Nature provides a beautiful backdrop for a lot of different situations and experiences. The serenity of the outdoors, the call of wildlife and the beautiful scenery can really make your outdoor activities come to life. But in the midst of the beauty, competition happens on a daily basis as animals fight for their life and plants fight for resources. Now what if we could package that into a game and really look at the land and the battle within? Today we are going to look at a game that tries to do just that!
Photosynthesis is designed by Hjalmar Hach and published by Blue Orange Games. It is designed for 2-4 players and plays in 30-45 mins.
Overview
In Photosynthesis you are trying to grow your trees through their life cycle in the lushness of the forest. As they grow from seeds to larger trees they will capture the sunlight to give you more Light points. Watch out for the overcast of larger trees and when the lifecycle of your tree is complete you will score victory points for that success.
Gameplay
In Photosynthesis, each player is given a set of trees that will be their personal loadout along with the seeds for the trees. You will place them to fill your player board and be left with 2 seeds, 4 small and 1 medium tree to begin the game. The forest game board is placed in the middle of the play area.
Each player will place one of their small trees beginning with first player around the edge of the board. Once each player has done this twice the sun is placed in the starting spot and gameplay will begin.
The game progress one round at at time and the sun position determines the round. As it makes it around the board completely and completes a revolution, you remove one sun token. Play proceeds until all the tokens are gone.
Each round consists of two phases:
1-The Photosynthesis Phase
2-The Life Cycle Phase
In the Photosynthesis phase, the sun moves clockwise to its new positions and players will score Light points for each of their trees not in the shadow of another tree. Small trees score 1, Medium 2 and Large 3. Seedlings do not score points.
Shadows are cast by trees in this phase based on their size. Larger or same size trees cast shadows, but smaller trees do not cast shadows on larger ones. To determine this you look at the position of the sun and see which trees are in the opposite direction of the sun getting shadows cast on them. Each tree casts a shadow equal to its size and Light point scoring level. Trees can cast shadows on their own kind as well.
In the Life Cycle Phase, players will move on to spend the Light points they gained. Once a player has taken all the actions they care to, the turn rotates to the next player clockwise. There are four actions a player can take on their turn:
1-Buying. To do this you pay Light points for the bottom of a column up and place the seedling or tree in your available area to build with.
2-Plant a seed. To do this you place a seedling a number of spaces away from the tree based on its size. Small can go 1 space, medium 2 and large trees 3.
3-Growing a tree. To do this you pay the corresponding Light points on the bottom of your player mat and replace the seedling or tree on your board with one from your purchased pile. Replaced seedlings and trees go back on the board, but if there is no spot for them they are discarded.
4-Collecting. Players will collect scoring tokens by removing their large tree off of the board and placing it back on their player board. They will then collect the victory point token.
Each action you take on a space activates that space for the round and when you have done that you cannot take another action in that spot again for that turn.
The game ends when the sun has completed three revolutions around the board, and the last token has been drawn from the pile. A full game is 18 rounds, with the last round occurring at the 6th position of the sun. The player with the most victory points is the winner!
Impressions
What could be better:
Player board. I liked the design of the player board but felt the graphics for the tree progression could get a little confusing for younger players. Maybe number progression on the trees and the board itself would help with the advancement of what level you were on.
What I liked:
3D Design. I love a game that pops off the board and adds anything 3D. This game does that in a great way adding some very pretty trees that are distinctive enough from each other on the table that you really get a sense of who is controlling what in the forest. The game shines with those trees and they are such an important part of the aesthetics.
Gameplay. The game flows in a very smooth manner and challenges you to really think multiple moves ahead. I like a challenge that unlocks like a puzzle, and this its one where the forest and sun change every turn, constantly forcing you to re-evaluate your positions.
Overall
Photosynthesis balances area control and resource management very well, challenging you to really assess what it is you need and when you need it to grow your trees for points. The area control has you trying to climb your way to the sun, fighting it out with other trees as you attempt to grow your way to victory.
I found myself in the first few plays just dropping trees here and there and hoping for the best. But as I got more games under my belt I was able to focus on that multi-step thinking ahead aspect of the game that makes board games like this shine. The need to stay high in sunlight points but yet also cut down and score the trees giving you those points is a fun balance that the game asks you to play.
Overall this game is a solid addition to my collection and one I expect to get quite a bit of play out of. So if you are looking for a game that really pops on the table, provides area control and management aspects along with a fun nature theme, then this is the game for you! Make sure to check out Photosynthesis and see if it is a good fit on your table today.
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