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How to Play

Codex Naturalis

1-4 players 20-30 min 7.2 Board Game Geek Rating

Players act as illuminating monks assembling manuscript pages about forest species by overlapping cards. Resource cards provide symbols needed to play valuable gold cards, which must meet specific resource requirements when placed. Cards overlap at corners, creating chains that display resources and cover previous symbols. Players score points immediately from gold cards, with some offering fixed values and others variable scoring. The game ends when someone reaches 20 points, triggering final scoring from public and secret objectives.

Published 2021

Codex Naturalis

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Place the score track
Put the score track board in the center of the table
2
Prepare Resource cards
Shuffle the Resource cards and place them facedown in the center of the table
3
Prepare Gold cards
Shuffle the Gold cards and place them facedown in the center of the table
4
Distribute Starter cards
Each player randomly takes one Starter card and places it in front of them
5
Select player color
Each player chooses a color and places one token on their Starter card
6
Draw starting hand
Each player draws 2 Resource cards and 1 Gold card
7
Prepare Objective cards
Shuffle the Objective cards and place them facedown next to the Score track
8
Select secret objective
Each player receives 2 Objective cards, looks at them, and keeps one as their secret objective
9
Determine first player
Choose the first player randomly and give them the black first player token to place on their Starter card

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Play a card from hand
Choose one of the 3 cards in your hand and place it in your play area
2
Score immediate points
If the placed card awards points, immediately move your token on the Score track
3
Draw a card
After placing a card, draw one new card

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Trigger end game by points
The end of the game is triggered when a player reaches 20 points or more
2
Trigger end game by empty decks
The end of the game is also triggered if both the Resource and Gold decks are empty
3
Complete final round
All players finish the current round, then each player takes one final turn
4
Score common objectives
All players score points from the 2 faceup common Objective cards if they fulfill the conditions
5
Score secret objective
Each player scores points from their secret Objective card if they fulfill the conditions
6
Count cards once per objective
Each Resource or Gold card in the play area may only be counted once per objective
7
Determine winner
The player with the most total points wins the game
8
Break ties with objectives
In case of a tie, the player with the most Objective card points wins
9
Share victory if still tied
If there is still a tie, the tied players share the victory

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

All the Games with Steph: Codex Naturalis

All the Games with Steph: Codex Naturalis

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Codex Naturalis - Comentarios y Cómo Jugar

Codex Naturalis - Comentarios y Cómo Jugar

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FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

PDF RULEBOOK

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