Photosynthesis (board game)

Photosynthesis is a nature themed strategy board game designed by Hjalmar Hach and published by Blue Orange Games in 2017, for two to four players. Each player manages a stock of colored trees, from seedlings through small, medium, and fully grown large trees, planted on a shared hexagonal forest board where every space competes for sunlight. A sun token rotates step by step around the edge of the board each turn, casting light across a row of spaces and generating light points for any of a player's trees standing in that light, with taller trees gathering more light and also casting longer shadows that can block shorter trees behind them. Each round is split into a Photosynthesis phase, when the sun's position is set and light income is collected, and a Life Cycle phase, when players spend their banked light points to plant new seedlings, grow existing trees up a size, or harvest a fully grown large tree standing on a scoring space near the center of the board. Harvesting a tree earns victory points that increase the closer to the center of the board the tree was standing, rewarding players who can maneuver mature trees into prime sunlit ground before an opponent's shadow can block them. The game ends after three or four complete rotations of the sun, and the player with the most victory points from harvested trees wins.