BOSK

Hey there! In Bosk, I’ll be taking care of my very own trees. I can choose from a bunch of cool trees like Maples and Oaks. The more the hikers love my trees, the more points I’ll earn! I’ll take care of my trees in Spring and score points in Summer when the hikers admire them. During Autumn, the leaves will fall and cover the ground. Finally, in Winter, the player with the most covered area wins the most points!

SETUP

Let’s get started! First, I’ll place the game board in the middle of the playing area, making sure it’s the right side up based on the number of players. Then, each of us will choose a type of tree. I’ll collect all the things that go with my tree, like a squirrel token, eight trees, thirty-six leaf tokens, and eight leaf tiles.

Once autumn arrives in the park, you’ll notice a wind board and direction marker on one side of the park board. This is to help keep track of the wind’s direction. For scoring, there is a score track placed off to the side, which will be used later in the game. Each player will also have a leaf token to act as their marker throughout the game. To determine the starting player, we’ll randomly select someone to receive the hiker token.

GAMEPLAY

The game takes place over four seasons, with two playing seasons and two scoring seasons. In the spring, the players will begin growing their trees. Starting with the first player, you’ll each take turns placing a tree on an empty intersection of the trails on the board. Placements will continue clockwise until everyone has placed their trees. Once all the trees are placed, summer begins.

In the summer, I accumulate points for every trail I complete on the board. To calculate my score, I add up the values of all the trees in each row. As I earn points, my score marker moves along the score track. If I have the most points, I receive an extra two points. After that, we select a new start player.

When Autumn arrives, we place the wind board on one side of the park board. Each player takes turns blowing leaves off their trees in an attempt to cover as many squares as possible. We start with the first player and continue in turn order. I get to choose which tree my leaves will come from, and I place a leaf tile in front of me. Then I take a leaf token from the supply, which matches the value on the leaf tile.

When it’s my turn, I place the leaf tokens in a path that follows the direction of the wind. I can put the leaves on any tile, even if they cover other leaves, but they must stay within the playing area. Then, the tree is removed. Each player takes their turn, and when it’s over, a new season begins.

An entire round ends after the wind has been shifted one space to the right. We keep playing rounds until all the trees are bare. At the end, we earn points for the ground that we covered with leaves.

END OF GAME

The game ends after the Winter round. We count up our points, and the player with the most points is the winner!

The game ends after the Winter round. We count up our points, and the player with the most points is the winner!