The game of photosynthesis is about producing trees and the trees really become bigger? That appears fantastic, but are appearances deceiving? Time to find out: Is photosynthesis enjoyable?
Photosynthesis: Overview
Photosynthesis features the cutest miniature cardboard trees that are standing. By expanding and ultimately uprooting trees, you are attempting to accrue points in photosynthesis. My wife exclaimed, “What, you’re killing trees?” with contempt. No, we’re not killing; this is just the natural cycle of life. This game makes me feel extremely green!
Starting with two trees on the main board, you will begin. You will earn light points, which are the game’s currency, with each turn. When sunlight shines on your trees, you receive light points.
All trees receive sunlight in a straight line as long as they are not shadowed by another tree. Just wait if it seems easy.
Every game turn, the sun moves. Thus, a few turns later, the same tree that is currently blocking an opponent’s tree might also block your tree. The fun is right there.
Every turn, as the sun strikes their trees, each player gains light points. Now, how would you use these light points? Of course, you spend them.
You can upgrade your little tree to a medium tree with light points. And it feels fantastic! Simply using tokens that said small, medium, and huge would have sufficed. However, they didn’t. And I’m quite happy about that since it’s hilarious to watch trees actually grow on the table!
You will accrue light points with each turn, which you can use to purchase and grow more trees. At the end of the game, these light points are essentially just a kind of cash.
Overview of the Gameplay:
The objective of Photosynthesis is to finish your trees’ life cycles in order to gain the most points. The game is played in rounds, with two phases to each round:
1. The Stage of Photosynthesis
Players tally up their light points from the trees they have on the board as the sun moves to the next section on the board in a clockwise manner. Trees receive light points according to their size, and the light “shines” from the location of the sun marker. In addition, depending on their height, trees will create shadows that prevent other trees from receiving light points.
2. The Stage of Life Cycle
Each player can use their light points to purchase, plant, grow, and accumulate trees in player order. The cost in light points of each seed and tree to add it to your prepared space varies. Light points can then be utilized to move a seed to the board once it is in your available area.
It is also possible for players to grow a seed into a little tree, a small tree into a medium tree, and a medium tree into a giant tree. Lastly, depending on where the big tree was located on the game board, a player can harvest it for four light points and win victory points. A player receives more points the closer they are to the center.
Players can only interact with a spot on the board once every round, which is the only other item to be mindful of. Therefore, you are unable to plant and grow the same tree twice.
The player with the most points wins when the sun completes three full rotations around the game board.
What might be superior is:
Player’s board: The player board’s style was appealing to me, but I thought younger players could find the tree progression’s visuals a little puzzling. Perhaps the number progression on the board and the trees themselves might aid in advancing the level you were on.
3D Design: I adore games that leap off the screen and incorporate three dimensions. This game handles that in an excellent way by including some really lovely trees on the table that differ from one another just enough to give you a clear idea of who is in charge of what in the forest. Those trees really make the game shine, and they contribute greatly to the overall visual.
Playtime: The game pushes you to plan ahead several steps at a time and moves extremely smoothly. I enjoy challenges that unlock like puzzles, and this one is great because the sun and trees shift with each turn, making you continuously reassess where you are.
Verdict: is Photosynthesis Funny?
PROS: We’ve talked about the lovely appearance and feel of the cardboard trees—that Tabletop Presence. I brought up important choices, like keeping a tree to gain light points or pulling it down to gain points at the conclusion of the game.
I neglected to add how simple and intuitive the game is to learn. It makes sense.Little trees grow into medium-sized trees, so it’s not hard to learn the laws. Not to add, your player board has an amazing cheat sheet.
To me, feeling smart is what matters most in a game. Photosynthesis is a clever thing. Where and when should I plant and nurture my trees? I’ve always felt that I’ll gain a ton of points if I build this tree here and wait to upgrade it till the next round when I play Photosynthesis.I thought I was smart.
CONS: You can make a lot of extremely smart and wise decisions, but you also usually wind up with a lot of thinking time and analysis paralysis. The game might become somewhat tedious at times. When you consider that a four-person game would require 18 turns per player, and that each player might take one minute, you find yourself suddenly up to 75 minutes. Usually, I like to finish a game in around an hour. A lighthearted and enjoyable tree planting game shouldn’t feel like it’s taking forever.