Photosynthesis - How To Play
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ค. 2024
- In this video we're going to learn how to play Photosynthesis! If you have any comments or questions, please do not hesitate to post them in the TH-cam comments below.
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00:00 - Introduction
00:49 - The Setup
00:59 - Player Boards
01:37 - Scoring Tokens
02:09 - Two Player Setup
02:16 - Initial Tree Setup
02:42 - Gameplay Overview
03:10 - Photosynthesis Phase
03:36 - Casting Shade
04:22 - Shade Example
05:13 - Gaining Light Points
06:02 - Lifecycle Phase
06:25 - Buying Trees/Seeds
07:09 - Planting Seeds
07:33 - Planting Example
08:01 - Targeting a Space
08:32 - Growing a Tree
09:19 - Growing Restrictions
09:45 - Collecting Trees
10:25 - Two Player Exception
10:38 - Empty Token Stacks
11:24 - Sun Revolutions
11:40 - Ending the Game
11:58 - End Game Scoring
12:09 - Tiebreaking Rules
12:21 - Conclusion
#WatchItPlayed #BoardGames #Tutorial - เกม
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Just wanna say the moment I get interested in any boardgames I come searching for your videos first. Clear concise rules that helps me have a good feel if my group wants to play this game or not.
So nice of you to say - very glad the videos have been helpful to you on this way!
This is very true, you are the only board game guy I come too
Same
Samezies
Same😅😅
I know this is an old video, but I gotta say I love how concise and clear you are when presenting a game. By far my favorite learn to play video series. Makes learning a game so much easier! Thank you so much!
Very kind of you to say - very glad it was helpful!
2 years later and this video is still relevant. Thank you for all of these tutorial videos. They are especially helpful to people just getting into boardgames and may have missed these in the past.
Very kind of you to say. Always nice to know they are still helpful!
And even another 2 years later it’s still relevant! I was just gifted this game to go along with the Botany unit I’m doing with my kiddos.
I was wondering wether I would want this for my 27th birthday. I really like the design.
Anyway: you make every game look like it is a lot of fun because the cheerful way you explain and the excitement you put in it. Really like your reviews. Already said that but still!You can never give or get too much positive feedback I suppose!Thanks!
The positive feedback is always appreciated - thank you!
Hi! tomorrow is my 27 birthday!! and I also was thinking to ask this as a present, my dad wants to give me something so I thought "mmm what about a boardgame?" but I not a fan so I dont know which one yet, there are a lot, I only know monopoly hahaha xD
...The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell?
Plants have chloroplasts. They are the powerhouse of a plant cell.
daniel scutaru They also have mitochondria...
Getting some science up in here!
Best communication skills ever. Well done!
Thank you very much - glad you enjoyed!
As usual this is another stellar guide to an amazing game! Great job Rodney!
Thank you kindly Dylan.
Really nice explanation. I watched another channels explanation before this and was confused. This was really clear and easy to understand. Thank you!
Very nice to know you found this helpful!
We have just started a family game night once a week and have very limited experience with board games.Your instructions are very clear and helpful. Whenever we have a new game to play we watch one of your videos. Thank you so much!
This is so nice to hear Cecilia, very glad it's been helpful!
Our family is just beginning to develop a love for board games. We got this one today! Thanks for the clear instructions. I'm now finding myself watching all of your videos and making a list of all the games we "need!"
I am very excited for your journey into the hobby!
Thank you for making this video, been wondering about getting this for my wife and I for a little while. Gave us a good idea of how it works :)
Great to hear - glad it was helpful!
Another clear, concise, and fun explanation of a great game. Thanks so much!
You're very welcome Edward, thanks for the kind words!
great production, graphics, and explanation. this helped me decide to buy this game! i appreciate your friendly and cheerful manner. keep up the good work! boardgamegeek + your videos = well-informed decisions
That's very nice of you to say Robert - thank you!
Clear and concise rules every time. You are my new go to channel for board game introductions!
Thank you Jenn - so glad you've been finding these helpful!
The whole video was very good. Thank you especially for pointing out the range where to put a seed of a middle tree, I wasn't sure about it because of the picture in the rulebook where it looks like you can only plant it in a row. Greetings from Germany :-) keep on your passion
So glad you found the video helpful Tiecha!
looked up a guide on how to play the game after buying it, you vid came up, clear & detailed, beats reading the manual 100% got a new subscriber, thanks
So glad this was helpful T.K., and welcome to the channel!
Just bought this game yesterday and *immediately* came to your channel before even reading the paper rules. Thank you for doing what you do.
I hope the video helps! Have fun playing :)
Once again another well composed video. Looking forward to playing this game. Thanks!
Thank you for checking out the video!
I’m getting this game for Christmas! Thanks for the heads up, I’m so hyped now.
Awesome - have a great time playing!
Really nice explanation of the rules. I'm quite impress on how you transmit the information in such a clear and simple way. Keep up the awesome work!
Very kind of you to say - glad you enjoyed!
Thanks for the awesome how to! I love your videos.
Thank you for the kind comment Manning - glad you enjoyed!
Always clear and easy to follow explanations of board games I’m interested in. Thanks!
Thank you for the kind words Brad!
One of my favorite games
Thank you so much! We did not understand the scoring on this. I appreciate your clear instructions!
You're very welcome - so glad it helped!
Finally picked this game up and had a few questions on the rules, but you answered them all here, thanks! Cant wait to challenge the family.
Very nice to know this was useful!
Super helpful description! Thank you :)
You're welcome!
Thank you. You’ve just saved our boat holiday 👏👏
Glad to assist!
Great video. I didn’t find the instructions in the box totally clear so this vid really helped. Thanks!
Very glad to know it was helpful!
Just got this game today! Thanks for getting us started so quickly!
You bet, Brian!
Thanks for these videos. It’s always so helpful when we buy a new game. All the best from San Antonio TX 🤠
So nice to hear! Cheers from PEI, Canada!
Fantastic overview! Thank you!
You're very welcome!
Thank you for the video. My wife has no patience to read the instructions, but has to read them first. By the time she finished reading. My kids and I setup and took our first turn. My 8yr old is hooked on the science lesson.
So nice to know this was helpful - have a great time playing!
I have the game, and I read the written rules. But this is sooo much clearer, thank you good sir.
So glad it was helpful!
Thanks for always doing such great how to play videos! So clear & concise. Now I'm off to try this on BGA!
Have a great time playing Sarah!
Thanks for the very thorough and easy to understand a video!
I'm so glad it was helpful Kaycee!
Always well made and clear!
Thank you for the kind words Adam!
This was wonderful and so helpful. Thank you so much.
You're very welcome - so glad you liked it!
I love this video!! You are so good at explaining!!
Thank you kindly Ashlynn!
Rodney, I know you posted this years ago, but I just wanted to say that I'm very thankful for your amazing teaching videos. My 8 year old daughter and I just watched your video, and you made it make so much sense for her. We're going to play this a little later, but again, thank you.
This is such a lovely comment to receive! So glad the video was helpful, and I hope you both have a great time playing :)
@@WatchItPlayed I'm going to be playing Blood Rage for the first time in a few days, I'll be watching your video for that one at least a couple times! Keep up the good work!
@@bwilliams7380 One of my favs - hope you enjoy!
Great breakdown! Thanks! 😄
You’re very welcome!
Eloquent. Charming. I like it.
Glad you enjoyed!
I love it. This is the first boardgame that my girlfriend bought to me. Love you, Silvia.
Board games - always a nice gift to get :)
Very clear explanation just like I wanted it to be, good job!!
So glad to hear - have fun!
thank you for this great explanation.
I'm really glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks . This was a very in depth game…
You do a great job. Thank you.
Thank you Paul!
very clear. thanks.
You're welcome!
Awesome explanation. Game looks great!
Thanks for the kind words - glad you enjoyed!
It's a lovely game.
What confused not just me but others I played with a little was that the "available area" is off the boards. It feels a little counterintuitive that pieces on a board aren't available. Usually the not yet ready pool is the one that's off the board.
An understandable thing to be confused by!
Agreed. But maybe if you place your available items directly in front of you and the board slightly aside, it would be less confusing during play.
I found this awkward when playing as well - having a main board and a player board is perfectly fine, but to then require an additional unmarked area is awkward to understand and even more awkward to teach, especially to children. Furthermore, the rule that items coming off the main board without an available space on the player board seems awkwardly punishing. While the obvious intent is to require some additional "asset management," it's a rule which will certainly catch newbies by surprise at least once during a playthrough, and again is very hard to explain to kids.
Maybe in the next edition they could include special boards or player mats for your available pieces.
havent ran into the problem, or have played with people that have had that problem. But its makes complete sense why you would and im surprised i havent came across it.
good job with this one. I don't have the game but I will be playing soon. now I feel I can walk in there ready to play :-)
So good to hear!
This video is awesome & so helpful!
So glad you liked it Alexis!
Thank you!!! ❤❤❤❤
You're very welcome!
Great explanation - thanks!
You're very welcome!
Great explained video. What an outstanding game too!
Glad you enjoyed Seth!
As always a great video. This is one of my favorite games and is great with any number of people. The theme shines through, (pun intended!) and the mechanics are easy to learn but have a depth of complexity the more you get into the game. This is a great family game.
(nice pun ;) )
Just bought Photosynthesis at Target. They had the game at 30% off. Couldn't resist a deal like that! Paid about $20 for the game! Then I had to watch Rodney explain the game because I'm to lazy to read. 😀 Thank you, Rodney!!!
Glad to team up!
Thanks!
You're welcome!
This seems like such a fun, cute little game! I may very well add it to my collection
Glad you enjoyed checking it out :)
The explanation was very clear
Thank you kindly Marco.
such a cute game, will buy soon!
Enjoy growing some trees! :)
Thanks for another great video. I can't wait to own this game. I think my 6 year old could handle the game mechanics. It'll just take him time to learn the strategy.
I hope you both get a chance to try it out!
@@WatchItPlayed Cheers :)
Sir outstanding 👍 keep it up
Glad you enjoyed :)
This helpsthanks
You're very welcome!
Fantastic video! Loved the clear and comprehensive explanations and loved the index in the description! Thank you so much! I did have one question:
When scoring, you said that if the score tokens for the stack you were supposed to score are empty, take a score token from the "next lowest" stack. Does "next lowest" mean the next-most-valuable "denomination" of score token, e.g. if the three-leaf tokens are gone but there are still two-leaf tokens, then take a two-leaf token? Or does "next lowest" mean "shortest" stack (fewest available tokens in that stack -- like, "lowest to the ground"), e.g. if the three-leaf tokens are gone, and there are three two-leaf tokens left and one one-leaf token left, then you would taken a one-leaf token because its stack is the "lowest"?
Thanks again!
Glad you enjoyed the video! For that rule, I means lowest in value.
Has anyone thought of the types of trees (colors) representing seasons of the year? Since it’s certain with blue and green, been wondering which seasons yellow and orange colors take...
Now i see , it reminds me of other games which suppose to be light but there actually pretty think-full strategy needed and more experience players will notice that. As for explaining , that's helped me a lot, good job. What is best time for a game-play by your experience?
By the way , can you make one for Eldrich Horor?
Thanks for checking out the video! We don't generally pre-announce videos until they are at a scripting stage. Don't want to disappoint anyone if the schedule moves around!
You made me buy it
Have a great time playing!
This looks really fun. i'm thinking about getting this to play with the kiddos. it says 8 and up, but i see no reason why my precocious 6.5 yo (who loves plants and biology) wouldn't be able to play. thanks!
Yes, many times the age suggestions are conservative estimates. Younger kids with an interest and enthusiasm for a game can quite often pick things up earlier.
Awesome explanation! Thanks! Perhaps you could do a part 2 where we get to actually "watch it played". Hee hee.
This is great timing! I was just going to go to Half Price Books to go buy this one for 40% off. :-)
Do it! This game is awesome.
Hope you have a great time playing!
I picked mine up the same way!
Who new playing a game about trees could be so fun!!!
Glad it caught your interest!
Hi Rodney - I love your tutorials and I turn to them when I play a game for the first time to clarify rules - We just played this game at our board game cafe and was unclear if we could purchase a tree and immediately use it or do we have to place it in the available area and wait to use it the next round? Thanks again
Hey Jim, the answer is "yes and no" :) When you buy a tree, you place it in your available area beside your board (you can't plant it during the same action that you used to buy it). That said, as soon as you buy a tree, you can then use your next action to Grow a tree, to move it from your available area, to the board.
So, you don't have to wait until a new round - effectively, you ARE using it right away - but they are considered 2 separate actions (which I just wanted to make sure was clear). Hopefully that doesn't make it more confusing.
It makes sense to me - Thank You so much!
I feel like this could be made into a really nice looking pc game.
At 12:00, my Light Points and extra score in green on the right on every player board have different arrangement than yours. For example on your board, the 1 score starts from 3, 4, 5 while mine starts from 0, 1, 2. How do I count the score on my player board? Has the scoring rule changed in the past few months/years ago?
This is hard for me to answer, as I can't see what you're seeing. Might be a question for the publisher directly?
@@WatchItPlayed You can refer the image below and notice the different arrangement of numbers on the left side of the board:
sta.sh/0ptrx4gnou5
Interesting - I honestly don't know if yours is the new version, or mine is.
Looks interesting. The only concern I’d have is having to count all the light points up once everyone has a lot of trees on the board, seems like it could be a little time consuming?
That's a tough one to answer, as I think that will come down to how long a particular person thinks is too long to have to spend adding up their points. My suspicion is that you may not find it takes so long, especially when everyone is helping.
Watch It Played Ok, thanks for the reply. Think I'll pick it up then ☺
Firstly it doesn't take long, and we found it was far easier to let one person do it to avoid confusion. The way I did it was to scan across each of the 7 rows, as the sunlight hits each row and simply added on for trees that collected light points.
I did this separately for each player and while you could just score your own, it would be hard to catch mistakes, when one person is doing it the others will naturally double check
Quick question: can I buy a small tree and then grow the seed into the smaller tree that I just bought in the same round? Thank you
As long as you didn't just plant that seed this round.
So much better than the other guy
Your video, you made it very well and answered all my questions that the rules dont explaine well
Not sure who the other guy is, but glad you found this helpful Josiah!
Question: You start with 2 seeds, 4 small trees, and 1 medium tree in the "available area" (which is the area where components need to be for board deployment), but you could potentially lose some of those as you upgrade if there isn't room on the player board to store them?
Hmm, not sure if I quite understand the question. You wouldn't lose any from your available area, but let's say you move a tree from your available area to the main board - the tree on the main board that is being upgraded would then have to come back to your player board, and if there wasn't space on your player board, that "replaced tree" (or seed) would be lost.
@@WatchItPlayed Yes, that is exactly what I was asking. Thank you.
You really know how to speak dummy when explaining these games. Thanks!
Nobody is a dummy, but everyone can use a hand sometimes ;)
Thank you very much for the video, but I have a question, can I plant two seeds at the same time?
It's not so much that you'd do it at the same time, but you could plant one and then plant another after - but remember to pay attention to the rules restricting how many times a space can be targeted (all explained in the video).
@@WatchItPlayed Thank you
Big question : if you upgrade a tree, returning the smaller tree to your game board in the lowest space, could you then buy the tree you just returned and place it in your available area?
Yes.
thank you very much for the video, the rulebook was kinda confusing
Very happy to have been able to help out Sinan!
yeah we finally had a game last night and it went quite well, consider me as a subscriber =)
Best board game guides on TH-cam:
1. Watch it Played
(10 blank spaces)
The rest of the internet.
You're too kind!
What do you do with your extra trees that will not fit on the player's board, and also what do you do with the small trees once you grow them into bigger trees?
Hey there, I'm always happy to try to help with rules questions, but if the answer is provided in the video, than I have to direct you there. You'll find an index in the description to help you find the section you might be looking for.
Do the trees fit back in the box, once all assembled? Or do they require disassembly every time?
The game The movie Yes, they fit back in the box assembled. The box even has four separate compartments for the four different colours. They are not too difficult to assemble, as there are only two parts that slot together, but it did take a little while because there are so many. It's one time only though, so not a big deal.
Yup! Just bought the game today, and it includes inserts to assemble inside the box to store the trees.
I found it easier to store after the large trees are disassembled.
Thanks to Jeremy for the assist!
as always amazing video , what is the size of trees as cm ? thanks
Glad you enjoyed! My copy is lent out, so can't do measurement work for you.
@@WatchItPlayed thats okay .i bought 4 new games so wonder your thoughts about it . cyclades- pandemic iberia- survive escape from atlantis and Horrified, i will be happy if u have chance to reply
@@onurkaya844 Hey there - I don't review on this channel, so I can't help there, but I do have a tutorial video for Horrified, if you'd like to see how it's played!
When does the sun rotate? 🌞
Is it after both players have taken a turn or after one player has taken a turn?
The Sun Rotates in the first phase of the round, and then all the players take their turns. Then a new round begins and the sun rotates again.
One issue I've had with the game is that players will place a few seeds near the middle, blocking those squares for many rounds before turning them into trees. Is there some rule that helps prevent players from doing this, or is the 2-3 light point investment supposed to be deterrent enough? You may not plant a seed where someone else has already, correct?
Hi Mark, I’m travelling right now and it’s not easy for me to double check the rule book right now, but whatever I say in the video is correct.
Do you have a reference about the rule clarification that the seed doesn't have to be planted in one specific direction or did you derive it from the text "in any direction" because, even though I personally think it's obvious that's what it means, some people in our group believe it means in any ONE direction so you can't go diagonally. Are you familiar with any threads or designer inputs that make clear on this?
Cabal Paxiarch All of our videos are vetted by the publisher before they are released. So I’m as confident as I can be that we have it right :). When I believe there could be ambiguity in the wording of a rule, I’ll check with them for confirmation, etc. Hope that helps!
Cool yo !!!
Edit: there’s no mistake in the video :) It’s just a weird deviation in the Polish edition rules, which I have no idea where it came from :)
I know it’s an old video, but was there a mistake or an update of the rules? if I recall corectly during the initial „placing 2 small trees on the 1 leaf spots” you go clockwise until you reach the last player and than go counter-clockwise starting with the last player for the second tree, similar to Catan settlements placing at the start of it.
This is not what my copy of the rules say - and if it helps, the video was checked by the publisher. Not sure which rules you might have been looking at.
@@WatchItPlayed Huh. I just checked with my instructions (Polish edition of the game released by "2 Pionki") and it clearly states here under "Game Setup" that: "Players place one of their small trees on the one leaf fields at the edge of the board. Then, in reverse order, starting from the last player, they place their second small tree on the board." :) It made sense for me the same way it makes sense in Catan - so that the "last player" doesn't always have the least / worst choice of places to place his pieces in the initial setup :) I wonder when this deviation apeared? Did the original rules were updated before the game was translated to Polish and we got the updated version or somehow it was changed for the Polish edition only?
Here’s the exact Polish text followed by a google translate version ;)
„Gracze po kolei umieszczają jedno z ich dostępnych Małych Drzew na jednym z zewnętrznych pól planszy głównej
(pola z jednym liściem). Następnie gracze w odwrotnej kolejności, zaczynając od ostatniego gracza, umieszczają na planszy głównej drugie Małe Drzewo. Pozwoli to graczom otrzymać Punkty Światła podczas pierwszej Fazy Fotosyntezy.”
„The players take turns placing one of their available Small Trees on one of the outer spaces of the main board
(fields with one leaf). The players then, in reverse order, starting with the last player, place the second Small Tree on the game board. This will allow players to earn Light Points during the first Photosynthesis Phase.”
It’s crazy :) I can’t find this version of the rules anywhere :)
You can find the Polish instruction by googling: „fotosynteza gra planszowa instrukcja” :)
@@KrzysztofGnutek Yeah, I can't really help you with differences between translations and editions - that's beyond the scope of the kind of support I can provide. The video here is for the English edition and is correct based on the English rules as presented by the North American publication. It's always possible for rules to change or be updated, but I haven't seen any information that this has happened here.
@@WatchItPlayed Yeah. Sorry for bringing confusion into the super clear and high quality rules explanation :)
@@KrzysztofGnutek No worries at all - sorry there seems to be some discrepancies.
Can you purchase a tree and put it directly on the board or must you wait until your next turn to place it on the board?
You can never place a tree directly on the board after buying it. Trees enter the board with the Grow action, which means that all trees (aside from the ones you placed during the setup), will be placed on the board, from your available area, only as they grow from seeds and upwards.
Watch It Played i actually meant seeds not trees. So the question is then can u play a seed directly on the board if you have the light points to do so?
I came here to ask the same question, which imo wasn't clearly expressed in the rulebook, or addressed strongly in this video. (Thank you for the video though Rodney.)
According to someone on BGG it costs 1 light point to plant an available seed.
You can purchase a tree from your supply board to your available area for one action, paying the purchase cost in light points. For example, buying your first large tree will cost four light points. In the same turn, you may also grow a medium tree already on the game board by paying three more light points and replacing it with the large tree you just purchased. The only restriction to actions is the same space on the board cannot be used twice for any actions. In the example above, you could not also cut this large tree and collect a scoring token or use the tree to scatter a seed to another location.
Fun looking game. I will have to give this some thought. Just as a question, where has Pep been? Have not seen him on any vids for a while.
We've been working on some tutorials for a bit, but a game play with Pep will be coming soon.
I just had my first play through of this and I think I must have misread the rule about whether or not a tree or seed that has been removed from the board gets discarded or returned to your player mat. It says it can be returned to the top most spot in the column if it is open but in your example and the visual that means the bottom spot? My misread led me to think you can only end up returning them to your player mat if no other trees from that column are still on the mat, but that makes it way more difficult. I see now that "top most" actually means lowest spot. Am I right? Any one else found that confusing? I am always way too literal when reading rules.
It's tricky as it's very specific wording. So it goes back to the top most available space on the board. So it only means the top "empty" space. Often, as you mentioned, this means the bottom space. But if there were 2 empty spaces, it would actually not go on the bottom space.
@@WatchItPlayed Doesn't it also mean that if you have no available spaces that tree is removed from the game?
Mark D Hey Mark, I’m travelling right now and not near my copy of the game to double check the rules right now.
a few thing confused me, firstly it more strategic than a fun game, there is a deeper thinking.. very nice explanation on how tro play , explained a few rules i want sure about my understanding .... way to go :) by the way ' am i the only one who was supersized for better by this game?...
I'm very glad that the video was a help to you!
So it seems like you wouldn't want to grow a tree until you've moved a tree from your board to the available area so no trees go back to the box. Am I understanding that correctly?
Hey Brad, it sounds like you've got it. If you grow something that's on the main board, and it has no space to go on your personal board, it goes back to the box.
Can you plant a tree? Or only grow them from seeds?
You can only grow them from seeds.
Watch It Played thanks and technically I can block a space by leaving a seed and not growing it?
Effectively, yes.
Watch It Played thanks
Is the number 15 point tile not included in the game?
I don't have a copy handy to check for you, but I do believe some values were skipped.
How much scoring tokens are there
I haven't never counted them up to check.
Around 5 minutes you showed a scenario where a lv2 tree is 3 spaces away from a lv3 tree. Therefore it registers as "shaded" (no light gained). It seems like it should get 1 light, right? I'm not saying according to the rules, the rules seem unclear on it. I'm just saying logically the rules should be that way. It's tall enough to get light, even though not as much as it would have gotten. If it weren't tall enough to get some light... how is it shading others?
Edit - "showed" not "should."
Also thanks! Great vid!
This is hard for me to answer, because I don't really get into 'what makes sense' in these videos, I just focus on what the rules are, if you know what I mean. I do understand what you are saying, I just don't have a specific comment on it. Glad you liked the video!