The Orchard (Obstgarten)

The Orchard - Harvest the fruit before the raven beats you to it

The Orchard is another fun game to pull out in the fall. The board depicts an orchard at harvest time, with ripe fruit hanging from every tree. (Actually apples and pears are harvested in the fall, with cherries and plums ready in mid summer, but I typically pull it out in the fall.)

This is a cooperative game with the players working to harvest the fruit before the raven can get to it. As you play through the game harvesting the fruit you will also be simultaneously assembling a 9 piece jigsaw puzzle. Whichever objective gets done first will determine who wins - the players or the raven.

Since The Orchard is a Haba brand game, you can expect good quality and, as Haba often features, wooden pieces. The Orchard includes 40 fruit pieces, 10 each of apples, pears, cherries, and plums, and they are all made of wood. Each tree on the game board has 10 holes in it (reminds me of Hi Ho! Cherry Oh!) and you put one piece of fruit in each hole, on each tree, when setting up the game for play (just to keep them from rolling away). The small baskets are made of strips of wood, like the old-fashioned bushel baskets, very cute. The oversized custom die is made of wood and features the four fruit colors, one on each side, a picture of a basket and a picture of the raven. The nine puzzle pieces are square and don't have tabs or blanks. The picture on the assembled puzzle is the exact size and picture of the raven you see in the middle of the board, so you just build the puzzle right on top of it. 

To see a list of other fall-themed games I have blogged about, click here. 
To see a list of other cooperative games I have blogged about, click here.

 

Object:

Pick all the fruit off the trees before the raven puzzle is complete. 

Set up:

Place all of the fruit pieces on the trees, one type per tree. Set the four baskets next to the board for storing the picked fruit. Put the nine pieces for the raven puzzle near the board.

Play:

Players take turns. Throw the oversized die to determine your move:

If it lands on a color, pick one piece of that color fruit and put it in a basket.

If it lands on the basket, pick two pieces of your choice off the trees and put them in the baskets.

It if lands on the raven, place any one puzzle piece in the middle of the board.

Continue playing until either all the fruit has been picked or the raven puzzle is complete - whichever comes first. If you can pick all the fruit off the trees before you finish putting together the raven puzzle, you win the game. If you finish putting together the raven puzzle before you pick all the fruit, the raven wins.
Try this:

• Line up the baskets, mix the fruit, and put the pieces on the table. Sort them, one color/fruit type, per basket.
• Put one, two or three pieces in the player's hand while setting up the game. Have them bring the pieces, one at a time, to the fingertips and set them on the appropriate trees.
• Stack the puzzle pieces nearby in the order you want them played. Place them in random order to make it a little more difficult to figure out where they go, as opposed to building one row at a time. Or, for an easier version, stack them in an orderly fashion for assembling.
• Pick up the apples and the pears by their small stems, using your index finger and thumb and making a rounded web space.
• Put the fruit away by picking up several pieces of fruit in one hand, squirreling each piece in the palm as you go. How many can you pick up without dropping any? Go again and try for one more. Put them back into the box by the handfuls.
• Cup the hand and spread the fingers a little to accommodate the large die, then roll it in your palm without dropping it to "shake" it before throwing it down.
• Work on in-hand manipulation, manual dexterity, pincer grasp, rounded web space, spatial relations, visual closure, visual discrimination, eye-hand coordination, process skills, executive functioning skills, socialization skills, play and leisure exploration and participation
  
  
  In the box: 4 fruit baskets, 40 wooden pieces of fruit, 1 9-piece puzzle, 1 game board, 1 die
  Ages 4+, 1-4 players

If you are interested in purchasing this game or just want more information, click on the image below.