Bohnanza Rules – How to Play Bohnanza, Setup, and Scoring Guide

Last Updated on October 23, 2025 by The Official Game Rules Team

Number of Players: 2-7 | Game Time: 45min | Ages: 12+

Bohnanza is a classic card game of bean trading, planting, and harvesting where players compete to earn the most gold coins. The twist? You can’t rearrange your hand, forcing you to trade smartly and plan carefully. Learning how to play Bohnanza is easy—but mastering its timing and negotiation takes skill!

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How to Play Bohnanza

Object of the Game

The goal of Bohnanza is to earn the most gold coins by planting and harvesting sets of matching beans. You’ll trade beans with other players, manage your limited bean fields, and decide the best times to harvest for maximum profit.

Components

104 bean cards (8 types of beans, each showing how many copies exist)
5 bean field mats (each showing 2 or 3 fields)
1 starting player card
Rules sheet

Setup

Each player receives one bean field mat:
- 3 players: use the 3-field side
- 4–5 players: use the 2-field side
Shuffle all the bean cards and deal 5 cards to each player.
- Important: You cannot rearrange the cards in your hand—ever. The order they’re dealt stays the same throughout the game.
Place the remaining cards in the center as the draw pile, gold coin side up.
Leave space beside it for a discard pile and for each player’s gold coin stack.
The chosen starting player takes the Starting Player card.

A diagram illustrating 'The layout at the start of a four-player game' for Bohnanza card game. Four player areas are arranged around a central space, with the player names Anna, Greg, Scott, and Natalie clearly labeling their areas. Each player area shows a large horizontal card (the player mat/base card), a stack of cards (the player's hand or draw pile), and a stack labeled 'Gold coin stack'. The center of the table shows a face-down 'Draw Pile' and an adjacent empty outlined box for the 'Discard Pile'.

Bohnanza Gameplay

Bohnanza is played in turns, moving clockwise. Each player completes the following four phases on their turn:

Phase 1: Plant Bean Cards

You must plant the first card in your hand into one of your bean fields.
You may plant the second card as well, but no more than two cards per turn.
You can only grow one type of bean per field, though you can have multiple fields with the same bean type.
If you need to plant a bean type that doesn’t match any of your fields, you must harvest a field first.

Example #1: Natalie has turned over a Soy Bean and a Blue Bean. She keeps the Blue Bean, but there is no space for the Soy Bean in her bean fields, so she offers it up for trade to the other players. She asks: “Would anyone like this Soy Bean? I’d like to trade it for a Red Bean.”

Example #2: No-one wants to trade with Natalie, so she ups her offer: “I’ll give you the turnedover Soy Bean and a Chili Bean from my hand for a Red Bean.”

Example #3: Anna accepts Natalie’s offer of the Soy Bean and the Chili Bean Natalie puts it next to her bean fields horizontally. Anna does the same with the Soy Bean and the Chili Bean.

Phase 2: Turn Over and Trade

Flip over the top two cards from the draw pile and place them face-up beside it.
You may:
- Plant them in your own fields, or
- Trade them with other players.

Trading Rules:

Only the active player may trade.
You can trade using cards from your hand and/or the two revealed cards.
You cannot trade cards from your fields or cards you just received in a trade.
You can trade any number of beans for any number of other beans.
You may also give cards as gifts if the other player accepts them.

All traded cards are placed horizontally next to the players’ fields and must be planted during the next phase.

Phase 3: Plant Traded and Revealed Beans

After trading ends, all players must plant any horizontal cards they received in front of them.
The active player also plants any turned-over cards that weren’t traded.
If you must plant a bean type that doesn’t fit your current fields, you must harvest one field before planting.

An illustration and text showing Example #4 from the Bohnanza rulebook, detailing planting actions for Natalie and Anna. The left diagram shows Natalie's Bean Fields where she plants a Red Bean (from trade) and a Blue Bean. The right diagram shows Anna's Bean Fields where she plants a Soy Bean and a Chili Bean, with arrows indicating the cards coming from their hands into their fields.

Phase 4: Draw New Bean Cards

Draw three cards, one at a time, and place them in order at the back of your hand.
Then, the player to your left becomes the new active player.

Harvesting Beans

You can harvest beans at any time, even when it’s not your turn.
To harvest:

Count how many cards are in your field.
Check the beanometer on the top card to see how many coins the set is worth.

A diagram explaining the 'Beanometer' on a Bohnanza card, showing how the number of bean cards (3, 5, 7, or 8) corresponds to the number of Bean Dollars (gold coins) earned when harvested, using a cartoon Stink Bean card as an example

Turn that many cards over to their gold coin side and place them in your coin stack.
Discard the remaining cards face-up in the discard pile.
The field is now empty and ready for new beans.

An illustration and text showing Example #5 from the Bohnanza rulebook, detailing how a player named Greg harvests 3 Chili Beans for 1 gold coin. The diagram shows the three bean cards moving to the Discard Pile, one card flipping to its gold coin side and being added to the 'gold coin stack', based on the bean's beanometer values ($3$ beans are worth $1$ coin).

Bean Protection Rule

If one of your fields has only one bean, and another field has more than one, you cannot harvest the single bean field.

A comparison graphic showing field layouts for the game Bohnanza, with the left panel illustrating three planting spots for 3 players, and the right panel illustrating two planting spots for 4-7 players.

End of the Draw Pile

When the draw pile runs out:

Shuffle the discard pile to form a new draw pile.
The game continues until the deck runs out for the third time.

End of the Game

The game ends when the draw pile runs out for the third time.

If it happens during Phase 2, finish Phases 2 and 3.
Then, all players harvest their remaining bean fields.
Cards left in hands are ignored.
Each gold coin card counts as 1 point.

The player with the most gold coins wins!
If there’s a tie, the player furthest clockwise from the starting player wins.

Variants

3–7 Player Game (With Cocoa, Wax, and Coffee Beans)

Add the three extra bean types for larger games.

A visual representation of three different types of bean cards from the game Bohnanza, showing the card art, value, and quantity in the game. From left to right: 1. The Cocoa Bean card, illustrated with a red bean sinking in brown mud, is labeled with a value of 4 at the top, and shown to have 4x copies. The gold coins at the bottom indicate required numbers of this bean to earn coins. 2. The Wax Bean card, illustrated with a yellow bean character using a pickaxe, is labeled with a value of 22, and shown to have 22x copies. 3. The Coffee Bean card, illustrated with a dark brown bean character surrounded by weapons, is labeled with a value of 24, and shown to have 24x copies. Each card also displays a gold coin icon and specific numbers representing coin rewards based on the quantity of beans harvested.

Depending on player count, remove specific bean types to balance the deck:
- 3 players: remove Cocoa Beans
- 4–5 players: remove Coffee Beans
- 6–7 players: remove Cocoa and Garden Beans
3 players use 3 fields; 4–7 players use 2 fields.

The game ends after the 2nd reshuffle with 3 players or after the 3rd reshuffle with 4+ players.
During Phase 4, each player draws 1 card clockwise, instead of the active player drawing three.

2-Player Variant: The Bean Duel

Draw two new cards and add them to the back of your hand.
Remove Garden and Cocoa Beans.
Each player may only harvest during their own turn.
The game ends after the first deck exhaustion.

Turn sequence:

Plant or discard offered beans.
Plant up to two hand cards, then discard one from anywhere in your hand.
Draw three cards and reveal them. Plant any or leave them as an offer.

Bohnanza FAQ

Can I rearrange the cards in my hand?

No. This is the most important rule in Bohnanza—you must play and trade cards in the exact order you received them.

Can I harvest part of a field?

No. When you harvest, you must clear the entire field.

Can I trade with other players when it’s not my turn?

No. Only the active player can initiate trades during their turn.

What happens if I can’t plant a bean?

You must harvest one of your fields to make room before planting.

Can I refuse a trade offer?

Yes. You’re never required to trade or accept gifts.

Do cards in my hand count at the end of the game?

No. Only gold coin cards in your stack count toward your final score.

Conclusion

Bohnanza is a game of clever trading, timing, and resource management. By learning how to play Bohnanza strategically—knowing when to trade, when to harvest, and how to manage your limited fields—you’ll maximize your gold coin earnings and outsmart your opponents. With its mix of luck and negotiation, Bohnanza remains one of the most beloved trading card games for families and game nights alike.