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Related: King of Tokyo strategy Photosynthesis Game Strategy #2: Big Tree on Campus What to Focus on: The forest consists of four rings of circles – the outer sandy, one-leaf one, all the way to the solitary dark-green, four-leaf spot. Once the tall tree has been removed (and returned to your player board in the same fashion as growing a tree), look at which ring in the forest it sat. The beginning is the perfect opportunity for you to get to the center. Most players will still be thinking about where to plant their small trees or seeds. Or how many points they can gain from the outer edge. As a result, if any trees of the same or lesser height are in another tree’s shadow (including their own species of tree), that shadowed tree will not earn any LPs during this phase, because the Sun Segment does not ‘shine’ onto it. When the sun has completed one revolution around the board, the top token of the Sun Revolution Counter pile is drawn and placed in the box.
Although the game is usually only three turns, there is an advanced version that has a fourth turn added. Some groups of players like to play with even more turns than that. Players get Light Points based on the new position of the Sun and their trees. For each tree that’s not in a shadow of another tree, players receive 1 light point for a small tree, 2 points for a medium tree, and 3 points for a large tree. Every time you play is a chance to get better. Playing with less players gives you more room to experiment. But playing with the maximum amount of players will force you to grow.Between Photosynthesis’ unique mechanics and the fact that the game has a number of different actions to choose from, I was a little curious about how difficult the game would be to play. Photosynthesis is probably more difficult than most mainstream and family games and yet it is still pretty easy to play. I would guess that the game could be taught within 10-15 minutes to most players. The game has a number of different mechanics to learn. Most of them are pretty straightforward though. The game has a recommended age of 8+, but I would say 10+ is more appropriate. The game is not particularly difficult to play, but it is the type where it will take quite a bit into your first game for players to really start understanding the game’s strategy as they learn from mistakes they made earlier in the game. After a game or two though I don’t see any players having problems with the game.
Every tree creates a shadow in the following circles behind it, when the sun shines upon them (just like in real life)! Small trees cast a shadow of one space, medium trees cast a shadow of two spaces, and tall trees cast a shadow of three spaces long. First the players can choose to also use the 4th Sun Revolution Counter which will add another revolution to the game.
Object of the Game
The strategy is also pleasingly circular, forever catching the players in a bind of competing priorities. It’s fitting, then, that the board itself is also a circle and the trees create a vibrant tabletop woodland to enjoy.
For starters, there’s plenty of thinking and planning in the game. And that doesn’t go over well with youngsters.Like many abstract games, it’s easy to use the phrase “easy to learn, difficult to master” to describe Photosynthesis, but it is undoubtedly true. The actions you can take are very simple, but there’s so many factors in deciding both your strategy for each game and your tactics and timing throughout. Should you grow fast and cut trees down, or leave your tall trees standing to generate more sunlight? Should you plant on the edge to guarantee some sunshine but get lower points if you cut the tree down? If a player’s tree is covered in shadow, they don’t get any points for that tree. A small tree casts a shadow 1 space away from the Sun. A medium tree casts a shadow 2 spaces behind it. And a large tree casts a shadow for 3 spaces.
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