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
- Engaging puzzle design with approachable rules
- Distinct column-based action system that drives meaningful decisions
- Gardener constraint creates forward-planning and tension
- Two variant modes offer scalable complexity
- Strong thematic integration with plants, flowers, and animals
- Nice flow and pacing that rewards track advancement
- Gardener-driven placement can constrain options and frustrate some players
- Misplaying or extending a round can dampen enjoyment (as noted by the reviewer)
- Potential for limited scalability in very large groups or very tight player counts
- Flora cultivation and strategic optimization through limited placement and progression on tracks.
- A garden with four-tiered plant pots; a gardener moves around to plant and water crops, unlocking plants and animals as the garden evolves.
- Abstract, mechanic-driven with a light, nature-inspired theme.
- Floriferus
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- animal unlocks and synergistic scoring — Animals provide ongoing bonuses and can influence scoring interactions, such as counting towards other animals or specific objectives.
- base vs advanced variant — Two variants exist; the advanced variant amplifies puzzliness while remaining digestible, increasing depth for experienced players.
- column-based action selection with initiative impact — Players choose an action by selecting a column; deeper actions are stronger but reduce next-turn initiative, creating tension between immediate gain and future turn order.
- gardener movement and restricted placement — A gardener token moves around the garden, and actions can only affect the four pots surrounding the gardener's current location, forcing forward planning.
- objective tiles and column scoring — Goals are assigned to each row/column; end-game scoring uses the best plan in each column, encouraging strategic prioritization across multiple tracks.
- plant growth and level progression — Plants come in four levels; players water to upgrade levels and unlock higher scoring potential.
- Resource management and economy — Money is required to perform actions; maintaining a steady supply supports escalation along tracks and enabling key actions.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a puzzly Euro that only takes around an hour to play
- the actions in this game are actually very simple
- you'll be trying to fill up your personal little garden of these flower pots that come in four different levels
- you can unlock these animals that will give you ongoing benefits
- this game is really enjoyable
- it's a great example that has sadly flown under the radar
- there's enough going on to keep you satisfied and enough for you to sink your teeth into
- I think there's going to be an audience for this one
- if you're watching my channel you'll probably enjoy the advanced variant as a standard edition
- I played it again since, and unfortunately, I was playing it incorrectly, and that did somewhat dampen my enjoyment