La Familia Hort

In La Familia Hort, Granny Hortensia’s ghost reappears after her death to test her four grandchildren. She will visit them three times during a red moon, and the most experienced farmer after these visits will inherit her land. Players will need to manage limited water and fertilizer resources to tend crops, selling them to earn either experience points or money.

Grand Gamer’s Guild publishes La Familia Hort, a farming game designed by Ramiro Merinero, with whimsical art by Esther Mendez. It’s for 2-4 players, ages 8+, and plays in 30-40 minutes.

Gameplay

There are two sets of tiles: basic and Red Moon tiles. The latter are more powerful and identified by red moons on their backs. These tiles come in two types: crops with garden borders, and animals or tools with wooden borders.

Plants: Sell fully grown veggies and mushrooms for coins, and flowers for experience points.

Animals: Animals stay on your garden board indefinitely and provide a benefit every round.

Tools: Tools also remain on your garden board. They give immediate experience points plus an ongoing benefit.

La Familia Hort plays in rounds, each consisting of 5 sequenced steps indicated by the current round tile. Those steps are: Market, Purchase, Fertilizer, Watering, and Sale.

1 Market

Draw 1 tile per player from either the basic or Red Moon set, as indicated by the icon on the round tile. Place the drawn tiles face up in the center market.

2 Purchase

Starting with the first player and going clockwise, players may buy one tile at a time from the market and place it in an empty space on their garden board. Money spent goes to the bank. This step continues until all players pass or are unable to buy a tile.

3 Fertilizer

Each player receives fertilizer cubes from the bank, as indicated by the round tile. Players place these cubes on crops to increase their sale value. However, players must follow the arrows on the round tile, which dictate whether they fertilize their own crops or an opponent’s.

4 Watering

Each player receives water cubes from the bank equal to the number indicated on the round tile and places them on their well. Players can then water their crops, animals, or apple tree, placing one water cube on each tile they choose. However, they can’t place more than one water cube per crop in the same round. Unused water remains on the well for future rounds. Watering a tile or apple tree is optional.

5 Sale

Now players sell products for coins and experience.

They must sell all fully watered crops, and cannot sell partially watered crops. Players sell fertilized crops at a higher value and unfertilized crops at a lower value.

Return any sold tiles, water, and fertilizer to the market area for future rounds. If a player watered their apple tree, they return the water and gain a coin.

End Game

After selling, flip a new round tile and repeat steps 1-5 until the third Red Moon tile appears, marking the final round. Once the round is complete, each player receives 1 point for every 5 coins they have left. The farmer with the most experience points wins!

Advanced Mode

The advanced gameplay mode adds player powers for extra fun, usable once per round.

• Jorge Hort gets an extra fertilizer to use or store, but must also fertilize an opponent’s crop.
• Julia Hort can water a crop twice – but must do the same for an opponent.
• Pablo Hort can buy an experience point from a rival for four coins – or sell them one of his! A great way to exchange points for money – or vice versa.
• Leticia Hort places a coin on a crop in the market, and when someone buys it, they pay her instead of the bank.

In addition to powers, players receive bonuses when they get to three, six, or nine points. These come in handy as the game progresses.

Impressions

Going into La Familia Hort, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew it was a farming game with cool Tim Burton-esque aesthetic. But after my first play, everything became clear. It’s a lightweight, family-friendly farming and economic game.

At first glance, the rounds seemed complex with many steps, but the round tile’s iconography made everything run smoothly. After one round, the mechanics started to click. We always knew the quantities of resources and who would get them.

Smart Market Choices

The crux of La Familia Hort is making smart market purchases to generate income, which allows you to invest in tiles that sell for experience or provide recurring benefits (like extra water). It’s not about who earns the most money, but about spending it wisely to gain experience points through crops.

There are plenty of low-priced crops like pumpkins that can net you 8 coins, but they take two rounds to fully grow. Meanwhile, you can buy corn for 1 coin and sell it for 2 when fertilized. You might wonder why you’d plant corn, but if you have a goat, you can spend 1 coin and water to sell it for 2 experience points! Picking tiles that create a small economic engine will help you climb the experience ladder more quickly.

Red Moon tiles, though rare, offer great advantages and will get snatched quickly. They can also combo with others. For example, a corn crop and a goat will score you 2 points in a single round, without needing to spend valuable fertilizer on your corn!

Family Farming

Farming might not be the most exciting theme for young kids, but it went over well with my teenager. The art style drew her in, and the simple turn actions kept her engaged.

The mechanic of fertilizing other players’ gardens adds an interesting twist. Players must decide whether to help the player to their left or their right, making for some tough choices since it benefits an opponent.

La Familia Hort plays similarly at all player counts, but with more players, you draw more tiles during the market step, increasing market variety. You’ll also see more Red Moon tiles, which offer helpful benefits.

My only quibble with the game is that each crop can only receive a single water per round. So a flower that requires three water will take three rounds to fully grow. This delays gratification and keeps scores lower than expected. That said, La Familia Hort encourages careful planning and smart use of resources. Pro tip: always water the apple tree for a free coin each round.

Ready to play? Grab your boots and gardening gloves and pick up a copy of La Familia Hort from Grand Gamers Guild, on Amazon, or at your friendly local game store.

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The Family Gamers received a copy of La Familia Hort from Grand Gamers Guild for this review.

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