Natura is free for anyone to learn, make, and play!
Play solo, with one other, or with many.
natura.games presents everything you need to play. The rules are also available to download, save, and share as a PDF document. The advantage of the PDF is that it acts as a reference when offline or no Internet is available:
Natura is a game of strategy played by one, two, or by many. Depending on how the game is played, life prospers or declines.
Each player or team takes turns to move one piece at a time.
Natura can be played in many ways, although the pieces for every game are positioned at the start in the same way.
pieces
Flat squares, or three dimensional cubes, both with the option in advanced play to be double sided.
The pieces represent nature: Oceans, Seas, Lands, Islands, Rainforests, Meadows, Fires, and Storms.
Rainforests and Meadows represent life, and Fires and Storms represent the forces of nature.
The artworks below show different styles of each piece.
the board
Play takes place on an 8x8 square board, and with the pieces first set out as they are below. In addition to the colours, the pieces can have the first letter of their names, or icons that signify their nature. This helps when first playing Natura. A Braille Natura Board is also available on the Resources page for non-sighted people.
OBJECTIVE
Natura can be played in many ways. An ojective is agreed before the start of play. There are Competative, Fruitfull, and Harmful games, all described later in this guide. An example of a competative game is 'Blue V Browns' when a player wins by preventing their opponent from moving any of their pieces.
moves
Natura offers a choice of Flexible or Rigid moves for Lands, Islands, Oceans, and Seas. Agree this choice before the start. Some games for example are more challenging to play with Flexible moves, and others are made easier!
One rule applies to every piece: the same piece may not be moved back to where it came from on the next turn.
Seven of the eight kinds of pieces move in straight lines (either one, two, or three spaces), and one kind of piece moves in the shape of the letter L (Storms).
choose flexible or rigid moves
Lands, Oceans, Islands, and Seas have Flexible or Rigid Moves over the course of a single game. Players decide on what rules they will play before the start.
lands and oceans
Lands and Oceans move one, two, or three unoccupied squares in any one direction. Rigid Moves: these pieces can only move three unoccupied squares in any one direction.
islands and seas
Islands and Seas move one or two unoccupied squares in any one direction. Rigid Moves: these pieces can only move two unoccupied squares in any one direction.
rainforests
Rainforests move one unoccupied square in any direction.
meadows
Meadows move one or two unoccupied squares in any one direction.
fires
Fires move one unoccupied square in any direction.
storms
Storms move in an L shape. Storms are unique: they may jump over another piece.
removing and recovering life
1. When a Fire or Storm is placed on a square occupied by a meadow, that meadow is removed from the board.
2. When two or more Fires, Storms, or a Fire and Storm, touch two edges (not corners) of a rainforest at the same time, that rainforest is removed from the board.
3. Islands and Seas can recover a Meadow that has been removed by touching two sides of a free space.
4. Oceans and Lands can recover a Rainforest that has been removed by touching two sides of a free space.
You now know everything to play Natura! Everything below provides more explanation and detail about Natura.
A DEEP DIVE INTO NATURA GAMES
The following reference guide provides in-depth coverage and illustrations of all things Natura, including extended and advanced play.
If you are here for clarification about a particular move or advanced play, skip to the section you need by using one of the links below.
Natura offers a choice of Flexible or Rigid moves for Lands, Islands, Oceans, and Seas. This choice is agreed before the start of a game. The first rule below applies to every piece.
no immediate return
The same piece may not be moved back to where it came from on the next turn.
A Fire piece is moved below. This same piece may not be moved back on the next turn.
Oceans and Lands move one, two, or three unoccupied squares in any one direction. These are Flexible Moves.
The second illustration below shows the alternative Rigid Moves: Oceans and Lands move three unoccupied squares in any one direction, not one, two, or three.
Storms move in an L shape into a free space. Storms are the only pieces that may jump over another piece, just as storms travel over the Earth. Jumping over a piece does not affect any piece in any way. Their moves are shown below.
The illustrations show how there are always two ways for a Storm to reach their destination.
When a storm lands on a Meadow, that Meadow piece is removed from the board.
Players make choices about whether to remove life, in this case a Meadow. Storms and Fires can remove Meadows and Rainforests. Competitive and Harmful games tend to result in the loss of life.
When two Fires, two Storms, or a Fire and Storm, touch the edge (not corners) of a rainforest at the same time, that rainforest is removed.
A number of different moves where Fires and Storms move into a space adjacent to Rainforests illustrate the loss of Rainforests on the boards below. Note that in the top left example, two Rainforests are removed.
When a space is touched on two sides by Oceans or by Lands, a Rainforest that has been removed from the board can be returned to the playing area.
The examples below show Oceans and Lands moving into a space. Here, Rainforests previously removed are recovered and placed back on the game board. Note that there is a choice of where to place the Rainforest recovered by the Oceans.
One player chooses Water (blues), the other chooses Terra Firma (browns). Players may not move their opponent’s pieces, but they may move their own or any of the other pieces (Rainforests, Meadows, Fires, and Storms).
A player wins when they prevent their opponent from moving any of their Water or Terra Firma pieces.
Players work alone or together taking turns to move any one piece at a time on the board so that every piece makes up a single block of multiple colours.
Players work alone or together taking turns to move any one piece at a time on the board so that groups of colours follow in a single continuous line that changes direction no more than six times.
Players work alone or together taking turns to move any one piece at a time on the board so that all life (Rainforests and Meadows) are positioned in a single line.
Players work alone or together taking turns to move any one piece at a time on the board so that life is isolated from any form of Water or Terra Firma.
Natura has been designed to give the player creative freedom in both their making and play. The rules remain consistent and easy to understand, although the game play, especially with the extended versions of Natura, require a higher degree of skill and strategy.
Natura's three dimensional pieces give rise to more complex making and advanced play.
The three dimensional game can also be played with exactly the same rules as the core game without flipping pieces. Natura is a world of games!
Three dimensional cubes represent the eight pieces, and each piece features its related opposite on its underside. This makes gameplay more complex.
To flip a piece a new rule comes into play:
When a piece is touched on three sides by a single kind of piece (for example, three Storms, three Oceans, or three Islands), the piece touched on three sides is flipped.
In the following example a storm piece is moved next to a Rainforest piece which is then touched on three sides. The Rainforest is then flipped to show its related opposite side, a Meadow.
The final advanced variation of Natura is when Terra Firma and Water pieces are designed to flip and become their non-related opposites: Oceans become Lands, Seas: Islands, Lands become Oceans, and Islands: Seas.
The pieces of Natura for this version of the game are therefore different than for all the variations mentioned so far. For those wishing to play this final advanced variation of the game, an additional 20 Terra Firma and Water pieces will need to be made (6 Lands, 4 Islands, 6 Oceans, and 4 Seas). These pieces will replace the Standard and Advanced Related Terra Firma and Water pieces.
The starting placement of the pieces for every game of Natura are however identical as shown in the Standard and Isometric View.
Terra Firma and Water pieces are flipped when touched on three sides by a similar piece. Lands becomes Oceans, Oceans becomes Lands, Islands become Seas, and Seas become Islands.
The remaining pieces flip to become their related opposites: Fires become Storms, Storms become Fires, and Rainforests become Meadows as Meadows become Rainforests.
In the following example, a Sea is placed next to a Land. The Land is then surrounded on three sides by Seas and is flipped over to become its unrelated Opposite, an Ocean.
In this advanced game, the environment changes significantly so that Terra Firma or Water dominate quickly, and Fires spring up in many places.
