Pergola – Not Just a Pretty Garden

The sun’s out. Bees are buzzing lazily across the garden. Somewhere, a frog hops from lily pad to lily pad, and butterflies drift between tall hollyhocks. But you’re not here to relax. You’ve got work to do. This is Pergola, where you’re not just admiring the garden, you’re the one growing it. You’ll be planting flowers, attracting insects, and making the most of each turn as you build the most charming little patch of green you can.

👥 1-4 players, ages 10+
⌛ Playing time: 45-60 minutes
📝 Designers: Michał Gołąb Gołębiowski & Przemek Wojtkowiak
🎨 Artwork: Karolina Kijak

🏢 Publisher: Rebel Studio (review copy provided by Asmodee Belgium).

Gameplay Overview

In Pergola, you play as a gardener trying to grow a personal garden over 15 turns. Everyone has their own little space to work with, and each turn you’ll choose a tool that gives you a mix of components to use, like flowers, insects, or lanterns. The tool you pick also decides which action you get that round.

Once you’ve taken your components, you start planting. Each type of flower grows in its own way. Hollyhocks like to grow in tall lines of the same colour. Magnolias grow upwards too, but they can spread sideways. Lavender comes in leaf pairs, and buttercups are placed directly on your pergola. Some are small, others large, and you’ll want to pair them cleverly. Insects can either be placed straight away if you’ve got space, or they’ll float around above your garden until you’re ready to land them later on.

Then you take your action, which was linked to your chosen tool. There are four, and each does something different.

With the insect flutter action, you get to move up to two insects around your garden, which is useful for improving your scoring positions. Bird flight gives you a leaf, and the insect on it is added to your supply. The leaf goes into your birdhouse, which helps with points later. Water drip is one of the more interesting ones. You send a water drop trickling down your cascade, collecting insects along the way. If it reaches the bottom, you get a nice scoring bonus. Finally, frog jump lets your frog leap across the pond. Some lily pads give you insects, while others can earn you a dragonfly if your garden has the right setup.

Once your action is done, the tool you used goes into your tool pot. This also acts as a way to count turns. The rest of the tools slide over and a new one is added to the row. Once your pot is full, the game is over.

How You Score

Each flower type has its own way of scoring points. Hollyhocks score for colour sets, and butterflies give you extra points the higher up the stalk they’re placed. Magnolias are worth more the taller they grow, and ladybugs do better when they share levels with other ladybugs. Lavender scores a flat amount unless you pair the leaves, in which case you can either grow a lavender flower or gain a small dragonfly. Buttercups come in small and large types and score in pairs. They also host bees, which are more important for scoring than they first appear.

Insects are more than decoration here. They play a big role in how you score and how your garden works. Bees help you fill honey pots. Ladybugs like to sit together. Dragonflies are tricky to get, but worth a lot. Then there are lanterns, which give you one-off bonuses like extra actions or doubled rewards. If you’ve chosen the right honey pot, they can also score you points.

Speaking of honey pots, they’re little end-game goals that reward you for hosting enough bees. Each one rewards you in a different way. One might give points for butterflies, another for lanterns, another for your leaves.

You also have the cascade. If your water drop reaches the bottom, you get to pick a scoring bonus. That might be points for dragonflies, or for having a full set of insects, or for each honey pot you’ve managed to fill.

At the end of 15 turns, you add everything up. Plants, insects, dragonflies, lanterns, honey pots, your cascade bonuses, the leaves in your birdhouse, and any sets you’ve completed. Whoever has the most points wins.

Game Info

Pergola is a board game from Rebel Studio, designed by Michał Gołąb Gołębiowski and Przemek Wojtkowiak. It plays up to four gardeners, with a typical game lasting somewhere between 45 and 60 minutes, depending on how much players like to think or chat. The recommended age is 10 and up, which seems about right. It also includes a solo mode with a set of challenges that give it a bit more staying power if you’re the type who likes to play alone with a cup of tea.

For this review, we played the Dutch/French edition, kindly provided by Asmodee Belgium. Rebel Studio has already put out a few well-loved titles like Meadow, Chronicles of Avel, and MLEM: Space Agency, and Pergola fits comfortably within that same range of approachable, thoughtful games that value theme and accessibility.

Components and Artwork

One of the first things you’ll notice about Pergola is how pleasant it looks. The colours are soft, the illustrations are gentle, and the whole game has a warm, relaxing feel to it. Karolina Kijak-Dzikońska’s art gives the impression of something hand-painted, almost like pages from a nature diary. It sets the tone for the game nicely. This is not a game of battle or bluffing. It is about careful planning, timing, and yes, a bit of gardening.

Luckily, the artwork isn’t just pretty for the sake of it. The different flowers all grow in their own specific ways, and the illustrations reflect that. Hollyhocks reach upward, magnolias spread sideways, lavender forms little pairs, and buttercups fit neatly into your pergola board. The insects are also clearly designed. A butterfly will never be confused for a bee, and you can tell quickly where each one can go. It makes the game easier to follow, especially when teaching.

The components feel well-made and pleasant to handle. The wooden frogs have a nice weight to them, and the water drops feel good to slide down the cascade. The garden tools are shaped like miniature versions of their real-world counterparts, which is a fun little touch. Player boards are laid out well, although the overall footprint of the game is not small. Each player has several boards, so if your table is on the cosier side, you’ll need to do a bit of rearranging.

The trays that hold the tools are shaped like little garden pots, which adds a nice thematic touch, even if they’re not essential. Each player also has their own tool pot, which doubles as a turn tracker, keeping things neat and easy to follow. In the centre of the table, you’ll place the main token holder designed by GameTrayz. It sits underneath the pond board and keeps all components within easy reach, which really helps with flow during the game. Everything has its place, and the whole setup feels tidy and thoughtfully arranged.

Rulebook and Learning

The rulebook is friendly and mostly clear. It opens with a light tone and even encourages players to check out a video explanation if they prefer. If you choose to read through, the steps are laid out in a logical order, and the visuals are helpful.

There are plenty of examples throughout the rulebook, which really help, especially when you’re figuring out how insects interact with the different flowers. One thing we noticed is that the scoring details are spread across a few pages, so early on you might find yourself flipping back and forth to check things like how butterflies score. Fortunately, each player has their own scoring board, which lays out all the key info in one place. Once you’ve played a round or two, the flow becomes clear, and those reference boards mean you can mostly leave the rulebook alone for the rest of the game.

Gameplay and Depth

The flow of Pergola is steady and satisfying. You take a tool, collect your bits, place them, and perform an action. Simple in theory, but the decisions have just enough challenge to keep things interesting. Every flower and insect comes with its own scoring system, and those systems often pull you in slightly different directions. It is the kind of game where you’re always trying to do more than the game quite allows.

That said, the pressure is gentle. You are not trying to outsmart your opponents so much as optimise your own space. Hollyhocks need height to maximise butterfly points, but colour sets score in a different way. Magnolias score the higher they go, but the ladybugs that sit on them prefer to group together on the same level. Lavender offers you points straight away, or you can wait and pair leaves to gain a flower or a dragonfly. The bees and buttercups come with their own little puzzle, especially if you are chasing honey pots.

Lanterns help to keep things flexible. They let you break the rules in small, useful ways. Get an extra insect, repeat an action, or even swap the action associated with your tool. They are not dramatic, but they come in handy more often than not.

In short, it’s a game about priorities and trade-offs. Most decisions are small, but they feel meaningful. The game only lasts 15 turns, and that tight structure helps keep things moving. It also means you probably will not be able to do everything, so the trick is to pick a few scoring strategies and lean into them.

Flow and Feel

The game moves at a good pace, especially at lower player counts. With two or three players, turns come around quickly, and the drafting of tools has just enough tension to keep you engaged in what others are doing. At four players, things slow down a bit, and if someone is prone to overthinking, the flow can stall. There’s very little player interaction, so if you enjoy games where you can mess with someone else’s plans, this won’t be your cup of tea.

Pergola feels like a good fit for families, casual groups, or anyone who enjoys relaxed strategy games that don’t require a rulebook refresher every time you play. The iconography is clear, the actions are simple to understand, and the overall tone of the game is calm. It is also language independent, aside from the rulebook.

For more experienced gamers, the game might feel a bit too light or repetitive after several plays. The scoring options are varied, but the pace of the game and the low interaction mean it can feel a little solitary. If you’re looking for tension, long-term planning, or deep engine building, this probably won’t offer quite enough.

But if you’re in the mood for something peaceful, where you can focus on your own board, admire the art, and enjoy a few clever turns, Pergola delivers that experience quite nicely.

Final Thoughts

We enjoyed our time with Pergola. It is a well-made game that finds its niche and sticks to it. The turns are quick, the art is lovely, and the choices are small but satisfying. It gives you just enough to think about without ever becoming overwhelming.

That said, we did find the fourth player slowed things down a bit more than we’d like, and by the end of the game, you have usually seen most of what it has to offer. The puzzle shifts slightly each time, depending on which tools come out, but it is not the kind of game that changes dramatically from session to session.

Still, that predictability is part of the charm. Like a real garden, it grows best when you take your time and work with what is in front of you. It might not offer wild surprises or sharp twists, but it builds something thoughtful, relaxing, and quietly rewarding.

Verdict

Pergola is a charming, low-conflict strategy game that combines strong visual design with smooth gameplay. It is not trying to be a heavyweight or the next big thing. But it does offer a calm and clever experience that works beautifully for its target audience. If you enjoy puzzles, thoughtful planning, and a bit of nature at your table, it might be exactly what you’re looking for.

📝 A review copy of Pergola was kindly provided by Asmodee Belgium.