This simple Natura Games Board can be printed by touching the image or button which will open a new tab with the board for you to save and print.
Natura is a game for all and can be played using easily found, natural, or recyclable materials.
This area of natura.games provides guidance and printable resources that help fast track the process of making.
Natura has been designed so that it can be played on the earth or sand with carefully chosen stones or natural found objects. The board and pieces can be drawn with paper and a pencil, using printable files, or designed with more complex materials like wood, ceramic, glass, or stone.
The Natura board is an 8x8 square grid. This is the same format to a chess or draughts board that many already have access to. At its simplest, the board can be drawn in the sand. Depending on the availability and cost of materials, Natura games boards can also be made from recyclable materials like cardboard, plastic, and metal, or for more advanced making, using wood, clay, glass, metal, stone, or ceramic.
Simple Natura Games Boards are provided below for you to print. These can be played on immediately, or you might use them as templates for your own designs!
This simple Natura Games Board can be printed by touching the image or button which will open a new tab with the board for you to save and print.
Some alternative board designs follow that you are welcome to touch to download and print.
The following images can be downloaded and printed. Touching each image below will open a new tab with the image that can be downloaded, saved, and printed.
Every game of Natura Games begins with the pieces set out in the same way as the first image.You are welcome to download, save, and print this image for reference.
The second image shows all the pieces. You are welcome to print the image and tear or cut out the pieces for play.
For those playing Natura for the first time, it may be helpful for you to view or play with the pieces that also have icons on their surface, or the first letter of the pieces' names. Although this is presented in English, you are welcome to use your own language names.
The pieces shown with the first letters on their face also point to how those who are non-sighted might create the pieces using Braille.
A basic English Braille alphabet and numbers are shown below, and the Natura Games Braille board follows. The first image shows black dots that are raised in Braille paper. The circles with white at their centre show sighted people how the dots are arranged around a group of six. The second image is the Natura Games Braille Board as the pieces are set out at the start of the game.
Touching both images will open them in a new tab for you to save and refer to in future.
Games of Natura can be notated so that they are recorded for future reference and study.
The following board shows letters and numbers. Each square on the board has a distinct combination of a letter and number. In the example below a Rainforest piece is shown at D4 and moves to E5. This would be recorded as: R-D4 to R-E5.
When a piece is removed from the board this is signified by adding two square brackets: M-B7 []. This means a Meadow at square B7 has been removed.
When a peice is added to the board this is signified by adding a plus symbol: M-E2 +. This means a Meadow at square E2 has been added.
| PIECE | SIGNIFIER | |
|---|---|---|
| Ocean | O | |
| Sea | S | |
| Land | L | |
| Island | I | |
| Rainforest | R | |
| Meadow | M | |
| Fire | F | |
| Storm | ST | |
| [] | a piece is removed | |
| + | a piece is added | |
Examples of completed Natura Games Boards together with their pieces follow.
A Natura Games Board and Pieces made from stone and simple wooden cubes. The cubes were painted with acrylic paint.
The following two boards are imaginative renditions of Natura.
An installation inspired by Natura full with light. More artworks follow in the Gallery.
Although all content at Natura Games is free for personal play, it may not be used for commercial gain.