My daughter even passed me her Rugwort cards as part of a card effect. It was a sweet gesture, because she knew I would just discard him at the first opportunity in favor of resources, points, or anything else.

Like Pearlbrook and Spirecrest, Bellfaire comes with a few extras that don’t add new gameplay elements, but that nonetheless accentuate your base game. It has player pieces for two more players — cardinals and toads — and each of those come with the ambassador you’d need for the Pearlbrook expansion. There are 4 new forest locations and 9 new special event cards, and the new special events are less specific (and thus arguably easier to achieve) than the ones in Everdell. There are also new player boards which have areas for your resources and cards, but I consider these superfluous, as they just occupy tablespace with little new functionality. The board itself is fantastic quality with absolutely gorgeous artwork that clearly depicts all of the key locations, without ever losing the sense of style that links visual functionality perfectly with the whimsical woodland setting of the game. On the board, the player will position a three-dimensional model of the Evertree, which towers over the board and features a couple of tiers of branches on to which cards and animeeples will be placed. There are also a number of bonus cards (some of which are random) that will be added to either the branches of the tree, in clearings around the board or along the river that runs across its top third. Newleaf comes in as the prize of the boxed expansions because it so capably amplifies the world of Everdell and all its charm. Mechanically, the eastern railroad doesn’t overwhelm with only two new spaces. Instead, it’s a series of open doors and, increasingly with the player count, better scoring opportunities. #2 – Extra! Extra!Whilst this additional board – and the focus on it when it is in play – adds some additional complexity, it’s all relative, and Spirecrest does not turn Everdell into a heavyweight experience. Almost all of the action in Spirecrest (aside from additional critters and a few new clearing and event cards) takes place at the end of each season – effectively giving the player options and decisions to make at a phase in the base game where not much usually happens. Among the additional modules is one of my favourites – that of specific player powers. Each of the different animal species now benefits from a specific power or ability, and it’s nice to see that Bellfaire includes cards for all (as far as I know) of the animals that feature in the base game and all of the expansions featured in this review and released at the time of writing. Also included in Bellfaire is my least favourite expansion – the player boards. These simply allow players to store resources and workers whilst giving them a “start” to place their tableau into – sadly, these stay in the box for me. If gaining, choose one of the available tokens, gain the resources and cards, then move that token to the "trade" side. With an expansion stretching in each compass direction, it sure seems like we’re closing the book on Everdell (in terms of game production, anyway) , and the critters are at home on many a kallax around the world—probably on top, though, because of the sheer size of the box. I suppose it’s time to start evaluating the full panoramic experience.

Foxes: When you place a worker on a Forest location, instead of activating that Forest location, you may instead activate any non-permanent location where an opponent has a worker deployed. Besides these cards, the biggest change is probably the Bellfaire board, which sits atop the base game board and eliminates the need for the tree. Like the tree, the Bellfaire board has spaces to hold your workers for future seasons, as well as spaces to put special events. In the middle of the board, though, are some new elements: the flower festival, a space for a garland award, and the market.I’d show them now, except that the other side to Everdell , the side you can only experience (because it’s not really visible on the cards) is how deep the game is. I’ve played it with some of the best board gamers I know and we’ve had games that reached nearly a hundred points between the top players, yet there was only one or two points in it. We once had a game that was so tight, we drew on seventy three. Creating a game that has as many ways to win as Everdell does, but which remains as tight as it does is a real marvel. The two new Events make sense in that they round out the collection to include all of the most sensible options. Having two extra on the board increases the opportunity, temptation, and indecision over whether and when to secure the points. EVERDELL New Expansions And Complete Collection Includes Spiders With Top Hats!". GeekTyrant . Retrieved 2022-11-21. Without hesitation or doubt, Legends is my favorite expansion concept to grace the big board. Available from the first cards in the Collector’s Edition, this set has been further expanded by the occasional promo and in the Mistwood box to its full potential, and I honestly love every last bit.

Asymmetry has come to the land of Everdell! One of the most interesting modules added by Bellfaire are the unique player abilities. Each critter type, including all those from the collectors editions, get their own critter card with a totally unique ability or power. If you like asymmetry in your games or just fancy a bit more variation this is a really nifty way to achieve it. Each set of rules are concise enough to fit on a very small card but can change the way you play appreciably. Critter comforts A follow-up to the game called Everdell Farshore has been announced and is expected to release in August 2023. [1] Gameplay [ edit ] Whenever that card is played, either by you or an opponent, gain 1 of any resource that you do not already have, then move the Rugwort token to a different Meadow card.Everdell is a superb game and a beautiful product. It deserves its recently held placement in the BGG hotness list and I hope it remains a popular choice that continues to impress new and old players alike. If you only buy one game this year, Everdell should be on the shortlist alongside the likes of Lords of Hellasand Lowlands, with only your personal preference to differentiate between those in the running. As I mentioned at the start of the review, players can mix and match the different modules. If you’re playing with basic Everdell, I think it is easy to mix in the Bellefaire board and everything on it, and to throw in the new player powers.