Bosk is a competitive area-control game set in a US national park in which players plant trees so that their falling leaves will dominate particular areas of the parkland and score victory points. ‘Bosk’ is a Middle-English word for thicket or wooded area and its etymology traces back to proto-Germanic languages. As Wohlleben notes, the early Germanic words for tree offer a possible root for the word ‘book’ (2021: 111-112), suggesting a connection between nature and culture made apparent in this game and other recent games that are interested in forests and trees, of which several appear in this ludography. In Bosk, ‘natural’ seasons are translated into game rounds and gameplay takes place over the course of a year in the national park. The objective of the game is to score points in Summer and Winter via the careful placement of each player’s species of tree. In spring, players grow their trees tall, taking it in turn to place their trees along the trails. In summer, the value of each tree is added across each column and row, with the dominant species taking victory points. In Winter, the winds blow and leaves fall from the trees. The wind direction changes each round, demanding that players pay attention to the drifting leaves so that they can dominate a particular area of the forest, designated by coloured spaces representing different ecosystemic areas in the park (such as the river, the plains, etc.).
