ARBORETUM + TULIP & ROSE: Tip toe through the tulips with me!

[Trevor-UK]

Double-clicking on the eyeball lets you look at the contents of the discard pile.

That seems odd - I wouldn't have read the rules to allow looking at discard piles beyond the visible top card. We certainly haven't allowed that in real life. Seems to change the game significantly - the ability to remember and keep track of what's been discarded is surely part of the skillset required to be good at this game?

In reading the published rules, "Discard 1 card from your hand into your personal discard pile, face up. ... Make sure your discard pile remains visible to your opponents."

I also would not have interpreted that to mean that anyone at any time can rifle through the entire discard pile to see all the cards. Rather only that the top last discarded available card that is face up is known, all others below "could" have been remembered, and that the next available one is face up and would become known if the top one is picked up.

Did BGA code it such that the entire discard pile can be seen? (I have played digitally a few times, and did not notice the eyeball)

Yes, in BGA you can look through the discard pile by clicking on the eyeball. But more significantly on a related rules discussion over on Board Game Geek the designer of the game himself actually confirmed that he allows discard piles to be looked through, and sees nothing wrong with the way some people play with the discard "piles" fanned out so all cards are visible. He expressly states "Arboretum is not intended to be a memory game".

[SquashEngineer]

But more significantly on a related rules discussion over on Board Game Geek the designer of the game himself actually confirmed that he allows discard piles to be looked through, and sees nothing wrong with the way some people play with the discard "piles" fanned out so all cards are visible. He expressly states "Arboretum is not intended to be a memory game".

If that was the intent of the original rules, they do not come across as such to me in any way. There is no mention of being able to look through the piles. They are described as face up discard "piles," not fanned out sets of cards, that would take up a lot of table space with four players. I stil see some strategic value in being able to "bury" particular cards.

But clearly with the designers blessing, not wishing to hinder how some have interpreted and embraced his game, I may give a try to the revealed discard rule, and see how it plays.