne is sixteen years younger. I am keen on trying out The Duel but haven’t had the chance yet.

Is a Bohnanza game fun without the interaction and trading? Yes and no. I wouldn’t want to play this instead of a regular Bohnanza game if I can find other players wanting to tag along. On the other hand, if I’m in the mood for a quick solitaire card game, I can open up this very pocketable box and get planting within the minute. The mafia provides a serious challenge, and sometimes the card stack simply wasn’t shuffled in my favour: just as I wanted to start planting some nauseating Brechbohne, the mafia beat me to it, will start extorting, and I’ll have to start donating.

The other downside of the game is probably the manual that frequently had me confused as to when start drawing new cards if the one before goes to the bean mafia. Maybe that is due to the printed English translation I employ, but BGG-uploaded manuals don’t fare that much better. It takes a while to get into the rhythm.

Now where to put those Kidneybohne—on their field or in my spare one?

• Total plays? 20+. Very easy to get going and continue with another session.
• Solo friendly? Yes. A 1-2 player game that plays better with 1 than with 2.
• Two-player friendly? Yes, but don’t expect the same level of interaction as in a regular Bohnanza game.
• Quality? Good. The card quality is good enough and I’ve had it for twenty years and it still looks OK.

Keep or Cull? Keep. It takes little to no shelf space and is fun to break out once in a while, although if you’re not that keen on bean planting, I’d try it out at a friend’s place first.