Raindrops Keep Fallin’ All Over the Place with Petrichor
Create fluffy clouds that drift across fields filled with crops and plants to encourage growth with colorful raindrops in Petrichor.
Time to get back to the science of weather and biology! It had been awhile since I last explored the Petrichor: Collector’s Edition, and it was wonderful to see this beautiful edition again. Just so pretty! I wanted to explore the other content to see if it would work well as a solo experience. And it was easy to call upon Milli Vanilli for this one: “Blame it on the rain…” Ha!
Game Overview
Game Name: Petrichor: Collector’s Edition
Publication Year: 2018
Designer: David Chircop
Artists: Daniela Attard & Sami Laakso
Publishers: APE Games & Mighty Boards
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Over 4 rounds, clouds develop and move across tiles, raining drops to create plant growth and reward victory points. It’s all a balancing act as the weather and climate shifts in response to the actions taken, all with a simply amazing and beautiful table presence evocative of fluffy, airy clouds!
First Play
April 9, 2022
Complexity
4
Latest Play
November 16, 2025
Expansions
6
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
3
Play Time
1 Hour & 15 Minutes
High Score
78
Game Area
34" x 18"
Low Score
53
Floating Clouds
This edition is simply gorgeous and the floating clouds look stunning! Tiles can get very busy and crowded, so having this lofty area adds to the theme in a very helpful way.
I never quite hit it off with the solo mode, as there are a lot of icons and elements to keep track of. Although many aspects became intuitive, I always looked up the solo cards.
Gameplay is fairly straightforward, even though the rules seem to be very lengthy and dense. Much easier to play.
Figuring out the strategies is the hard part, though, as it’s all about seeing how everything is interconnected.
Thin, Wispy Clouds
There are some excellent components here, along with some beautiful artwork. There are so many pretty things to look at all the time! But about those cloud standees…
I knocked these over no less than 3 times during my play. Now, I’m definitely on the clumsy side at times, so I bump components around a lot. I blame myself most of the time!
But these are very thin and lightweight, and can tip over somewhat easily. I sent raindrops flying! Frustrating.
Not that I’ve had any major issues, yet these also feel a bit fragile. They’re lovely and functional, but I don’t love them.
Everything at Once
Since the expansion content didn’t seem too overwhelming, I mixed it all in and had a lot going on! Yet this is a good example of how busy the play area can get at times.
Tokens and raindrops had to be moved around a lot just so I could understand the scoring opportunities on the tiles.
I adored the bee and cow, although I definitely didn’t master their mechanics. So much fun to see everything interact!
However, I felt bogged down in the solo mode. There was enough for me to consider for my own strategy, yet the solo opponent required some overhead and rules referencing.
Voting on the Weather
Area majorities are a core mechanic, but this is combined with a somewhat surprising feature: Voting! After actions and climate effects happen, the weather has its own turn.
Only 2 of 4 possible weather effects activate based on the most number of votes. These are tied to the actions taken on the tiles, like placing new clouds or raining water drops.
So neat! Yet I wasn’t in love with the somewhat random way the solo opponent operated. Some effects did nothing.
I think I struggled with the extra work that didn’t feel like it resulted in logical moves a human player would take.
A Better Multiplayer Experience… Hidden Away?
One of the challenges about writing from a purely solo perspective is that my multiplayer experiences sometimes get lost in the mix. Don’t worry: This blog continues to be all about solo games! Yet I wanted to touch on the idea of how some games don’t work for me solo, but might be excellent when enjoyed in a group. That’s true here after a 3-player play.
Although I didn’t fully grasp all of the strategies nor exactly how everything was connected, I had a wonderful time! It was more rewarding to have opponents who acted in logical ways, never wasting votes on weather effects that had no impact… Or, even in a rare case during my solo play, actually put me in a better position with no change to the solo opponent’s score.
This went from a game I was happy to part with, to one that my game group is excited to play at least a few more times! We may ultimately part with it, but the multiplayer experience was vastly different from the solo experience, at least for me.
Sometimes, a game has a similar sort of experience, but not always. I try to call out these interesting diversions because although it may look like this would be easy to recommend to skip over, it’s quite excellent as a multiplayer option!
Climate Effects
With one of the expansions, methane in the clouds had an effect on the overall climate. Very scientific and neat! The cow certainly could have a major effect on some aspects.
I actually enjoyed a lot of the extra content and the new decision space. Everything was layered in a clever way that I didn’t fully understand, but I made some great choices.
However, it really felt like there was something missing in the solo mode for me. I didn’t enjoy it all that much, sadly.
The game itself seemed to be excellent, though! It was just the way the solo opponent operated that didn’t work for me.
Fantastic Artwork
This has to be one of the most beautiful games, and that’s not easy to achieve when the focal point is clouds! Yet every action card and tile is simply gorgeous and delightful.
I think this is why the play area feels so busy, because there is a lot of white space that makes every illustration feel very airy and breezy. But blank space can be beautiful on its own.
Ultimately, I enjoyed a lot of aspects of gameplay… Except for the core of the solo mode. Still, it’s such a lovely game!
This one will be relegated to the realm of multiplayer if it sticks around. As always, I’m glad I got it back to my table!
Session Overview
Play Number: 3
Expansions: Many (Collector’s Pack, Cows, Honeybee)
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Standard Difficulty Level
Outcome: 78-72 (Win)
The reshuffle card came up a lot, and I disliked how much this act took me out of the game. I won… But in a way that didn’t feel like I knew what I was doing. This is a lovely and unique game experience with area majorities and voting. But I knocked over one too many clouds and think the rain can pitter patter away without my assistance. Ha ha!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
8
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
8
Originality
Design & Theme
6
Quality
Components & Rules
5
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
4
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
7
+ Pros (Positives)
- Every aspect of the theme is well-integrated into the components and mechanics, which feed into realistic concepts.
- All of the artwork is beautiful with plenty of white space to convey a play space all about clouds and rain.
- Many of the expansions feature interesting mechanics that add clever layers onto the base game for even more fun.
- There are important considerations around choosing actions and the effects on the voting process during a round.
- Plenty of variety exists with the available tiles, which can change up the focus of a play in entirely unique ways.
- No single winning strategy exists, and the challenge of adjusting each round is part of the enjoyment the game offers.
– Cons (Negatives)
- There is a fair amount of upkeep with the solo opponent, which often requires looking up card icons in the rulebook.
- Although the components look amazing, the cloud standees are rather lightweight and can tip over a little easily.
- With some of the complex expansion tiles in play, the play area can get very busy with tokens that cover information.
- Each tile uses the Latin name, but the rulebook uses the English name, making them unnecessarily hard to look up.
Victory Conditions
Score the Most Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Score at least 50 points.
Score at least 55 points.
Score at least 75 points.
Continue the Conversation
What do you enjoy the most about the Petrichor: Collector’s Edition? Do you prefer to use any of the expansions all of the time? I think there’s a wonderful game inside… Just not one that calls to me to be played solo. The realistic concepts are awesome, though, and I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited about clouds, rain, and the weather in general. Ha ha!
It looks physically beautiful but the images you posted tell me I would struggle to evaluate the game state.
Things improve if you purposely choose the simpler tiles that don’t involve additional tokens, but I found myself lost a few times in terms of counting everything. I felt like I had to count everything on each tile, then consider how that impacted the overall game state… It was a lot! I also appreciate how beautiful it is, yet the tiles feel too small for everything they potentially need to hold. Thanks for stopping by!