Everdell [Board Game]

Information

• Designer: James A. Wilson
• Artist: Andrew Bosley
• Year Published:  2018
• Number of Players: 1 - 4 players
• Playing Time: 40 - 80 minutes
• Recommended Ages: 13+
• Categories: Animals, Card Game, City Building, Fantasy
• Mechanics: Card Drafting, Hand Management, Set Collection, Worker Placement
• Board Game Geek

Description 

Within the charming valley of Everdell, beneath the boughs of towering trees, among meandering streams and mossy hollows, a civilization of forest critters is thriving and expanding. From Everfrost to Bellsong, many a year have come and gone, but the time has come for new territories to be settled and new cities established. You will be the leader of a group of critters intent on just such a task. There are buildings to construct, lively characters to meet, events to host—you have a busy year ahead of yourself. Will the sun shine brightest on your city before the winter moon rises?

Everdell is a game of dynamic tableau building and worker placement.

On their turn a player can take one of three actions:

1.  Place a Worker: Each player has a collection of Worker pieces. These are placed on the board locations, events, and on Destination cards. Workers perform various actions to further the development of a player's tableau: gathering resources, drawing cards, and taking other special actions.
2.  Play a Card: Each player is building and populating a city; a tableau of up to 15 Construction and Critter cards. There are five types of cards: Travelers, Production, Destination, Governance, and Prosperity. Cards generate resources (twigs, resin, pebbles, and berries), grant abilities, and ultimately score points. The interactions of the cards reveal numerous strategies and a near infinite variety of working cities.
3. Prepare for the next Season: Workers are returned to the players supply and new workers are added. The game is played from Winter through to the onset of the following winter, at which point the player with the city with the most points wins.

Andres' Game of the Week

The moment I heard of Everdell, my attention was drawn to it. It's a medium-light worker placement game with astonishing art and 3D board that I can not only play with my gaming group but also easily teach to everyone. Everdell was just a perfect fit for my growing game collection.

This beautiful board game takes you to a fantasy world in which you’re the leader of a group of critters tasked with the discovery of a new territory and the building of a city. You will do so by playing cards from your hand or from the meadow.

Everdell looks beautiful on the table and the gameplay is simple. But, most importantly, I felt challenged from the first turn: producing the right resources and combining the right cards to create perfect combos is not a piece of cake. That’s what I loved the most about the game. The most visually appealing part of this game is the giant tree at the center of the table that gives the game a nice 3D aspect.

Look for the "Board game – World of Fantasy" playlist in Spotify to enhance your experience!