Each player creates their own ecosystem on the table.

You begin with a Starting Hedgerow and gradually expand around it until you’ve created a 20-card landscape. On your turn you take two cards, play one into your ecosystem and discard another.

You can draw from one of three decks or take face-up cards that previous players have discarded. So it pays to keep an eye on what everyone else is doing.

That perfect card may be sitting right in front of you. Or someone may pick it up immediately before your turn.

Where you play a card matters

One of the things that makes Hedgerow Harmony different from a simple collecting game is that your ecosystem has a physical layout. Certain species need resources anywhere within it. Others need them nearby.

A Water Vole, for example, can require a water source next to it and vegetation positioned diagonally away. Other cards use placement patterns based on chess movements. King. Queen. Bishop. Rook. Knight.

You don’t need to know how to play chess. The reference card shows you exactly what each symbol means. But it does mean the position of every tree, flower, habitat and animal can become important later.

Sometimes the imperfect move is the useful one

There will be turns when nothing in your hand quite works. Rather than getting stuck, you can play a card face-down as an abundant landscape. It scores no points, but provides a mixture of useful resources that may allow you to play much stronger cards later.

It’s one of those decisions that feels slightly painful at the time.

Then five turns later, you realise it saved your entire ecosystem!

Build forests, waterways and pollinator habitats

There’s more than one route to a good score. A long chain of water cards can earn the Longest Waterway bonus. Lots of trees may create the Deepest Forest. Flowers contribute towards the Most Picturesque Landscape. Insects can win Best Pollinator. And a genuinely varied collection of flora and fauna can earn a Balanced Ecosystem bonus.

So there is always something worth building towards. Even when your original plan has gone completely out of the window!

A game for people who enjoy nature – and people who just enjoy games

You don’t need to know anything about British wildlife before playing.

Everything required to understand the cards is included in the game. But after a few games, you may find yourself recognising species, habitats and relationships without really noticing that you’ve learnt them. That’s part of the appeal.

It’s a nature game first.

The nature knowledge tends to sneak in afterwards!