Metaflora

Metaflora is a daily biology game from Trainwreck Labs, the makers of Metazooa. Its tagline sums it up: plant life is beautiful but also complex, and the game tests your green thumb by seeing how well you can navigate its leafy branches.

Each day there is one numbered Mystery Plant. You type any species to begin, and each wrong guess is added to a tree that shows the shared taxonomic ranks (kingdom, phylum, class, order and so on) between your guess and the answer. The more your guess has in common with the answer, the lower the branch point and the more you learn. A card for each rank gives a short Wikipedia description and photo. You have 25 guesses, and a new game starts at midnight UTC. Stuck players can trade three guesses for a hint that reveals the next rank, and a practice mode serves extra plants outside the daily.

The plants were chosen for familiarity and for the spread of species they cover. Classifications follow the NCBI taxonomy, so they can differ from Wikipedia. Cultivated varieties such as broccoli, cauliflower and kale appear together as cabbage, since they are all one species.

It suits gardeners, botany students and Metazooa players who want a second daily tree to climb.

The game can be played in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese and Romanian. It is free and carries ads, with a paid supporter option through its ad network that removes them.