How to Play Photosynthesis: Under the Moonlight

Objective of the Game

The UNDER THE MOONLIGHT expansion enhances the Photosynthesis experience by adding the combined powers of the Moon and the Forest Animals. Players must anticipate Sun and Moon movements and strategically carry out actions at the correct time, choosing the right moment to activate their Animal's ability, where to place it, and how to move it. The game is won by the player with the most points at the end.

Preparation (Setup)

First, the player who has most recently gazed at the Moon takes the First Player token. Follow the setup steps for the base Photosynthesis game, from setting the main board to setting up players’ boards. Then, decide which mode(s) you want to play and follow the setup for each chosen mode. Once these modes are set up, continue the setup for Photosynthesis with the placement of Small Trees by each player.

The Moon and Forest Animals Mode Setup

• Place the Moon on its starting point, Half-Moon side up, and place the Moon Phase Tracker on the indicated space.
• Shuffle the Forest Animal boards and give 2 to each player. Players keep one board of their choice and return the other to the game box. Each player places their chosen Animal board counter side up next to their Photosynthesis player board.
• Each player takes one Lunar Point Tracker and places it on the number 2 of their chosen Animal board.
• Each player takes the Animal meeple corresponding to their board.
• Starting with the player to the right of the First Player and moving counter-clockwise, players place their Animal meeple on one of the spaces on the board that displays 3 leaves and does not already have an Animal on it.
• Note: Depending on the Animals picked, extra setup steps might be needed. Check the Animal descriptions for details.

The Great Elder Tree Mode Setup

• The last player in the turn order places The Great Elder Tree on an empty space of their choice.
• Be careful: If one of the players is playing with the Turtle, The Great Elder Tree cannot be placed on a space with a Baby Turtle token.

Moonstones Mode Setup

The number of Moonstones used depends on the number of players:

• 2 player game: 3 Moonstones.
• 3 player game: 2 Moonstones.
• 4 player game: no Moonstones, unless playing the Great Elder Tree mode, in which case use 1 Moonstone.

Placement of Moonstones:

• If the Great Elder Tree mode is being played, the player to the right of the player who placed The Great Elder Tree places a Moonstone on an empty space on the board. Players then continue in counter-clockwise turns placing the Moonstones on the board.
• If the Great Elder Tree mode is not being played, the last player in the turn order places a Moonstone on an empty space on the board. Players then continue in counter-clockwise turns placing the Moonstones on the board.
• Be careful: If one of the players is playing with the Turtle, the Moonstones cannot be placed on a space with a Baby Turtle token.

Flow of the Game

Rounds are played in the same way as the original game with the following added modifications:

The Moon and Forest Animals Mode

The Moon

• Throughout the game, the Moon and Moon Phase Tracker are always placed outside the forest so that they are touching two spaces on the border of the board.
• The Moon turns at the same time as the Sun each turn, and replaces the Moon Phase Tracker.
• The Moon Phase Tracker turns at the same time as the Moon, but moves counter-clockwise by five spaces each turn. This token shows players where the Moon will move next and on which side it will be, allowing players to strategically plan their actions.
• When the Moon and the Sun cross paths, the Moon Phase Tracker is flipped over. A Full Moon becomes a Half-Moon or vice versa.

Photosynthesis Phase

• During the Photosynthesis Phase, you now collect lunar points in addition to light points.
• Each Animal on a space in a path of moonlight receives 1 lunar point if the Moon is a Half-Moon or 2 lunar points if it is a Full Moon.
• The Moon lights up two paths only, indicated by the arrows on the Moon token. These paths are being directly lit up by the Moon.
• Trees never block the moonlight with their shadow (except for The Great Elder Tree).
• Be careful: The Great Elder Tree and the Moonstones affect the moonlight, as indicated in their corresponding 'How to Play' sections.
• Note: Players cannot have more than 14 lunar points at any given time, and any excess points will be lost.

Life Cycle Phase

• During the Life Cycle Phase, on their turn, players may move their Animal (to anticipate the Moon’s next position) and/or they may use their Animal’s abilities.

The Great Elder Tree Mode

• The Great Elder Tree doesn’t belong to any player and therefore cannot be collected.
• Unlike other Trees, The Great Elder Tree casts a shadow onto all spaces on the side opposite the Sun and also casts a shadow onto all spaces on the side opposite the Moon.
• Animals and Moonstones which are in its shadow, in the moonlight’s path, do not receive direct moonlight.
• Trees in its shadow, in the Sun paths, do not receive light points.
• The Great Elder Tree is an obstacle space. Seeds cannot be placed on this space, and no Animal can be placed or moved onto this space.

Moonstones Mode

• Moonstones do not belong to any player. They cannot be picked up or moved throughout the entire game.
• Their shadow is equivalent to the shadow cast by a Small Tree: they cast a shadow onto one space on the side opposite the Sun. This shadow can only affect a Small Tree.
• A Moonstone lit up by the moonlight starts shining and indirectly shines moonlight onto all the spaces adjacent to it.
• During the Photosynthesis Phase, all Animals located on a space adjacent to a shining Moonstone receive lunar points, even if the Moon does not shine directly onto these Animals (1 or 2 points depending on the side of the Moon).
• Spaces with Moonstones are also obstacles. Seeds cannot be placed onto them, and no Animals can be placed or moved onto these spaces.
• Note: If several Moonstones are adjacent to one another and one receives direct or indirect moonlight, then that stone transfers light onto the other stones which, in turn, also shine indirect moonlight around them.
• Note: If The Great Elder Tree or any Moonstones are placed in the center space of the board, they will never be in the moonlight. Since they will not move during the game, players will not be able to collect Scoring tokens with four leaves (except for the player with the Turtle using the 3 Scoring Point ability).

Actions and How to Play

The Forest Animals

Moving an Animal

• Animals can move one adjacent space in any direction.
• They can move to a space containing a Tree or a Seed but they cannot move to a space containing another Animal, a Moonstone, or The Great Elder Tree.

Animal Abilities

• Each Animal has one or several varying abilities that require lunar points to be activated.
• To activate abilities, players must spend as many lunar points as required. If a player does not have enough points, then the ability cannot be activated.
• Be careful: Each ability can only be used once per turn. An ability is defined by its name. Players cannot use multiple levels of the same ability in the same turn but they might use several abilities of different names on their turn. For example, the Hedgehog can run and plant in the same turn, but the Boar cannot dig twice in the same turn.
• Note: If an Animal’s ability contradicts a pre-established rule, then the Animal’s ability always takes precedence over the standard rule.
• Note: An Animal doesn’t interfere with any action (Planting, Growing, Collecting) a player might want to carry out on the same space the Animal is on (unless the Animal’s abilities are activated).

Specific Animal Abilities

The Boar

• Ability: Collecting a Tree.
  • Digging (level 1): 5 lunar points. The Boar can collect a Large Tree on the space it is placed on without spending light points. The collected Tree must belong to the player with the Boar.
  • Digging (level 2): 8 lunar points. If activating Level 2 Digging, the Boar can complete Level 1 Digging actions. In addition, it can plant one of the Seeds from its available area in the space it took the Tree from. The Seed cannot grow during the same turn.

The Fox

• Ability: Moving another player’s Animal, moving a Seed and stealing lunar points.
  • Scaring: 1 lunar point. The Fox can move one Animal that is adjacent to it by one space.
  • Scratching the soil: 3 lunar points. The Fox moves any Seed from the space it is on to another space 1 or 2 away from it in a straight line. This movement does not count as an action carried out on either space. Note: The Seed to be moved may belong to the player with the Fox or another player.
  • Stealing: 4 lunar points. The Fox steals 2 light points from a player of their choice whose Animal is on a space adjacent to the Fox.

The Hedgehog

• Ability: Moving forward and planting a Seed.
  • Running: 1 lunar point. The Hedgehog can move one additional space.
  • Planting: 3 lunar points. If the Hedgehog is on an empty space it can plant a Seed on that space. The Seed does not need to be bought and comes directly from the player's board.

The Squirrel

• Ability: Moving forward and eating a Seed.
  • In addition to its Eating ability, the Squirrel has a passive ability which is permanent and doesn’t cost any lunar points. On each turn the Squirrel can move one or two spaces. If it moves two spaces, it does not have to move forward but can change direction.
  • How the active ability works: The Squirrel can eat the Seed of an opponent if it finds itself on a space with a Seed. The Seed that has been eaten is moved back to a free space on its owner’s board and that player earns 1 light point for compensation. The player with the Squirrel earns 1 light point per leaf shown on the space where the Seed was eaten.
  • Eating (level 1): 5 lunar points. The Squirrel can eat a Seed on a space with 1 leaf.
  • Eating (level 2): 6 lunar points. The Squirrel can eat a Seed on a space with 2 leaves.
  • Eating (level 3): 7 lunar points. The Squirrel can eat a Seed on a space with 3 leaves.
  • Eating (level 4): 8 lunar points. The Squirrel can eat a Seed on a space with 4 leaves.
• Note: Eating a Seed is not considered as an action and so does not count as one of the limited number of actions that can be carried out per space. This means that the player with the Squirrel can plant one of their Seeds and eat someone else’s at the same time on the same space.
• Important: It is possible to move a Seed that has just been planted, however, in this case this Seed cannot grow during this turn.

The Owl

• Ability: Changing lunar points into light points.
  • Nighttime Hunting (level 1): 5 lunar points. The player earns 3 light points.
  • Nighttime Hunting (level 2): 9 lunar points. The player earns 7 light points.
  • Nighttime Hunting (level 3): 12 lunar points. The player earns 10 light points.

The Beaver

• Ability: Growing Trees.
  • Setup for the Beaver: the player with the Beaver takes the Dam tile.
  • Building the Dam: 6 lunar points. The Beaver can build a Dam on its space as long as the Dam tile takes up one space touching the river on the board. When the Dam is built, all the Trees or Seeds on any of the 3 spaces taken up by the Dam tile grow once for free regardless of their owner(s).
  • Improving the Dam: 5 lunar points. If the Beaver is on any of the 3 spaces taken up by the Dam, it can make one of its Trees or one of its Seeds located on the Dam grow for free. The next size Tree must be in their available area.
• Notes:
  • The Dam tile must be placed on two spaces with 1 leaf and one space with 2 leaves as shown on the example.
  • It is possible to use this ability several times in the game but to do this the Dam tile must be repositioned on a space that is different from the previous position.

The Badger

• Ability: Growing a Seed.
  • Growing (level 1): 4 lunar points. The Badger makes the Seed on its space grow into a Small Tree. The Seed must belong to the player with the Badger. The Small Tree must be taken from the available area.
  • Growing (level 2): 6 lunar points. The Badger makes the Seed on its space grow into a Small Tree. The Seed must belong to the player with the Badger. The Small Tree can be taken directly from the player's board.
• No matter the level of the Badger’s ability:
  • The Badger’s ability cannot be used on a Seed that has been planted in the same turn.
  • Growing a Seed does not count as an action carried out on this space. The Small Tree can plant a