Flora, an expedition to find Voynich Specimens
I’ve always been a big fan of nature themed games. They usually have lovely artwork and most of the time the designers do a great job at choosing mechanics that fit the theme well. I recently discovered a new nature themed game while scrolling Kickstarter’s Tabletop Games category.
Flora is a beautiful semi-cooperative game that has players assume the roles of Botanical Biologists that explore an island in the Pacific Ocean, searching for plants with miraculous healing properties, called Voynich Specimens.
The players embark on expeditions to the mysterious island, risking their lives to achieve their goal of gathering information about 7 Voynich Specimens. They risk being attacked by wild animals or suffering accidents caused by the threatening weather and landscape of the island. This sounds intriguing, I like games that give me a sense of risk taking!
The way each expedition goes is influenced by a lot of factors such as dice rolls, items in possession, the weather and many other decisions taken throughout the game. These expeditions take place over the course of 5 days. Each day is divided into two phases, representing day and night, each with its own events and actions.
However, there is a twist: at some point in the game, one of the Biologists will betray the team and will secretly try and sabotage their expeditions in order to prevent them from gathering the 7 Voynich Specimens. I am really curious how I would feel if I were to be the one who has to betray the others! This really reminds me of the Betrayal series.
I was amazed by the amount of components the box contains. You get meeples, cubes, tokens, cards, dice and tiles (many of these being of various types), all in one box! Each of these have different roles in the game, so it sounds like you’ll have to pay close attention to the rulebook during your first few games.
Flora is currently going through a Kickstarter campaign that’s 25% funded already and it still has 26 days left! Go check it out if you want to read more about the game!
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About Author
Calin George-Adrian
Software Developer with a passion for board games. Loves to play all kinds of games, from party games to more complex ones, and would try any game at least once.