When is it your turn? In Botanicus, you don’t take your turns in clockwise order.

The order of play is determined by the order of your Flowers on the game board. Whichever Flower is at the top of the last played column indicates which player’s turn it is. We call this the “at-the-top rule”.

What does “at the top” mean?

The position of the Flower space and the order the Flowers are stacked determines whose turn it is.

1. Position of the Flower spaces

Each column has 4 Flower spaces. The player whose Flower is in the topmost Flower space takes their turn next. Only consider the column for which all players have already taken a turn. The next player to take their turn is the one whose Flower is now in the topmost Flower space, and so on.

2. Order within the stack

It is possible for more than one Flower to be stacked on top of each other (like at the start of the game). The turn order among these players is determined by whose Flower is higher up in the stack.

Important: The turn order is determined by the position of the Flower space first, and only then by the order they are stacked.

Proceed like this until everyone has taken one turn, i.e. until all Flowers are in the next column. Only then do you begin again with the player whose Flower is at the top.

Note: This can lead to a player taking two turns in a row.

At the start of the game, all the Flowers are in the same space. Your blue Flower is at the top, so you go first by placing your Flower on a Flower space in the first column and performing the action. Then Yellow, Green and Red take their turns, in that order.

Red chose the top Flower space and thus is next to take their turn. Then it is Yellow's turn because their Flower is stacked on top of yours. You go next, and finally Green takes their turn.

Changes for 2 players

In a 2-player game, you play with an additional Flower. It is neutral and always occupies 1 Flower space. The player who is first to take their turn starts by placing the neutral Flower on a Flower space of their choice. Then they take their own turn. You treat the space with the neutral Flower as occupied, as if there were a third player.