Bombyx | Codex Naturalis | Board Game | Ages 7+ | 2-4 Players | 25 Minutes Playing Time

Played this on a lads holiday trip and had to buy it when I returned.

Check out the solo mode. Nice game.

Looks nice, easy rules, plays well with 2. Quite tense and some strategy needed to play it well.

From The designers of Takenoko and the Abyss. Join your cards in a network using simple rules to score points. The 'theme' is thin, the game is not. And it is so pretty.Turns have two steps. (1) You place one of the three cards in your hand into your tableau. When you place a card, you place one of its corners over the corner of another card. Scoring cards have a “cost”: The number of wolves, mushrooms, plants, and/or butterflies visible. These 'resources' are often on the corners that you’re covering up, which makes for interesting and satisfying spatial choices. You build your tableau in a way that lets you play that game-breaking 5-point card and try to place your cards in specific patterns to earn end-game points. You have to push your luck, hoping for key symbols in the draw deck.(2) You draft a card. There are two types of cards: plain resource cards and gold-rimmed scoring cards. Resource cards are usually free to play. Gold cards usually don’t provide resources but cover them up when placed. You have to be tactical: Don’t end up with a hand of three gold cards you can’t play. At the end, when you have built your resource pool, then it is easier to play them. Get them into your tableau before someone reaches 20 points, triggering game end.This is a race, a spatial puzzle, gambling on cards becoming available, your opponents position, scoring points for end-game. Should be frantic but doesn't feel like that at all.This is for a wide range of gamers. Serious gamers could pull this out as a quick filler. Casual gamers might take it on holiday (in its pretty, sturdy tin) to play. You can play this several times in a row. It is a quiet game you can play to relax. There is some luck which matters less because it is quick ~20 mins. It’s satisfying.Maxime Morin has produced really amazing artwork. The illustrations are what made me look at this game. The cards are small but they do spread out so this fits the table better.Codex Naturalis isn’t a huge modern figurine filled extravaganza. Decisions are simple, clever, meditative puzzly and quick. It is not deep, not complex but satisfying. The artwork helps bring this game to the table. Many games come and go - This one will stick around.RECOMMENDED

Peaceful and pretty card game. One of the downsides is that it does not wanting to play often because there are not so many posibilities/options to make the game interesting or 'wanting for more".