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Description
Wind whistling, bees buzzing, rivers rolling along: the sounds of the great outdoors are everywhere. This open countryside is unspoiled by human hands, and it’s your job to keep it that way. Make sure the tourists and campers have somewhere to go, but don’t let their presence distract you from what really matters.
In Naturopolis, 1-4 players work together to build a new landscape. Using only 18 cards and a variable scoring system, the game is never the same twice.
First, players will randomly flip over 3 cards to see the scoring rules for the game. But not only do these 3 cards determine how you will score this game, they also determine how you win. Total up the values of all three cards, and that number is the scorethat you need to reach in order to win. Each game has drastically different scoring rules in unique combinations, and a new score to beat, ranging from 6 to 51 points.
Each turn, players will play one card from their hand to the growing landscape, trying to score as many points as possible. Players will have to communicate and plan without revealing their own cards in order to most efficiently develop large areas in each of the 4 zone types. Watch out though, road maintenance isn't cheap and each road will cost you points in the end. This is doubly true with Naturopolis’ double-lined roads as they will cost you -2 points each!
New to Naturopolis are the rivers, which occupy space the same way as roads but don’t hurt your score. (But roads and rivers cannot connect!) It also adds camp sites, which score based on certain goals.
When all cards have been placed, the game ends and players see if they have met the dynamically generated minimum score for their game.
Can you work with your team to make the most of these natural wonders while still leaving space for tourists, campers, and other visitors? It’s time to find out!
Naturopolis is the 3rd game in our series of standalone and combinable Sprawlopolis games. It brings mountains, lakes, forests and meadow blocks to the game, with the added bonus of campsites (which trigger scoring conditions), rivers (which also trigger scoring conditions and cannot connect to roads) and double line roads (which are worth -2 points each as disrupting nature is very costly!)
Year Published
2023
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Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 5
This page: 5
Sentiment:
pos 3 ·
mix 1 ·
neu 1 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–5 of 5
Video ugFGP6NZlFk
playthrough at 0:15 sentiment: positive
video_pk 59709 · mention_pk 152242
Click to watch at 0:15 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Enchanting theme and table presence
- Updates to mechanics expand decisions without adding heavy rules
- Rivers and campsites add meaningful choices
- Easy to teach and highly scalable for player count
- Strong potential for solo and casual play; approachable yet expandable
Cons
- Not much explicit critique noted; may be perceived as light for players seeking crunchy, heavy decisions unless playing with higher-point objective cards
Thematic elements
- landscape design with rivers and campsites integrated into scoring and layout decisions
- A natural landscape-building game where players place tiles to form forests, mountains, meadows, and lakes on a central landscape.
- tutorial-style solo playthrough commentary
Comparison games
- Sprawlopolis
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Network/route building — rivers cannot connect directly to road tiles; rivers can connect with other rivers; roads and rivers interact with terrain blocks to shape scoring opportunities
- Objective cards scoring — three objective cards are drawn for each game; players score based on patterns like largest blocks, campsites, rivers, and roads with specific conditions
- rivers and roads interaction — rivers cannot connect directly to road tiles; rivers can connect with other rivers; roads and rivers interact with terrain blocks to shape scoring opportunities
- terrain types and blocks — four terrain types (forests, mountains, meadows, lakes) form blocks whose sizes contribute to scoring; road segments and rivers influence layout choices
- tile placement — place landscape tiles orthogonally so they connect by edges; tiles can overlap existing tiles but cannot be tucked beneath new rules; some tiles rotate 180 degrees and must be placed horizontally
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- i was not only enchanted by the theme of naturopolis and its table presence but i was pleasantly surprised by the updates to the mechanics as well
- natriopolis for me personally is my favorite out of all three and that has a lot to do with these two little icons here
- the addition of the rivers and the campsites for me just took a game that i already loved and like felt like it expanded so much more
- i love the streamlined core mechanics of sprawlopolis
- it's crazy how much just adding the rivers and then potentially campsites based on your scoring adds to the number of decisions that you have to make each round
- i would definitely say you need to check out naturopolis when it comes to kickstarter on september 27th
- shallow reason but nature theme hello it's a game that i already know i love with some minor changes
- i can definitely see myself personally playing this not only solo or a two but even with three or four players
- whether you enjoy playing more casual games or heftier games whether you are a solo gamer or like playing with others i feel that naturopolis is a lot of elements they're very accessible but variable
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 8tkhdY0Z69s
Unknown Channel playthrough at 0:54 sentiment: positive
video_pk 59757 · mention_pk 152292
Click to watch at 0:54 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Extremely compact and portable
- Very high replayability due to open-ended card combinations
- Solid solo variant that mirrors multiplayer mechanics
- Thematic integration of nature with a road-and-river tension
- Clear, quick decision-making with accessible rules
Cons
- Road penalties can be harsh and may dominate scoring if not planned carefully
- Spatial planning can become fiddly or math-heavy under time pressure
- Some players may prefer a wider range of difficulty or longer play time
Thematic elements
- Eco-friendly land planning with roads and rivers and careful scoring
- Nature-themed landscape-building puzzle across Meadows, Forests, Lakes, and Mountains
- Array
Comparison games
- Sprawlopolis
- Agaropolis
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I think this game is endlessly replayable
- it's so compact it's this you have 18 cards in here plus the rule book done
- I love the themes and I love the nature aspect of this with the extra added negative score for your roads
- this is a button shy game
- I love it
- I mean fantastic one to four player and I love the solo version pocket gain that takes you 15 minutes to play
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 42k0AAqC2CQ
Unknown Channel general_discussion at 1:11 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 59705 · mention_pk 152233
Click to watch at 1:11 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This is a video I never thought I'd have to make.
- the chillest invitation to do reviews ever
- we'll be doing some button shy reviews on the channel
- I'm personally a huge fan of their company and their minimalist approach to board gaming
- so you won't miss out on a copy and have to sit around waiting and hoping that there's a reprint
- this is a really fun and exciting Next Step
- Huge thank you to button shy for reaching out and uh connecting that bridge
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video yxJbE2FLlnk
Totally Table playthrough at 0:04 sentiment: positive
video_pk 31894 · mention_pk 94055
Click to watch at 0:04 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- clever scoring system that rewards strategic placement
- compact, solo-friendly ruleset
- tight interdependencies between tiles and road/river constraints
- replayability through different scoring cards
Cons
- learning curve due to twists from base game
- random card draw can cause uneven early gameplay
- clunkier with multiple scoring calculations in solo mode
Thematic elements
- habitat conservation and landscape aesthetics
- A nature-themed landscape built from terrain tiles featuring meadows, lakes, forests, and mountains.
- educational live playthrough with step-by-step explanations
Comparison games
- Sprawlopolis
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- hand management — draw cards after playing; manage a small hand of terrain cards.
- hand_management — draw cards after playing; manage a small hand of terrain cards.
- Network/route building — roads and rivers cannot touch; routing choices influence scoring and board layout.
- Pattern Building — build contiguous regions and aim to optimize largest groups by terrain type.
- pattern_exploration — build contiguous regions and aim to optimize largest groups by terrain type.
- road_river_constraint — roads and rivers cannot touch; routing choices influence scoring and board layout.
- scoring_cards — three scoring cards are revealed at the start to determine end-game scoring criteria; cards in play guide strategy.
- scoring_phase — end-game scoring includes multiple criteria: per-card scoring, largest terrain groups, and adjacency bonuses; penalties for unwanted features.
- tile_laying — place terrain cards on a shared board, must touch on at least one side; diagonals alone are not allowed; overlapping allowed; no tuck.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- you cannot tuck
- you cannot have a road meeting up with a river
- that's going to be minus four points
- this is nature and we don't want to have a lot of Roads ruining our beautiful habitats
- and there you have it that is a complete solo game of naturopolis
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video B_LK6zOsuHE
Foster the Meeple playthrough at 1:06:47 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 2437 · mention_pk 7127
Click to watch at 1:06:47 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Good puzzle element with placement adjacency rules
- Thematic building experience
Cons
- Jamie finds it difficult to score optimally
- Failed to reach 30 point goal (scored 24)
Thematic elements
- Building natural landscapes and cities
- Nature city and natural environment
- Tile-laying puzzle
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Asymmetric hand size — First player gets 3 cards, second player gets 1 card per round (card passing each turn)
- Negative scoring — Roads subtract 2 points each - players want to minimize them
- Scoring bonuses — Three public conditions for bonus points: Impressive Range, Waterways, Second Nature
- Terrain majority — Score points for largest connected block group
- tile laying — Players build 3x5 grid over 15 rounds, each card has blocks and roads/rivers on back
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's button shy day people there's no messing around
- I try to just choose ones mainly that I haven't played yet
- this game's incredible
- easy peasy lemon squeezy
- my brain
- pterodactyl eating a man
- we're brilliant geniuses
- we are moving along a time continuum
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
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Showing 1–5 of 5