Trellis Tile-Laying Game Overview
The other day a neighbor posted on Facebook that she was splitting her daughter’s aloe plant and asked if anyone was interested. It reminded me that it’s that time of year that we’re supposed to be splitting our outdoor plants in addition to planning and planting our garden. Splitting Day Lilies and Hostas is no easy task and we have more than our yard can handle – and more than our neighbors will take. Besides, the weather has been pretty fickle and coupled with a pandemic, I just haven’t been motivated to work outside yet this year. I would much prefer to grow flowers on the game table so we decided to play Trellis from Breaking Games.
Trellis is a tile-laying game where you’re trying to be the first player to get all your flower tokens to bloom onto the vines. Players each select a color and take all those flowers, the starting tile is placed in the center of the table and the remainder of the tiles are shuffled to form a deck. Everyone takes three tiles that are kept secret and you’re ready to play!
On your turn, you’ll plant one of your three tiles onto the board, connecting to at least one existing vine of that type. The starting tile includes all six available vine colors so you will always have an opportunity to connect somewhere.
When you extend vines, you’re giving life to the parts of the vine that already are growing. if any of those vines have blooms, you’ll help them produce more flowers. Vines get their first blooms as part of each player’s turn. After planting a tile (and blooming new flowers on existing vines), you’ll get to claim a vine. Place one of your flowers onto an unclaimed section on the growing trellis then place one of your flowers on every prior tile that continues the vine’s connection.
The third part of your turn involves claiming gifts. Remember at the beginning of your turn when you helped bloom existing lines? If those belonged to your opponents, then you’ll get to claim a new vine for each flower that other players bloomed during your turn. Wrap up your turn by drawing back up to three tiles.
Unlike many tile-laying games that are over when the tiles run out, Trellis ends when one player has placed their final flower. It’s a delicate balancing act because you’ll be blooming flowers for opponents before you claim your vine so it’s entirely possible an opponent will win on your turn. The game is simple to learn, only takes about 20 minutes to play and very family-friendly. Copies of Trellis are extremely affordable on Amazon as well as available direct from Breaking Games or possibly at your local game retailer. You can be the first to know about what’s blossoming in their product line by following Breaking Games on Facebook and Twitter.
What’s your favorite kind of flower?
