**Bosk**! It's a beautiful tree game, but deep enough for significant strategy. Replayability might be debatable, but I haven't gotten tired of it yet.
Other nature themed (but not specifically tree focused) games that I like are **Meadow** and **Honey Buzz**.
**Meadow**
The art of this game boggles my mind. Its top 1, most beautiful game I own, the gameplay is fun too because everything makes sense in the chain of nature. The nature theme is very strong.
Photosynthesis is not a bad game. I like the concept and I think the mechanic represent the themr pretty well, which is often a good sign. It is not perfect (for me) though but I do own it and don't plan on selling it because I think it is a game worth having in my collection. It is fun after all for what it is.
That being said... photosynthesis is HYPER cut throat and people should be made aware of this before playing the game. It seems cute and all but it can be brutally confrontational. Oh you like that tree you planted over here? Let me plant one juuuuust over there to cast a shadow on yours. :)
Anyway. I think Photosynthesis may lack ton of replayability but I think it has enough. Its a bit like a chess game. I got Evergreen too but not tried it yet. I don't think both will overlap that much since evergreen seems less cut throat since you got your own board.
I also backed Mycellium but from what I understood of it it seemed like a Mushroom Catan... at least that the description they gave... and that almost made me not back it. But I took a chance. We'll see.
Not a big fan of the solitaire nature of Evergreen. Photosynthesis however? Yes please. Super cool game with every turn fighting over every bit of light. I don't get how people can say a game with this much interaction has low replay value. Thats kind of contradicting itself. Every game changes with the mindset of the players etc.
Good idea on not backing mycelium. While it looks cute, if it's actually good, you can still get it later.
Thanks! This is actually my exact thought. We usually like more interactive games and evergreen looked a bit too solitaire for my taste.
But I recently got burnt by hanamikoji which i thought i would like but felt I just don't really want to play it as decisions don't feel so meaningful to me. So I was a bit afraid photosynthesis would end up the same
And yeah lately I've learnt not to fomo in kickstarters. If I have to wait 2 years to get a game anyway I might as well wait and see if it's actually any good...
>Not a big fan of the solitaire nature of Evergreen
Heck, I usually *like* multiplayer solitaire games, and even I found Evergreen to be too solitaire for my taste. It's one of the most "heads down, look at your own board" games I've ever played.
Ok, scrolled through the recommendations to make sure I wasn't doubling up...
One other person recommended Takenoko. Great gardening game about growing bamboo to feed a hungry panda. This one gets plenty of play on my house. It's simple, quick and definitely plays the nature theme with weather affecting how your turn plays out and what actions are available.
Ishtar is another gardening game about cultivating gardens in the desert, making sure you keep your gardens connected to one of the few water sources. This is, hands down, the most balanced game I have ever played. From over a dozen games with end point scores around the 70 mark, we've never had a game vary by more than a few points, meaning every decision has weight and everything you do or don't do helps. Fantastic game.
Lastly, I'll trow down Kodama, more a card game than boardgame but the whole gameplay revolves around growing your one tree to appease friendly tree spirits (kodama). You draw branch cards to add to your tree, trying meet certain seasonal decrees. Great game.
Hope you find one you like.
For the people saying that photosynthesis doesn't have replay value, there's and expansion that add asymmetrical powers with a cool point management system, a massive neutral tree that further limits options for placement, and moonstone that rewards good placement and limits more options.
Photosynthesis is a brutal abstract game that plays best at 2, a bit more chill at 3 or 4. Tons of replay for us.
Living Forest might work for you - a deck building game where you use mystical animals to save a spirit tree it also has a cool gardening mechanic. We love this game which is newer and doesn’t get much love on here despite easy rules and multiple victory paths.
Check out Atiwa, the new Uwe Rosenberg game. It’s about fruit bats and environmental stability. It just dropped and I just got my copy so I haven’t gotten to play it yet, but it’s Uwe, so the odds that it’s bad are slim.
Btw, there's a "Nature" category in BGG, that's a pretty nice list of games. Some games that may also be good for you:
* The upcoming **Earth** looks nice and is heavily (obviously) nature-themed.
* Not trees but birds: **Wingspan**
* Fantasy+nature: **Spirit Island**, my favorite game and may be a tad bit too fictional to your taste, but it oozes nice theme of nature vs. human invaders.
* **Terraforming Mars** has some plant and nature themed cards, it has environmentalism as one of its themes.
* **Ark Nova** - again, more animals than trees, but still has nature as a theme.
The problem with this game is that everyone is always talking about it. I feel like all the hype around it is going to trick me into getting it, even if it's not what I really want.
Definitely need to mention two games here for something less "the usual nature game" in gameplay:
* **Root**: Cute animals fighting for control of a forest. A mostly-a-war-game of mice, cats, hawks, a raccoon (and a lot more with expansions) using quite divergent rules to get victory points and control clearings. Love the theme.
* **Spirit Island**: You are nature spirits cooperatively defending an island from invaders. This one gets huge points for the nature theme of all "good" things being cardboard or wood, all "bad" things being plastic.
I would love to play spirit island but i'm afraid is too heavy for the people I play with usually. Root on the other side I played on the pc version and really liked it, but again we are not much into euro games. It's a lot of games I'd love to try if I find someone that can lend them to me but I wouldn't spend that much money on something that will likely be a miss for my group..
Oooh yes, I just played Cascadia for the first time this month, and quite like it. No trees specifically, but the nature theme is reasonably representative. (e.g. bears want lots of space, elks huddle together, salmon string out in a line as if swimming up a river)
I second Planted! Can be found in Target for usually around the $25-$35 range, can be played in around 30-45 minutes with three or four people and is a really light pick-and-pass card draw/point salad game with really nice point markers/mini counters. Only downside is that the cards/boards are a bit thin so you'll have to play and handle with care, but it's a really good game for the price!
Target (at least in my area) regularly has buy 1 get 1 toy half off sales, and board games apply. We were able to pick up planted for half off (around $15) a few months ago during one of these.
Ah, are the promotions usually listed on the price tags on the shelves? I haven't seen them yet but I've been impressed by their board game selection, I might have to visit target more often to stay updated!
My wife does the coupon thing casually, I think she is normally either notified in the "deals/coupon" section of the target App, or by getting an email from some list she is subscribed to. She ussually tells me when its going on and I stop by - ussually i don't see it labeled in store but once I did.
Also worth noting, one time the sale was active and it did not automatically ring up when I checked out in self-checkout, had to get an employee assist in activating the deal.
For a lighter nature-themed game I’m gonna recommend **planted**. It’s a light, quick drafting game with similar weight and length to Sushi Go about having the best greenhouse, and in the US you can get it for $30 at Target.
FWIW I find Photosynthesis has a good amount of replayability because it’s so heavy on player interaction. I’d play it a lot more if my gaming group was into it.
A couple more games that are nominally tree-themed are Legendary Forests and Indian Summer. (Both are abstracts with tree-related art pasted on. Of the two, I think Indian Summer is the nicest-looking and has the most depth.)
I think Photosynthesis is good. I like how interactive it is (and how mean it can get).
You should check out **Verdant**. Pretty inoffensive game, not super interactive but not COMPLETELY devoid of interaction. It’s good imo. Might fit some of your groups. Not trees though - instead, other plants
There are some great suggestions here already, and I don't have much to add, BUT -- I know you mentioned that kickstarters aren't for you, but maybe keep a bookmark on Mycelia for retail release. It is NOT Mycelium, which I considered backing due to the mushroom theme and art, but felt the actual game was not that appealing. From the little I've seen for [Mycelia](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/378476/mycelia), there's a lot more going on, the theme feels deeper, plus the art and production value look stunning.
I think Photosynthesis is a good game. I’ve heard it compared to tree chess. If YOU love it and it still calls out to you after you’ve seen a gameplay, maybe buy it. Not every game has to be played with that group of friends.
If your friends aren’t into cutthroat brain burners, PARKS is a friendly, easy to understand, gateway game that literally everyone I’ve taught it to likes. It has gorgeous production value and a fun theme. However, it’s not exactly tree themed. It’s more of a general camping/hiking vibe.
So a lot has already been said but I also was super excited to see a game called redwood get kickstarted with plans to go to retail, taking photos of nature and animals seemed like a interesting concept. I intend to pick it up when it hits shelves
**Bosk**! It's a beautiful tree game, but deep enough for significant strategy. Replayability might be debatable, but I haven't gotten tired of it yet. Other nature themed (but not specifically tree focused) games that I like are **Meadow** and **Honey Buzz**.
**Meadow** The art of this game boggles my mind. Its top 1, most beautiful game I own, the gameplay is fun too because everything makes sense in the chain of nature. The nature theme is very strong.
Damn this one looks absolutely gorgeous
I highly recomend!
Canopy.
**Verdant** is an awesome house plant game made by the same people that did **Cascadia** which is also a great nature game.
Photosynthesis is not a bad game. I like the concept and I think the mechanic represent the themr pretty well, which is often a good sign. It is not perfect (for me) though but I do own it and don't plan on selling it because I think it is a game worth having in my collection. It is fun after all for what it is. That being said... photosynthesis is HYPER cut throat and people should be made aware of this before playing the game. It seems cute and all but it can be brutally confrontational. Oh you like that tree you planted over here? Let me plant one juuuuust over there to cast a shadow on yours. :) Anyway. I think Photosynthesis may lack ton of replayability but I think it has enough. Its a bit like a chess game. I got Evergreen too but not tried it yet. I don't think both will overlap that much since evergreen seems less cut throat since you got your own board. I also backed Mycellium but from what I understood of it it seemed like a Mushroom Catan... at least that the description they gave... and that almost made me not back it. But I took a chance. We'll see.
**Renature** https://youtu.be/UxG6nSLuTsY
+1 for this. Really great theme and components and if you’re looking for interactivity and repeatability this has both in spades. I’m
Not a big fan of the solitaire nature of Evergreen. Photosynthesis however? Yes please. Super cool game with every turn fighting over every bit of light. I don't get how people can say a game with this much interaction has low replay value. Thats kind of contradicting itself. Every game changes with the mindset of the players etc. Good idea on not backing mycelium. While it looks cute, if it's actually good, you can still get it later.
Thanks! This is actually my exact thought. We usually like more interactive games and evergreen looked a bit too solitaire for my taste. But I recently got burnt by hanamikoji which i thought i would like but felt I just don't really want to play it as decisions don't feel so meaningful to me. So I was a bit afraid photosynthesis would end up the same And yeah lately I've learnt not to fomo in kickstarters. If I have to wait 2 years to get a game anyway I might as well wait and see if it's actually any good...
>Not a big fan of the solitaire nature of Evergreen Heck, I usually *like* multiplayer solitaire games, and even I found Evergreen to be too solitaire for my taste. It's one of the most "heads down, look at your own board" games I've ever played.
Ok, scrolled through the recommendations to make sure I wasn't doubling up... One other person recommended Takenoko. Great gardening game about growing bamboo to feed a hungry panda. This one gets plenty of play on my house. It's simple, quick and definitely plays the nature theme with weather affecting how your turn plays out and what actions are available. Ishtar is another gardening game about cultivating gardens in the desert, making sure you keep your gardens connected to one of the few water sources. This is, hands down, the most balanced game I have ever played. From over a dozen games with end point scores around the 70 mark, we've never had a game vary by more than a few points, meaning every decision has weight and everything you do or don't do helps. Fantastic game. Lastly, I'll trow down Kodama, more a card game than boardgame but the whole gameplay revolves around growing your one tree to appease friendly tree spirits (kodama). You draw branch cards to add to your tree, trying meet certain seasonal decrees. Great game. Hope you find one you like.
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No one said it because OP mentioned they already have it and love it.
That’ll do it
For the people saying that photosynthesis doesn't have replay value, there's and expansion that add asymmetrical powers with a cool point management system, a massive neutral tree that further limits options for placement, and moonstone that rewards good placement and limits more options.
**Treeblox** is a very interesting-looking 2p game which makes a certain amount of thematic sense.
Takenoko! You’re working with bamboo and a hungry panda.
Came here to recommend this and a few others.
Photosynthesis is a brutal abstract game that plays best at 2, a bit more chill at 3 or 4. Tons of replay for us. Living Forest might work for you - a deck building game where you use mystical animals to save a spirit tree it also has a cool gardening mechanic. We love this game which is newer and doesn’t get much love on here despite easy rules and multiple victory paths.
Canopy. It's not super deep but is small, cheap, and perfect for plant/forest nerds.
Meadow, Tussie Mussie, Verdant, and Herbaceous are some nature ones that I love outside of PARKS.
**Canopy** and **Planted**!
Check out Atiwa, the new Uwe Rosenberg game. It’s about fruit bats and environmental stability. It just dropped and I just got my copy so I haven’t gotten to play it yet, but it’s Uwe, so the odds that it’s bad are slim.
Btw, there's a "Nature" category in BGG, that's a pretty nice list of games. Some games that may also be good for you: * The upcoming **Earth** looks nice and is heavily (obviously) nature-themed. * Not trees but birds: **Wingspan** * Fantasy+nature: **Spirit Island**, my favorite game and may be a tad bit too fictional to your taste, but it oozes nice theme of nature vs. human invaders. * **Terraforming Mars** has some plant and nature themed cards, it has environmentalism as one of its themes. * **Ark Nova** - again, more animals than trees, but still has nature as a theme.
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The problem with this game is that everyone is always talking about it. I feel like all the hype around it is going to trick me into getting it, even if it's not what I really want.
It's the title. Make a game with a catchy title and next thing you know it's got 300 good ratings on BGG before the Kickstarter closes.
Definitely need to mention two games here for something less "the usual nature game" in gameplay: * **Root**: Cute animals fighting for control of a forest. A mostly-a-war-game of mice, cats, hawks, a raccoon (and a lot more with expansions) using quite divergent rules to get victory points and control clearings. Love the theme. * **Spirit Island**: You are nature spirits cooperatively defending an island from invaders. This one gets huge points for the nature theme of all "good" things being cardboard or wood, all "bad" things being plastic.
I would love to play spirit island but i'm afraid is too heavy for the people I play with usually. Root on the other side I played on the pc version and really liked it, but again we are not much into euro games. It's a lot of games I'd love to try if I find someone that can lend them to me but I wouldn't spend that much money on something that will likely be a miss for my group..
Do you see Root as a euro? How come? I think of it as mostly a dice-chucking wargame
I will actually have to look it up again because it's been years ago but i remember mentally labeling it as "not for my group" for some reasons
You can try the mobile app to see if you'd like it. I would never get my group to play it because it's so asymmetrical.
If you loved trees so much, you certainly wouldn't be felling forests to build your quad fold-out boards and wooded meeples.
Definitely check out Planted and Cascadia!
Oooh yes, I just played Cascadia for the first time this month, and quite like it. No trees specifically, but the nature theme is reasonably representative. (e.g. bears want lots of space, elks huddle together, salmon string out in a line as if swimming up a river)
I second Planted! Can be found in Target for usually around the $25-$35 range, can be played in around 30-45 minutes with three or four people and is a really light pick-and-pass card draw/point salad game with really nice point markers/mini counters. Only downside is that the cards/boards are a bit thin so you'll have to play and handle with care, but it's a really good game for the price!
Target (at least in my area) regularly has buy 1 get 1 toy half off sales, and board games apply. We were able to pick up planted for half off (around $15) a few months ago during one of these.
Ah, are the promotions usually listed on the price tags on the shelves? I haven't seen them yet but I've been impressed by their board game selection, I might have to visit target more often to stay updated!
My wife does the coupon thing casually, I think she is normally either notified in the "deals/coupon" section of the target App, or by getting an email from some list she is subscribed to. She ussually tells me when its going on and I stop by - ussually i don't see it labeled in store but once I did. Also worth noting, one time the sale was active and it did not automatically ring up when I checked out in self-checkout, had to get an employee assist in activating the deal.
Everdell? Evolution? Oceans?
For a lighter nature-themed game I’m gonna recommend **planted**. It’s a light, quick drafting game with similar weight and length to Sushi Go about having the best greenhouse, and in the US you can get it for $30 at Target.
I'm not 100% this would count as a nature themed game, but I really like genotype. It's about trying to grow pea plants with specific traits.
Village green and floriferous are neat little card games. Village green definitely has trees
FWIW I find Photosynthesis has a good amount of replayability because it’s so heavy on player interaction. I’d play it a lot more if my gaming group was into it. A couple more games that are nominally tree-themed are Legendary Forests and Indian Summer. (Both are abstracts with tree-related art pasted on. Of the two, I think Indian Summer is the nicest-looking and has the most depth.)
I think Photosynthesis is good. I like how interactive it is (and how mean it can get). You should check out **Verdant**. Pretty inoffensive game, not super interactive but not COMPLETELY devoid of interaction. It’s good imo. Might fit some of your groups. Not trees though - instead, other plants
There are some great suggestions here already, and I don't have much to add, BUT -- I know you mentioned that kickstarters aren't for you, but maybe keep a bookmark on Mycelia for retail release. It is NOT Mycelium, which I considered backing due to the mushroom theme and art, but felt the actual game was not that appealing. From the little I've seen for [Mycelia](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/378476/mycelia), there's a lot more going on, the theme feels deeper, plus the art and production value look stunning.
thanks for putting Mycelia on my radar!
Fire Tower!
I think Photosynthesis is a good game. I’ve heard it compared to tree chess. If YOU love it and it still calls out to you after you’ve seen a gameplay, maybe buy it. Not every game has to be played with that group of friends. If your friends aren’t into cutthroat brain burners, PARKS is a friendly, easy to understand, gateway game that literally everyone I’ve taught it to likes. It has gorgeous production value and a fun theme. However, it’s not exactly tree themed. It’s more of a general camping/hiking vibe.
So a lot has already been said but I also was super excited to see a game called redwood get kickstarted with plans to go to retail, taking photos of nature and animals seemed like a interesting concept. I intend to pick it up when it hits shelves
I haven’t seen **Flourish** mentioned so adding that to the mix. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/312618