Environmental

Wild Duo is a game collection that includes 5 games for 2 players. You can play these games with two players or in larger groups (4/6/8/10), in which case the games are rotated between the groups of two. There is definitely enough variety, as each of the games is a unique gaming experience.

The games are perfectly playable for both children and adult players, as the gaming experience depends entirely on your, respectively, your fellow player's skills. That's why some games can be decided after only 5 minutes, while others last 30 minutes.

Each of the games deals with a different animal species or a specific behavior of this animal species and thus takes the players on a journey into one of 5 worlds. Each of the five rule explanations therefore always includes an exciting, thematic text on the corresponding animal species.

—description from the publisher

How about creating your own botanical garden? As an aristocrat in the late 19th century, you have bought land, hired a gardener and set out to find the best plants there are.
As you know, the visitors are very picky about the plants they want to see, so your job is not only to acquire the plants, but also to sort them according to the visitors' preferences.
In Botanicus, you compete for the best action-spots in a unique selection mechanism, and then make the most of the options available to you. You have to collect new plants, take care of them, water them and keep an eye on the gardener. Last but not least, you have to collect some money along the way to pay for all this.
In the end, what counts is how many visitors you satisfy and how beautiful your garden is. Will you be able to outdo the gardens of your competitors?

—description from the publisher (translated)

Wie wäre es eigentlich, einen eigenen botanischen Garten anzulegen? Als Artistokrat:in des späten
19. Jahrhunderts hast du Land gekauft, heuerst einen Gärtner an und machst dich auf, die schönsten Pflanzen überhaupt zu finden. Allerdings haben die Besucher ganz spezielle Vorstellungen, welche Pflanzen sie in deinem Garten bewundern wollen. Es reicht also nicht, sie irgendwie einzupflanzen – nein, du musst die Pflanzen dummerweise auch noch so aufstellen, dass die passenden Besucher das sehen, was sie wollen.
In Botancius konkurrierst du über einen neuen Aktions-Mechanismus mit deinen Mitspieler:innen um den besten Ertrag für deinen Garten. Du willst also die richtigen Pflanzen ergattern und diese zum richtigen Zeitpunkt gießen, dich um deinen Gärtner kümmern, und natürlich darfst du auch deine Finanzen nicht vernachlässigen!
Am Ende kommt es darauf an, wie viele der Schaulustigen zufrieden mit ihrem Besuch sind und wie schön euer Garten ist. Schaffst du es, die Gärten deiner Konkurrent*innen zu überschatten?

—description from the publisher

Plunge into the modern era, where our planet's vast interconnected ocean scape is one of the last frontiers to discover and explore. Experience a deep new ever-changing adventure in this followup to the smash hit Endeavor: Age of Sail!

In Endeavor: Deep Sea, you head an independent research institute with the goal of developing sustainable projects and preserving the fragile balance of marine life. Throughout the game, you’ll recruit field experts and use their abilities to explore new locations, research dive sites, publish critical ecological papers, and launch conservation efforts.

Expand your expertise, develop your team, and learn as much as possible about the sea. The action your institute takes now, could mean a healthy ocean and a sustainable future for the planet.

Endeavor: Deep Sea is designed by Jarratt Gray and Carl de Visser, the same creative team behind the smash hit Endeavor: Age of Sail. This edition is set in a new era of nautical discovery, but uses streamlined rules which will be familiar to fans of the original game.

—description from the publisher

Despite covering less than 1% of the ocean floor, coral reefs are estimated to be home to about 25% of all marine species. Unfortunately, these vibrant underwater cities are dying. Climate change and its effect of rising sea temperatures is devastating the colorful algae that give coral reefs their brilliant hues, resulting in coral bleaching. Furthermore, other threats like pollution—in its various insidious forms—and overfishing are disrupting the delicate balance of reef ecosystems.

And so, scientists from various fields, along with the researchers studying the ecological complexity and significance of the reefs, are collaborating to address the myriad challenges facing these ecosystems. Your assignment is to take command of a scientific vessel and embark on a journey of reef conservation. Hire the best crew, clean the ocean, and restore the reefs to their former glory.

During the game, players take on the role of researchers and saviors of the oceans. You will sail the seas, hire crew, explore the coral reef, clean the ocean sectors of any pollution, and try to accomplish as many missions as possible.

On their turn players may choose to RECHARGE or TRAVEL. If they RECHARGE, they gain the rewards from the VP track. If they TRAVEL, they may deploy Reef Balls, move their Ship, play Mission cards, and perform various actions. The game is played for a variable number of rounds. When a player has crossed the 45 VP threshold, the end of the game is triggered. After an additional round the final scoring takes place and the player with the most victory points is the winner.

—description from the publisher

In CODEX Naturalis, you must continue the work of the illuminating monk Tybor Kwelein, assembling the pages of a manuscript that lists the living species in primary forests. Can you put the pages together in the best order possible? And are you prepared to sacrifice a species to develop your manuscript?

In the game, each player starts with a single card on the table, a card that shows some combination of the four possible resources in the middle of the card, in the corners of the card, or both. Players also have two resource cards and one gold card in hand, while two of each type of card are visible on the table.

On a turn, you place a card from your hand overlapping the corners of one or more cards you already have in play. Your starting card has four overlappable corners, while resource and gold cards have only three.

Resource cards have no cost to be played, and they often depict resource symbols in their corners.
Gold cards deliver points when played, but they often have a resource requirement, e.g., three fungi or two plant/one animal/one insect, and you must have those resources visible in your manuscript at the time you play the gold card. You score points from this card immediately, with some cards having a fixed value and others a variable one depending on how many of a certain symbol are showing or how many corners you covered this turn.

If you wish, you can play a card from your hand face down; such a card has four corners and one resource, but provides no points. After you play, draw a face-up card or the top card of either deck to refill your hand.

When a player reaches 20 points, you complete the round, and each player takes one additional turn. Players then score points based on how well they matched two public objective cards and one secret objective card, after which the player with the most points wins.