Nature themed board games

Introduction to board games:

I have been a board game player ever since I was young. I recall fondly playing cards with my grandma and learning all the different variations of card games. Later I learned how to play draughts and chess with dad, not that I was any good at them. Then there were the family holidays on the east coast where on a rainy day we would play monopoly, dominos and other such traditional games. But it was at the start of lockdown when I was looking for other things that me and my beloved could do to get us through the crisis, that we discovered themed board games.

After watching videos on Dice Tower, I came across several board games that seemed exciting, and that I thought we would both enjoy. During one of those times when we were allowed to go places, instead of going to the coast we went to a board game café in Sheffield to play Ticket to Ride and Carcassonne. I remember it well because it was the first time I had a haircut in months as we walked past a barber shop along the way, my local barber having not returned post lockdown. The café was great, the food delicious, and the staff could not have been more friendly and helped us figure out what can be quite complex games.

Ticket to Ride board game set up

This started a new hobby from which I watched more videos from online creators such as Before you Play, The Mill, Ryan and Bethany Board Games, as well as Dice Tower. They made me want to explore this hobby more, so I went out and bought several board games and now have over 50 in my collection physical and digital.

In these posts, I plan to examine the ecological and environmental ideas present in several of these games.  To ask the question are they just math dressed up in nature or are there some deeper scientific concepts that can teach us something about our natural world? 

Appreciated board games might not be everyone’s cup of tea, this is certainly a diversion from hoverflies and to my knowledge there aren’t any games with hoverflies in them as far as I know, comment below if you know that not to be true. It is not the intention of these posts to be reviews of games either.

Everdell board game set up

I read somewhere that some games have even appeared on the curriculum as part of school and university courses, so I am not the first to delve into their educational value. In the USA you can now borrow games from libraries something I would love to see offered in the UK. It could encourage more families to play games together, something I enjoyed as a child growing up in the 80s, before the invention of computer games.

Genotype board game setup

So, if you love board games, or are just curious and think they might appeal then please consider sticking around as I hope to have a post up shortly. I do suggest however if you wish to purchase any, I strongly recommend that you visit one of the reviewers’ channels above as some of these games are not cheap. They will do a much better job of informing you about mechanics and gameplay of each game, before you purchase.

It won’t be all physical board games either there are now so many digital games on the market, across various platforms which I want to share with you. Some of them are real gems particularly if you’re a solo gamer or struggling to get a gaming group together. 

So hopefully you will join me and sit down with a hot beverage and read one of my posts as and when they appear. Below is a picture of some of the physical games I own so you can see what might be coming up. Those should be enough to get started with. The first post will be Wingspan in a few days time; I am just putting the finishing touches to the article.

My physical board game collection