Everdell

Game Title: Everdell
Released: July 28, 2022
Game Length: N/A
Grade: B

Board Game

Original: The video game Everdell is actually based on a board game designed by James Wilson and published by Starling Games in 2018. There are 128 cards with 25 different critters and 25 different constructions. Although up to four players are dealt cards for their objective, there is a long list of parts involved like workers, resources, and a tree of achievements. You accumulate points in various activities from cards that allow you to donate resources to other players or building a specific number of one type of card onto the board. 

Expansions: In addition to the original game, you can also purchase the Glimmergold Edition that adds about a dozen cards in three new ways to play. The Extra! Extra! adds six cards displayed on the page. Legends allows you to play evolved cards. You can also play against Rugwort with new mechanics that manipulate the entire board. The downloadable content does not include any of the board game expansions that came with the whopping $350 complete collection. This doesn't even consider the Farshore board game that just released.

Kid's Edition: If you find the game too complicated, they did release a digital version of Welcome To Everdell based on the board game for kids. The cards and mechanics are designed for a different kind of audience as you send "friends" to claim things on the board. Do not expect it to play similar to the original game. You only have three different resources with the removal of stone and the tree is completely absent.

Gameplay

Cards: While the diversity of the game may appear overwhelming at first, there are only 50 different cards to consider. Each card is duplicated twice with an abundance of extra farms. You can place down 15 cards in your city area (or more depending if you have cards with exceptions). You can have at most 8 cards in your hand and play off any 8 cards accessible from "The Meadow" on the board. If you place down a construction card, then the associated critter can be played at no cost. 

Workers: The game is based on a gather-build cycle. There are four seasons that provide you with workers that can be placed in spots to collect resources. While the game doesn't continuously add resources to the board each round like some games, you do have to fight for the spot with the other players. You can place down one worker to gather resources, place them on "destinations" available in any city, or complete objectives. Once you run out of workers, you then transition to the next season if there are no more plays available. Each player has their own season. Once they reach the final season, they can choose to stop playing entirely until every other player completes theirs as well. 

Challenges: You don't have to play with other people to enjoy the game. There are options to include or exclude certain parts of the DLC, add AI players, and change their difficulty. There are a number of scenarios that change how you play like randomizing the character connections to buildings, changing the starting season, or offering you resources when certain requirements are met. Rugwort specifically will modify the board by taking away accessible cards and spots.  

 UI

Control: The game allows you to play with the keyboard & mouse or controller. If you use a mouse, then workers can be picked up and planted. There's a few little interactable areas on the board you can mess around with as you wait for other players to complete their turn. You can also zoom in to your city or out to see the full board. This is where it gets a little tricky as sometimes "picking up" objects like a card from your hand can get a little messy if you aren't completely zoomed in or out. Sometimes, clicking on a card with a controller and selecting a spot on the board is easier. So you don't have to continue moving around, there are shortcut buttons on the side you can click on to briefly preview what is required from the tree or other areas. Any playable action is highlighted for you, even the ones that you may not want to do at the time. These include the cards in your hand, cards on the board, and places for your workers. It is entirely up to you whether you choose to use them. This is incredibly useful when it comes to reminding you if a card is unique or if you can scrap something from your city.

Interactions: There are a lot of fun digital animations, but a new screen will appear for each and every choice you want to make. There will be windows when you want to choose a resource, discard using an ability, or donate to other players. Your hand is shown at the bottom of the screen and other player cities can be viewed to the right of the board. The tutorial can be very helpful when it comes to showing you all your options. With Glimmergold installed, legendary cards will be placed in the bottom-left corner. These cards can be tricky as they don't play exactly like the normal cards. 

Summary

Review: Direwolf Digital does a fantastic job putting together board games in a digital format. They chose something interesting like Everdell and did a solid job putting together all the pieces. Unfortunately, the limiting number of cards and lack of proper expansions keeps you from playing this game for long. I'm happy that they kept the price low and offered another one for their kid version. It was fun for the few days I played it.