Botanicus

In Botanicus, your mission is to create your very own botanical garden. Hire a gardener and then go in search of the most beautiful plants in the world. But don’t plant them just anywhere! Your visitors are very particular and know exactly what they want to see. Will your garden outshine the rest?

Designed by Vieri Masseini and Samuele Tabellini, and illustrated by Marcel Gröber, Botanicus offers gameplay for 2 to 4 players, ages 10 and up, in sessions lasting between 45 and 60 minutes. The objective is to earn more victory points than your opponents by completing tasks, advancing on the score tracks, or cultivating a beautiful botanical garden.

On their turn, players will move their gardener across their personal garden board, which features garden beds arranged in rows and columns. In the 4 spaces within reach, the gardener will plant various types of seeds or water plants to make them grow. Each turn, players must decide what actions to take and aim to complete specific tasks that will reward them with points and/or coins. At the end of the game, players earn points for every column that is fully filled with plants, so be sure your gardener doesn't slack off!

Botanicus has earned a recommendation for the prestigious 2024 Kennerspiel des Jahres awards. While it is classified as an expert game, its mechanics are accessible to a wide audience. The rulebook, which is filled with examples and clearly written, is only 12 pages long, and it even includes fun facts about the plants cultivated during the game.

One of Botanicus's key strengths is its exceptional production, with carefully crafted artwork that is clear and intuitive. In addition to the central board and individual player boards, there are numerous colorful wooden pieces representing gardeners, shovels, wheelbarrows, bags of money, flowers, and animals. Several decks of cards, tokens, and tiles are also included. To keep everything organized, the game features five foldable cardboard boxes, which also make setup for the next game easier.