For a fruitful game of Juicy Fruits, published in English by Capstone Games, you need a keen entrepreneurial mind. On your own paradisiacal island, you must grow fruit and establish businesses. At the start of the game, you’ll feel a bit like Chuck Noland must’ve felt in the film Cast Away, but soon you’ll be luring entrepreneurs to your not-so-uninhabited island with the best fruit you can grow to make the loneliness disappear. There are bananas, oranges, pomegranates, limes and even mangistans (roughly translated as garlicky plums). The number of google searches on ‘mangistan’ seems to have never been higher than shortly after this review!
Each player has his own island board in front of him, on which the five types of fruit are depicted as juicy collector tokens. In addition, there are all kinds of boats on the beaches, ready to leave. When it is a player’s turn, there are two steps to follow. First, the player moves either a collector token or a mobile business token. If a collector token is moved, the player receives the number of pieces of fruit of the type moved, equal to the number of spaces the collector token has been moved. If a mobile business token is moved, the player may use its special property. Movement can only take place in a straight line.
Secondly, the player can deliver fruit to his boats. Once the player has supplied a boat, the boat leaves the island. The points on the boat are collected. Instead of delivering fruit, it is also possible to claim an business token. Or in other words: acquire enterprises. The tokens are placed on the business board. With an business token you can score extra points in various ways, for example, by making delicious ice creams and milkshakes with the ice cream cart token.
Each time a player claims a business token, a licence disappears from the licence track. When the licence track reaches the black cross, the game is over, the score board is updated and there is one winner!
Optional: If the players want to make the game even more dynamic, the juice factory can be included in the game. In the juice factory, delicious smoothies can be blended and points get scored by developing your smooth(ie) operation. The juice factory is on the other side of the scoring board and gives each player a third step during their turn. Two discs per player are placed in the juice factory. In step 3, players can move their discs via the arrows to score points in the factory.
An idyllic little island in a random ocean is the basis for Juicy Fruits. The possibilities of the island are unprecedented, but they still need to be exploited. With risk-free enterprise (because, of course, it’s still a game), you must ensure that the fruit flies into your personal supply and that the boats are supplied as quickly as possible. Juicy Fruits, therefore, is a juicy game.
