Everdell: Too Hyped or the Hype is True? - A Review

 

Woodland Wonders

As I've noted on several posts in the past, I'm a big fan of Everdell and I thought I would take the time today to review the game in its entirety and provide some pros and cons to anyone who is on the fence about the game. Obviously with every game out there, it may or may not be for you, and especially with popular games, it can be difficult to remove the feeling of "is it really that good," from your mindset.

I'll try to address each of the game's positive aspects as well as point out some glaring concerns that I have with the game, as well as the various expansions that it comes with. I will forewarn you that I love this game and it is one of my top games that I love to play. I would say that it hovers around spot 1-3 at any given time, so please take that into mind when reading this review of the game.

I personally own the Everdell: The Complete Collection along with the art sleeves and deluxe resource vessels, which I paid for directly through the Tabletop Tycoon Inc. website. I don't believe that all of these accessories are necessary, but as someone who dropped a pretty penny on the collection, I wanted to ensure that I not only was able to play the game for a long time by protecting the cards, but also have some neat little resource vessels to place all my items in on the main board. The game plays fine without the extra additions and I personally like them because I think it adds to the aesthetics of the game.

Everdell

Current BGG Rank: #35
Overall Rating: 8.0
Times Played: 17
Current Rating: 9.0

Published Year: 2018
Weight: 2.81 (Medium-Light)
Playing Time: 40-80 minutes

Things I Liked: I know that this comparison seems to be getting old, but Everdell really takes the essence of the Redwall series by Brian Jacques and distills it into a board game. As a long time fan of the series, especially after being able to meet the author at a signing, and owning every single book in the Redwall series after reading each and every one multiple times after being introduced to them at my ninth birthday, Everdell is something really special to me. I have so many memories of reading through the books and getting excited when a new one came out, even spending my hard-earned money to purchase a copy of the books myself. There were multiple road trips (and school trips) that we listened to the full cast production of the books, enjoying the author's wonderful basso voice narrating and bringing to life the stories that he had crafted with care. This was the series that got me into fantasy books initially (sorry Chronicles of Narnia, even though you were good, I liked Redwall better) and there are so many fond memories of listening and reading the stories as a kid and teenager (and even adult).

It's hard for me to separate Everdell from Redwall and I think that is where the lasting love of the game comes from. While I acknowledge that the game has flaws (more on that below), I think there's a significant nostalgia factor that leads into my love of the game, despite the world being built in Everdell being different than it's book counterpart. I fully acknowledge that much of what I find endearing about the game might be frustrating for others and not really be a good addition, but for me, the anthropomorphism of animals who then go on to create incredible towns and features, as found in Everdell has to be one of my favorite themes for a fantasy realm. It is extremely difficult for me to separate Everdell from my childhood fantasy books and that's where it shines for me.

It also helps that the game itself is well-crafted and designed with beautiful artwork by Andrew Bosley. The evocative artwork contained not only on the cards, but also the board and box is incredible and only draws me further into the realm of the game. Each illustration contains small snippets of lore and each pairing of construction and critter have little nods to one another contained on the cards. Additionally, while this might be frustrating for others when playing the game, I personally love the addition of the Evertree sitting in the top of the main board as it gives a sense of scale to the game and provides a neat little storage solution for extra meeples and objectives during the game.

The gameplay is also something that I truly love, requiring players to be extremely careful with how they place their workers each season as there are a limited amount of resources and workers that players can use each season. While each season sees an increase in workers, players still have a set amount of locations that they can visit and clever placement of cards in each player city helps with future turns. The tableau-building and engine-building mechanics come together very nicely with each player building their own city that sometimes interacts with other player cities as well, giving a nice set of player interaction that feels appropriate for a game like this. Everdell is not a game about conquering your opponents, but rather having players build their own city under the eaves of the Evertree that stands over the forest and meadow of the main board.

I also appreciate the open drafting mechanic of the meadow as it allows players the choice of taking a card from the meadow, if a card, ability, or location allows for it, but also presents a conundrum of choosing a card from the deck or taking a known card from the eight available spaces. There can be a bit of "take that" with one of the cards, but fortunately, Everdell shies away from much of that in the base game. The game has a surprising amount of depth to it and even 16 games into it, I still find myself looking at new ways to build my city with cards that are taken into my hand.

Things I Didn't Like: I was not a fan of the initial solo opponent included in the base game. While it is perfectly serviceable, the Rugwort solo opponent is not one that I found myself enjoying playing against. It felt far to difficult to play against, especially on the higher difficulty tiers, since it would take a card into its city each time I placed one in mine. Scoring also felt off for me, since it punished the player for not achieving the events (both special and normal) by awarding points to Rugwort at the end of the game for each event not achieved. With the random nature of the card deck, I have often found myself searching for a specific card the entire game, only to end the game without having ever seen the card at all, which is frustrating when attempting to accomplish one of the events. In a multiplayer game, it is frustrating, but against the Rugwort Solo Opponent, it just is downright impossible to plan for.

I will also note that what I found to be very clever game design in making players be very specific with what resources they take and having a limited number of available resources to purchase cards is a big frustration for other players. While I find it very fun to think ten to fifteen steps ahead with my moves and determine what I could do with those resources, others are not as fond of that mechanic. The expansions solve this problem a bit, but the base game tends to keep things very tight on resources, which may be frustrating for newer players or those not fond of that mechanic. After playing a few games with a good friend of mine, he still rates the game around a "7" to my "9" since he was not a big fan of the resource scarcity and having to adjust his strategy due to a lack of them.

The game itself is also very deep with potential for quite a few combinations that could result in veterans of the game having extremely good cities and leaving new players wondering what happened to allow them to take two to three actions on one turn because of card abilities. While this is unavoidable with many games, Everdell is one that tends to reward repeat plays of the game as it allows players to familiarize themselves with the game and card combinations. Even after three to four plays of the game, I was still formulating ways to win the game more efficiently and it wasn't until five or six plays into Everdell that I felt that I was confident enough to know how to pivot plans should I get a hand I didn't like. This can be very intimidating for newer player since the game rewards multiple plays of it and can be tough to overcome without first-hand knowledge of some of the best strategies to use.

There is also the small problem that seems to permeate quite a bit of our little board game haven of "deluxification." While there is a base version of Everdell, there is also a "Collector's Edition" version of the game that includes metal coins as well as some additional cards that are added in the Glimmergold Pack, which I review later in this post. I personally am a big fan of the game and love the upgraded coins (metal coins are my favorite upgrade), but an extra $30 from the original game to the "Collector's Edition," feels a bit steep for me. Obviously, we see this all the time in the realm of board games, but it is frustrating to see a jump in price for what is essentially the same game with a few extra components. I think an additional $15 would have been justified, but double that is a bit much. While I also shelled out $40 for the Deluxe Resource Vessels, I wish it was slightly less because I know that the price had been inflated because the publisher knew that they could charge that much and suckers like me would pay for it. On the other hand, it is cool seeing the resin sit in a small stump that fits on the main board and the stone does look great in that little minecart.

Final Thoughts: I personally loved the base game of Everdell when I initially played it. I think that it taps neatly into my nostalgia for the Redwall series and I'm not ashamed to admit that. I love the depth that the game has and keeps me coming back for more and more to learn about better combinations and setups for my city and while that might be a turn-off for some gamers, I think it's excellent for me. The pricepoint for the game is also one that could be a bit of a frustration, especially the Collector's Edition, but as someone who went whole hog on the "Complete Collection" edition of the game, I think I got a great deal for it.

I think that the base game of Everdell is great but it does stumble a bit without some additions that get added in the later expansions. While playing the base game is fantastic, I think that adding in some of the later expansions (which I will note below) take the fantastic experience and crank it to 11. I know that Everdell Farshore is noted by some to take the base game and clean it up a bit, but having not played it, I cannot speak to the validity of that statement. I think that Everdell is a very solid game to add to any collection and there is a reason that it is so highly rated here on BGG.

Pearlbrook

Current BGG Rank: N/A
Overall Rating: 7.6
Times Played: 1
Current Rating: 7.5

Published Year: 2019
Weight: 2.79 (Medium-Light)
Playing Time: 40-80 minutes

Things I Liked: Pearlbrook takes what I love about Everdell and adds more cards, another resource, and an additional location to be visited by the new frog ambassador meeple. The new Pearlbrook locations add some additional depth to the game that allow players to exchange resources and or cards once they have a required amount of cards in their city with one of four separate locations adding in new ways to gain victory points, cards, resources, and the new pearls that are included in the game.

There also is the addition of the new Adornment cards that provide a one time benefit when played for a pearl cost, but also provide an end-game benefit to the player. Each player is given two that they can use during the game and each one adds small minor benefits that help add additional layers to the strategies in the game. There are also additional 15 cards that are added to the main deck, including new locations and creatures such as the Pirate, Harbor and Shipwright, which add more options for what creatures and constructions can be built in the main city. They integrate nicely with the original cards and don't feel overwhelming to play with despite being a new addition.

A few additional factions are added in Pearlbrook for players to choose from and while they don't add any change in gameplay, the additional animeeples are a nice little addition to the game that offers additional variety of what animals to play with. It's fun playing with the new ravens, axolotls, platypuses, and otters since the base game only comes with four factions. Again, they don't add anything different to the gameplay (player powers are added in another expansion), but the additional options are fun to play with and there's something fun about placing a platypus meeple on a location while joking about Perry the Platypus.

The additional board that gets added to the side of the main board is also beautiful and continues to build on the fantastic tableau of the main game. It integrates smoothly with the main board and even is designed to slot nicely alongside with a clever construction that makes it feel like it was part of the base game. Construction of the board is again very nice and while it does extend the width of the game and requires more space, I personally like to see the board grow bigger with the expansion.

Things I Didn't Like: Pearlbrook adds in one of my least favorite additions to the base game in place of the basic event tokens: Wonders. Players have to spend both a number of basic resources, pearls, and cards to purchase the wonders with a worker. While the up front cost is a bit frustrating, it becomes more of an issue when it's noted that unless a player builds one of the wonders, they are very likely to lose the game because each one adds a significant amount of points to the player's final total. I am not a huge fan of how they replace the basic events in the game (especially some of the events that get added in a later expansion) and how it can make the game feel very swingy in points.

Pearlbrook also suffers from the "Deluxeification" concerns that the base game has, with a "Collector's Edition" being available for the game that adds additional adornments, event cards, and forest cards that are not included in the normal version. While the Collector's Edition only costs $10 more than the base version, Pearlbrook is still an expensive expansion, costing $50 for the base version and $60 for the Collector's Edition. The collector's edition also adds 3D open/closed signs to place on cards in your city, but I've found those to be more irritating than anything and I've never used them in my games.See note below at the bottom of the post regarding the Collector's Edition updates made to this expansion.

Final Thoughts:

Pearlbrook is honestly the weakest of all the expansions in my opinion. While there are some excellent additions to the base game (new locations, meeples, cards, etc), it also suffers from the swingy Wonders which I don't like playing with, especially with other basic events. Resources are always at a premium in the game and while Pearlbrook does help solve that concern with the new locations, the Wonders do cost resources to build, somewhat offsetting the additional resource gain. It's a decent expansion, but honestly is one that I could take or leave.

Bellfaire

Current BGG Rank: N/A
Overall Rating: 8.0
Times Played: 5
Current Rating: 9

Published Year: 2019
Weight: 2.69 (Medium-Light)
Playing Time: 40-120 minutes

Things I Liked: If Pearlbrook is an expansion that I could take or leave from the main game, I would say that Bellfaire is one of the expansions that I would say that players should immediately add to the base game. Not only does it add in components and rules for a 5-6 player game, but also adds player powers, a new board and the Market location, shared endgame goals and new special events to the base game. There is also the addition of two new factions, the toads and robins, that are added with the expansion, bringing total factions up to 10 for players to choose from if they have the Pearlbrook expansion (6 if only base game is included).

The player powers introduced in Bellfaire add a level of asymmetry to the game and are one of my favorite ways to play the game. While the rulebook does state that players are to remove a worker when playing with player powers, I often house rule that the worker is retained as it allows for a longer game. Each of the player powers is extremely unique and while some are better with a larger number of players, none of them feels truly overpowered and allows for asymmetry when playing the game that is appreciated. I haven't played with every player power, but each one feels truly different and has it's own level of strategy when playing.

I also love the additional Market and Garland Awards as they allow for a new way to get resources (or sell them for points) and provide endgame goals that players can work towards when competing with one another. The board also allows players to remove the Evertree if preferred as it has a location to store workers, but also has a smaller version that can be added to the main board without using the Bellfaire board. The new Special Event cards are also a great addition as they remove specific card requirements and focus on number of card types in a player's city which is a nice change. A fifth basic event is also added, which tasks players with getting one of each color card in their city before being able to be achieved, which is a nice goal to work towards.

Things I Didn't Like: I could take or leave the 5-6 player rules since even a 4 player game of Everdell feels long. I haven't delved into that can of worms yet, but I can see it taking quite a bit of time to complete with 5-6 players based on my few plays with a 4 player game.

I am also a bit on the fence about the Market Board since it sometimes gets forgotten. It's a nice addition, but because I've completely forgotten about it during the game when we use it, I'm not certain it's truly necessary to include. While having a location that you can get more resources and cards from is nice, many of the player powers solve the concern with not having enough of either.

The player boards are cool, but not really a necessary addition and do take up more player space. They offer a nice location to store resources, but overall don't add or take away much from the game.

Final Thoughts: Bellfaire is the best bang for your buck when it comes to expansions for a multiplayer game. It adds in player powers, new awards and even the Market which help alleviate some of the concerns from the base game. The shared Garland Awards are also a nice addition for endgame goals and the new special events are excellent to add in to the game. At $45, Bellfaire is one of the cheaper expansions and I can highly recommend it to anyone looking to expand their base game and not wanting to pay more than that on an expansion.

Spirecrest

Current BGG Rank: N/A
Overall Rating: 8.3
Times Played: 2
Current Rating: 8.5

Published Year: 2020
Weight: 2.99 (Medium-Light)
Playing Time: 40-80 minutes

Things I Liked: In the tradition of the previous expansions, Spirecrest adds an addition to the main board, but this one on the bottom of the board. It slots nicely in with the main board of Everdell and once again has more beautiful artwork on the board. While the expansion doesn't add any main deck cards, it does add three new mechanics to the game that introduce new mid-game experiences and end-game bonuses, two of which I like and the third I'm not a big fan of.

The two new additions that I like with Spirecrest come in the form of Discovery Cards (along with the excellent Big Critters too) and the journey cards and hare meeple. The end of the season sees players choose one of three separate discovery cards that are drawn from a deck of cards that add end game bonuses, additional worker locations, and even one of the aforementioned Big Critters, which a worker is placed on top of that gives extra benefits. There are a wildly different amount of benefits from the Discovery Cards and each game that I've played has had some really cool experiences.

The expansion also adds in a journey card that players choose once they have finished the season and transition to the next one, like the discovery cards. Players move their newly included hare animeeple and take one of several available journey destinations. They add each journey card to the end of their own journey plan and each one adds an additional amount of points that could be earned for a resource cost. At the end of the game, players then have to spend resources in order to complete each journey card in order. If one is not able to be completed, players aren't able to get points for that card, nor any other cards after. It adds an additional level of planning to the game and also takes advantage of the additional resources used at the end of the game that are often left when the game concludes. It's a real "two birds, one stone" kind of situation that I think is very clever.

Only one faction is added to this expansion, but it personally adds one of my favorite animals in the form of the foxes. I don't know why, but I'm a big fan of foxes and being able to play as them in the game is really fun for me.

Things I Didn't Like: Spirecrest also has a "Collector's Edition" which, again, is more money than the base version. There are three new factions exclusive to the collector's version and additional cards that are not available in the base version of the expansion. See note below at the bottom of the post regarding the Collector's Edition updates made to this expansion. Additionally, this version is only available directly through Starling Games and cannot be purchased in stores. It's not a decision that I like, but I understand the idea behind it.

As far as mechanics, I noted that I wasn't a big fan of one of the new additions, and that is the addition of weather cards that make each season more difficult. Some might prevent you from placing workers in the forest locations, making all cards from the meadow cost an extra resource to build, or preventing green production cards from activating when built to name a few effects. I think that it adds an extra layer of difficulty on an already tough game to get resources for. My wife likes the added challenge, but it's honestly something that I could do without.

Final Thoughts: Spirecrest is a fairly decent expansion and while it's not my favorite full expansion, I do appreciate what it adds to the game. The Journeys and Discovery cards are excellent additions to the game and while I'm not a fan of the weather mechanics, I can appreciate what challenge they add to the game. Overall, I think Spirecrest is probably the second expansion that I would add to the game if I was looking at a multiplayer expansion. While Bellfaire adds a few more things and is smaller, I think that Spirecrest is worth adding to your game if you're looking for added challenges. We will get to my favorite expansion(s) in the next two entries.

Newleaf

Current BGG Rank: N/A
Overall Rating: 8.6
Times Played: 3
Current Rating: 10

Published Year: 2022
Weight: 3.05 (Medium)
Playing Time: 40-100 minutes

Things I Liked: Newleaf is my favorite multiplayer expansion and if not for the solo upgrade included in the next expansion, I would say outright that it's the definitive expansion to add to your game. Newleaf add so much to the game that I think helps resolve many of the issues with the original game that I've taken to using several of the included materials in my plays of the base game. It too adds an addition on the right side of the board, slotting nicely into the main board like the previous expansions I've reviewed, adding a beautifully illustrated train station and new slots for visitors, train cars and the Knoll which adds three more cards to the public card pool.

The biggest addition that is added with Newleaf is the additional critters and construction cards that get added to the main deck. With Newleaf, a new Golden Occupy token is added and each player is given three to start with at the beginning of the game. These tokens are used in conjunction with the new critters and locations which allow players to pair the new critters or constructions with multiple options, using the new tokens. Because of the limited number of tokens, players need to be strategic with what cards they use them for as once used, they are never refilled. The new cards are also fantastic and add more depth to the game including several cards that allow players to expand their city beyond the usual 15 cards.

Additionally, two new basic events are added to the four basic events in the base game (five with the Bellfaire expansion) that help round out the endgame goals further. These events, paired with the new reservation token and travel tickets, are ones that I generally include in all my games now, even if I am not playing with the Newleaf expansion. The reservation token allows players to reserve a card in the Meadow (or Knoll) once per season as an action, and reduces the cost of the card by one resource. The travel ticket allows players to move one worker once from winter to fall, and another time from summer to fall, before it needs to be discarded. This allows for an extra move that players can take advantage of and helps with reducing resource scarcity. All three mechanics I mentioned here are now staples that I include in every game I play as it helps resolve a few issues that I had with the base game.

The train station itself is also a neat addition as players can take resources from the various train cars when paired with another action on the board. The Knoll allows players to discard three cards from the meadow or Knoll, refill the spaces and then draw three cards from the shared areas while also getting a train car of their choice. Visitors provide an end game bonus for the player and a train car tile as well, but the bonuses are based on specific needs of the visitor which could be anything from having more critters than constructions to having 6 berries at the end of the game. It provides more ways to earn points and also with specific goals for the player who drew them rather than a shared goal like the Special Events cards.

Things I Didn't Like: I have two minor complaints about this expansion which really don't feel like they amount to much. I wish that the Knoll and Station locations didn't restrict players to one worker only at each location, but that probably is a balance concern more than anything. The Market space from Bellfaire has the same restriction and I often forget about the location due to the "one worker per player" restriction.

My other complaint about the expansion is that when paired with the other expansions, it makes the game board absolutely massive to the point where it's hard to fit on the table. While the game can be played with one or two expansions only, a large part of me wants to play with every expansion, and with my small table, it's hard to fit everything on it, along with my personal player board and city. It feels very "first world problems" to complain about the size of the board and that in and of itself is extremely minor since I've found ways around it.

Final Thoughts: Overall Newleaf is the best expansion that one can add to Everdell if you were to ask me, especially for multiplayer play. While the next expansion is better for solo players, I personally love what Newleaf adds to the game. As I noted above, there are several additions that I include with any plays now since they help reduce frustration. If you had to choose one expansion to add to the game, Newleaf should be your choice.

Mistwood

Current BGG Rank: N/A
Overall Rating: 8.1
Times Played: 5
Current Rating: 10

Published Year: 2022
Weight: 2.83 (Medium-Light)
Playing Time: 40-100 minutes

Things I Liked: Mistwood is the definitive way to play Everdell solo. While the base game has the Rugwort AI to play against and I found him to be OK at best, the Nightweave opponent included in Mistwood takes the solo game from a decent experience to one that is hands down one of the best games to play solo on your table. I play quite a few of my games solo and I have yet to find a game that matches Mistwood for how detailed and how modular that you can make your opponent to play against.

The Mistwood adds Nightweave, a spider opponent, along with her faction that actively blocks players from working towards building their perfect city. However, unlike the Rugwort opponent, while Mistweave does use a dice to determine which Meadow space she blocks, her activity is chosen by a series of cards that are included with the expansion. Depending on the season and card that is drawn, there are a number of actions that she could take and the resolution of the actions is well thought out and explained extremely well in the rules.

Nightweave has several levels of difficulty to play against which award her additional points for her city and events that she achieves, adding some replayability and challenge. It's the addition of the Personality and Scheme cards that really give the game an extra layer of replayability. Personality cards add an overall effect to the game and the Meadow while the scheme cards are pulled through the game and have a negative effect that could potentially be mitigated through resource use. There are quite a few of each that adds some significant depth to the game that I haven't had a chance to explore fully yet.

I have however attempted a game with a Personality card active and it really did alter how the Meadow played since Nightweave would replace every card around her once she was in the meadow. It made for an interesting game that allowed me to proceed through the meadow cards much quicker and even allowed me to go through the stack of cards significantly quicker. I look forward to playing a two-player game with Nightweave active to see how she plays against two of us.

The expansion can be played solo, but it also acts as a third player for a two-player game as well making it a really neat addition to change up the way the game is played. I love that Mistwood has such modularity and can be played again and again as the Nightweave opponent feels like playing against an actual player.

Things I Didn't Like: If you're looking for a simple automa opponent, this is not for you. Nightweave takes significant upkeep and even after multiple times playing against her, I still have several questions about how to play her and have to reference the rules quite often. I'm certain there are things that I missed while playing the solo mode since there is a lot to keep track of.

Additionally, I will note that the scheme cards are only able to be played in the base game without any additional expansions. I'm slightly frustrated by this, but due to the nature of the cards, they are not able to influence any of the expansion content. I know that this was done to reduce size of the decks, but it still makes me wish that I could play Nightweave and a personality with an expansion with a built-in version. I may attempt it with a personality card and an expansion to see how it goes, but according to official rules, they should only be included in base game.

Final Thoughts: The Mistwood expansion is the definitive expansion to add to Everdell if you're looking for a better solo option. While Nightweave is significantly more upkeep than the initially included solo AI, she represents a much better experience for solo players. The addition of Scheme, Personality, and difficulty levels add more replayability for this expansion and being able to play against Nightweave with two players is also a nice surprise, making this my go-to expansion for solo players.

Mini Expansions

Current BGG Rank: N/A
Overall Rating: Legends: 8.0; Extra! Extra! - 8.0; Rugwort - 6.8; Through the Seasons - N/A; Corrin Evertail - N/A
Times Played: Legends - 3; Extra! Extra! - 1; Through the Seasons - 1; Rugwort - 0; Corrin Evertail - N/A
Current Rating: Legends - 9.5; Extra! Extra! - 9.0; Through the Seasons - 7.5; Rugwort - 6.5; Corrin Evertail - N/A

Published Year: 2018 - 2019
Weight: ~2.70 (Medium-Light)
Playing Time: 40-80 minutes

Things I Liked: Each of the mini expansions adds some additional cards that are either added to the main deck (Extra! Extra! and Corrin Evertail), replace current cards in the deck (Through the Seasons), or add an additional set of cards that each player gets (Legends) that can replace cards in their city. I especially like the Legends cards as each player gets two cards (one construction and one critter) that can replace a current card in the player's city for free once built, or be built without the respective counterpart for a higher cost. The cards are not considered to be part of the player's hands and add an extra slot in the city, allowing players to expand to 17 cards.

The Extra! Extra! cards are a nice addition as well, adding a few extra creatures and constructions without getting too complicated to the main game. Through the Seasons is a decent expansion that replaces the farm construction with one of eight cards that provide different resources based on the season listed on the card. It's not a huge change, but enough that it's worth switching out the farm cards to add some variety.

I have yet to play with either the Rugwort or Corrin Evertail cards included in the deck of a game yet.

Things I Didn't Like: The Rugwort cards especially are very mean. Which is weird to include in a game that has such a positive mindset for it's gameplay. One card makes an opponent discard two cards when activated and the other ones, while not necessarily overtly awful, do feel a bit "take that"-y. I haven't played with them yet because it feels outside the spirit of Everdell and I don't want to play that way.

Additionally, these mini-expansions are generally included in the Collector's Edition of the games or an extra cost. I was able to get them with the Complete Collection, but if you want them, you'll probably have to pay more for them.

Final Thoughts:

The mini expansions are a wide range of great (Legends and Extra! Extra!), OK (Through the Seasons) and meh (Rugwort) so if you're looking to add one, choose the Legends or Extra! Extra! Overall they don't add too much to the game, so feel free to ignore them if you get the base version of the game.

Closing Thoughts

All in all, I think that Everdell is going to have some significant staying power in my collection. After another play through of the game this week with the Mistwood expansion, I'm once again impressed with how well it plays. There were a few additions that I added in to the game, including the Bellfaire expansion, player powers, and a few bits from the Newleaf expansion, but overall I believe that the game holds up well on its own without any additional expansions. Again, there is the caveat that I love the Redwall series and this really taps into that nostalgia of my childhood, but I do think that the game lives up to the hype here on BGG. Obviously the game is not going to be for everyone, and that's ok. There are some games that might do what Everdell does better in a mechanical sense (I've heard that Everdell: Farshore is a better condensed and updated version), but since I currently own the Complete Collection and have access to play it at any time, I'm going to stick with what I have and enjoy it thoroughly.

That also brings me to my next point about Everdell and buying games to "replace" it with something that is better. I currently don't have the financial means to purchase many games right now and am limited in what I can bring into my collection. When talking about this game with Sarah, there are quite a few potential replacements for this game that are out there, but since 1) it's already in our collection and 2) she really loves this game and 3) we've already sunk a bunch of money into the game ("sunk cost" fallacy, I know) there's not really much reason for us to purchase something that will "kill" or replace Everdell for us right now. It fits a great niche in our collection and both Sarah and I love it immensely.

Take that as you will in regards to how I rated this game, and know that while some might rate Everdell as a 4-5 because it's not for them, I personally am giving the Complete Collection a 10. It's a game I love, and it allows me to play with my best friend, and I will always be down to play a game with anyone who offers.

*Edit* - As it was noted by Lazy_Llama below, the updated second edition of the expansions does now include the items that were originally exclusive to the Collector's Edition of the expansion. If you would like to purchase one of the expansions and would like all content contained within, make sure to purchase the second edition of the expansion for that content.

Give Me Your Thoughts: What are your thoughts on Everdell? Do you like it or do you think that it's not lived up to the hype that it gets here on BGG? Are there any games that you've replaced Everdell with in your collection or vice versa? Do you have a preferred expansion for the game, or one that you're on the fence about?

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*Originally posted on BoardGameGeek on 19/4/2024*