The Cultivation Game

A game all about the economics of growing and selling marijuana, British Columbia’s largest cash crop! This game was designed in 1997, printed in one edition of 1,000 copies and sold in “head” shops in Canada, Hawaii and Seattle. Press releases stated that it cost the two men behind the project about $50,000 Canadian to get the game to market. The reviewers' copy, numbered 106/1000 and signed by the designer, was found in a thrift shop for $3.99.

Play is divided into three phases, corresponding to the three growing seasons. The length of the game is derived from the number of Seasonal Cards, which is adjusted according to the number of players in the game. Each player starts with a car, six Plant tokens and $9,000 cash.

Each player-turn a player turns over one Seasonal Card and two “Daily Grind” cards. He moves (moving costs money, a player can go as far as he wants to spend) to a location and sets up grow-ops.

Indoor operations require periodic rent and the investment of Equipment and Plant tokens. Yields are smaller but come every turn, and are measured in salable ounces or new Plant Tokens to start other operations. Indoor operations are usually less risky unless someone “rats you out” for a quick $3,000. Outdoor operations are set up in spring or summer. They do not need rent or equipment but are subject to the depredations of deer, rabbits, wandering hikers or police helicopters. Outdoor operations are harvested once per game, in the autumn, and players have to travel to the location to do the harvesting themselves – so, depending on where you and the other players are, you may lose some crop.

Between seasons players pay bills and rent, and may buy or sell equipment. At the end of the game (when all the Seasonal Cards have been turned up), players calculate the value of all Equipment and harvested outdoor Plants, and any salable ounces (a handy price table is supplied if you are too zonked to do the multiplying yourself). Players then pay all outstanding bills, loans, and fines. The winner is the one with the most cash on hand.

This would be an unremarkable farming-type game, if not for the illegal nature of the crop. This frames the rather small amount of player interaction (which is mostly limited to ratting out other players for a quick buck, or negotiating commissions for other to sell or harvest dope for you at locations where you aren’t), the random disasters that can befall players through the Daily Grind deck, and the pro-legalization rhetoric found throughout the rules. The rest of the game is about investing funds and taking risks – it might as well be about growing Swiss chard.