Disclosure: Meeple Mountain received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This review is not intended to be an endorsement.
I Must Have Flowers, Always, and Always
In a Gentle Rain (Incredible Dream Studio, 2021) designer Kevin Wilson has you building out a lake, one tile at a time. As you do so, you’re trying to create openings for lilies to bloom on the surface. If that sounds like a tranquil experience, that’s because it is.
Sure, there are points to be scored and previous scores to beat, but a Gentle Rain can’t help but be a pleasant, relaxing—and challenging—game that has become my #1 choice for solo games.
I Am Only Good at Two Things, and Those Are: Gardening and Painting
You’ll start by shuffling the square tiles into a single stack. Then take the eight wooden tokens, each with a lily on the face, and set them aside nearby.
It Took Me Time to Understand My Waterlilies. I Had Planted Them for the Pleasure of It; I Grew Them Without Ever Thinking of Painting Them
Turn the top tile of the stack over and place it in front of you. This is your starting tile.
Each tile has a picture of four different half-lilies, one on each edge, that match the full lilies on the wooden tokens. On a turn, you’ll take the topmost tile from the stack of tiles and examine the four lilies on the tile. You’ll then look at the tiles already in play to find a side, or sides, of half-lilies that match your new tile.
There is a quarter-circle missing from the corners of each tile. You’re trying to get the sides of four tiles to match in a square, leaving a solid circle in the middle. When you do so, you take one of the wooden tokens that matches one of the lilies touching the circle, and place it in the open circle.
If you place all eight tokens, you win the game. You’ll score 8 points, one for each token placed, plus one point for each tile remaining in your stack.
I Would Like to Paint the Way a Bird Sings
When laying tiles, keep in mind that three tiles at right angles are good. They only require one more tile with two matching sides to complete a square.
However, a U-shape, where you form three sides of a square, is not so good. These require a very particular tile, one with three matching sides to complete. There’s a chance that specific tile may not even exist in the stack.
My Garden is My Most Beautiful Masterpiece
The brief rule book suggests aGentle Rain can be a meditative exercise as well as a game. The tiles you’re laying out before you make up a lake; when four sides align to create a circle, a blossom opens between them.
a Gentle Rain is a relaxing game to play, but it’s also quite the challenge. In the week after receiving my review copy in the mail, I played it over 20 times. The puzzle-y aspects of the game drew me in, balancing with the calm act of laying the tiles. Attaining end game points is never far from my mind, but it doesn’t overshadow the half-flowered lake I’m creating.
Like my favorite Button Shy game, Sprawlopolis, A Gentle Rain is another Lay’s Potato Chip of a game (“Betcha can’t eat just one”). When I sit down to play, I fully expect to play at least three games before ending my session, if not more. Much like Cascadia, this is a pleasant game where adding another tile to your expanding environment has consequences, but they never force an immediate loss. (Unless it’s your final turn, of course.) The decision space is thought-provoking, not agonizing.
Although part of me is constantly trying to beat my high score (15!) I’m content to let the lake form with each game, trying to cultivate those open circles and allow lily blossoms to bloom. This is an experience that suits my solo gaming vibe precisely.
a Gentle Rain is an enticing, challenging solo gaming experience that I highly recommend.
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