Before The Rain 2026

Players take on the role of busy bees, set out to gather as much pollen as they can before the rainy weather comes in. Score points by taking valuable pollen from the five different flowers back to your hive. Be careful, timing your return against your opponents and the weather is crucial. Push your luck to contribute and collect as much pollen as possible, and always keep an eye on the skies to head back to the hive before the rain ends the round.

Each turn, all players will simultaneously play a card facedown from their hand. When revealed, players will either add pollen to the growing central pile or play their "Return to Hive" card to safely collect everything accumulated so far and back out of the round.

After each turn, Weather Cards are revealed to show if the rain is approaching. Once three rain symbols accumulate, anyone still in the field loses all their pollen for that round. The game will end after three rounds, adding up your best score from each round to find your total score!

Will you be the first to take the pollen for yourself, or will you push your luck further and race against the rain? Before The Rain is an easy-to-learn, push-your-luck game featuring beautiful hand-illustrated artwork.

—description from the publisher