Arboretum Board Game
Plant elegant ascending paths of trees—but save the right cards in your hand, or even your most impressive garden could score zero.
Arboretum is a competitive card game by Dan Cassar, published in its current illustrated edition by Renegade Game Studios. Players arrange trees into increasing paths while retaining cards of those species to earn the right to score at the end of the game.
The apparent simplicity—draw two, plant one, discard one—conceals a difficult choice: do you plant an important card to lengthen your route, or keep it so your opponent cannot deny you the points?
The essential Arboretum rule
You need both a valid path and permission to score that tree species. Hand totals determine permission; a single strategically retained card can erase a rival’s otherwise valuable path.
Game at a Glance
Draw Two
Use the deck or the tops of personal discard piles.
Plant One
Expand the arboretum with orthogonally adjacent cards.
Discard One
Keep seven cards to defend your scoring rights.
Score Paths
Count permitted increasing routes and bonuses.
Setup and card counts
Arboretum has 80 cards divided into ten tree species, each numbered 1 through 8. Choose species according to player count: six species (48 cards) for two players, eight (64 cards) for three, or all ten (80 cards) for four. It does not matter which species you remove.
Shuffle the selected cards, deal seven to each player and form a face-down draw pile. Leave room for each player’s personal face-up discard pile and an expanding network of planted trees. The player who most recently watered a plant starts, per the rulebook’s suggested first-player convention.
Your turn: draw two, plant one, discard one
Each turn has three steps, in this order:
- Draw two cards. For each draw, choose the deck or the top card of any player’s face-up discard pile. Both draws may come from the same source.
- Plant one tree. Place a card from your hand face up in your arboretum. The first may be anywhere; every subsequent card must be orthogonally adjacent to a previously planted card. Cards cannot be moved, rotated out of place or covered later.
- Discard one. Put one card face up on your personal discard pile. You finish with seven cards in hand.
The card you plant or discard can be one you just drew. Being able to draw from opponents’ discards makes every visible discard a potential opportunity for your rivals.
How a valid scoring path works
A scoring path connects two cards of the same tree species using an unbroken chain of orthogonally adjacent cards. The numeric values must be strictly ascending from the first card to the final card. They do not have to be consecutive.
For instance, Maple 1 → Willow 3 → Oak 5 → Maple 8 can form a valid four-card Maple path if those cards touch horizontally or vertically in sequence. The Willow and Oak cards in the middle are allowed because only the first and last species must match.
Diagonal connections are not legal. A path cannot repeat a card and must contain at least two cards. The same planted card may be included in scoring paths for different species, but only one best path can be scored for any individual species.
The critical rule: who gets permission to score?
At the end of the game, players reveal the tree cards still in their hands, separately for each species. Add their printed values. Whoever has the highest sum of that species in hand gains the right to score one of their own paths of that species. If players tie for the highest sum, each tied player has permission to score.
Example: you planted an impressive Oak path, but your opponent retains Oak 5 and Oak 6 (total 11) while you keep Oak 3 and Oak 7 (total 10). Your opponent has scoring permission for Oak, and your planted Oak path earns zero, regardless of how long it is.
If nobody holds cards of a species, everybody has the right to score that species. A player who wins permission but has no valid path still scores zero, although they may have prevented another player from scoring.
The special 1-versus-8 scoring rule
When comparing hands for permission to score a particular species, an 8 counts as zero if any opponent holds the 1 of that species. The 1 itself still counts as one.
Example: one player holds Jacaranda 8 and 2, apparently worth 10. Another has Jacaranda 1 and 5. Because the second player holds the 1, the first player’s 8 contributes zero; the sums become 2 versus 6, so the second player earns scoring rights.
This exception applies to hand-value comparisons. It does not change the printed values of cards planted in a scoring path.
How Arboretum scoring works
| Condition | Points |
|---|---|
| Each card in a valid path | 1 per card |
| Path contains at least four cards, all of scoring species | +1 per card |
| Path begins at value 1 | +1 |
| Path ends at value 8 | +2 |
After determining scoring rights, each eligible player chooses their single highest-scoring path for that species. A mixed-species path of four cards that starts with a 1 and ends at an 8 earns 4 + 1 + 2 = 7 points. A pure-species path of five cards without the endpoint bonuses earns 5 + 5 = 10 points.
Multiple paths through the same species do not stack. Count the best one, then repeat the process for the other species.
When the game ends and tie breakers
The game ends when the face-down draw pile has been emptied. The player who draws the last card finishes the full turn—including planting and discarding—before scoring begins.
Add points from all permitted species paths. The player with the highest total wins. In a tie, the tied player who has the greatest number of different species planted in their arboretum wins. If still tied, the official rules use a lighthearted shared-tree convention rather than an additional card comparison.
Nine strategy principles
- Think about hand and garden together. A brilliant planted path scores nothing unless you retain enough matching value.
- Retain a 1 strategically. It may reduce an opponent’s held 8 to zero for scoring rights.
- Keep flexible middle cards. Species diversity between endpoints can extend several possible paths.
- Watch public discards. An opponent discarding the 6 you need can completely change your route.
- Prefer connections that preserve options. Adding a high card too early can block a rising sequence.
- Use the same planted cards in multiple species paths. A central card may support two separate scoring routes.
- Estimate unseen high cards. If important cards of a species remain unaccounted for, assume an opponent may contest your permission.
- Know when to abandon a species. Spending several turns on a path you cannot win scoring rights for is expensive.
- Control the last turns. Near deck exhaustion, protect the hand totals needed for your most valuable completed paths.
These are rules-based editorial recommendations rather than claims of firsthand playtesting.
Is Arboretum best with two, three or four players?
Two players use only six tree species, making it easier to follow which high cards are available. The game can become a sharp tactical duel because your opponent alone determines whether you win permission to score.
At three or four, more species and players produce a less predictable competition for scoring rights. You may find a promising path but need to estimate which rival is collecting that color. With four, the full 80-card deck creates the widest variety of interactions.
Does the edition change the rules?
The game was originally published in 2015 and has appeared under several publishers. The current Renegade Game Studios version features artwork by Beth Sobel. Earlier versions use different species names and artwork, and the core draw–plant–discard structure remains recognizable.
If you compare examples across editions, follow the colors and numbered values in your own deck rather than assuming a specific species name appears in every printing. This guide follows the standard published scoring rules.
Arboretum FAQ
How many players can play?
Two to four.
How many cards start in your hand?
Seven, and you finish each turn with seven after drawing two, planting one and discarding one.
Can you draw from another player’s discard pile?
Yes, but only the top face-up card.
Do paths have to use a single species?
No. Only the first and final cards must match the species being scored; middle cards can be any species.
Can paths connect diagonally?
No. Connections must be horizontal or vertical.
Why did my path score zero?
You may have lost the right to score that species because another player held a higher sum of its cards.
What does holding the 1 do to an opponent’s 8?
It makes that opponent’s 8 worth zero when comparing hands for scoring rights.
Do multiple paths of the same species score?
No. Score only your best valid path of that species.
Does a pure-species path score double?
It scores one additional point per card if all cards match the species and the path has at least four cards.
Is the game cooperative or solo?
No. The standard version is a competitive two-to-four-player game, with no official solo mode in the box.
Rules sources and editorial scope
- Renegade Game Studios official product page
- Arboretum rules reference: legal paths, scoring rights, 1-versus-8 exception and bonuses
- Arboretum original English rulebook PDF
- BoardGameGeek: edition information and community discussion
Facts checked October 11, 2026. Examples and strategy are original editorial analysis, not claims of personal playtesting. Follow the rulebook packaged with your edition for any component terminology differences. Editorial policy and corrections.