2018 BGG rank #45

Everdell

1–4 players 40–80 min Ages 10+ 2.8/5 complexity 7.8/10 rating

About this game

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: a) 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. b) 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. c) 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.

What it feels like

Set Collection End Game Bonuses Tags Contracts Worker Placement Ownership Solo / Solitaire Game Variable Set-up Hand Management Open Drafting Income Animals Card Game City Building Fantasy Nature Anthropomorphic Animals Trees and Forests

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Setup

1. Shuffle the main deck. If using Extra! Extra! cards, shuffle them into the main deck. If using Rugwort cards, shuffle them in as well. 2. If using the Legends expansion, separate Legendary cards into Constructions and Critters, shuffle each pile, and randomly deal each player 1 Legendary Construction and 1 Legendary Critter face-down. These are held secret, do not count against hand limits, and are not considered to be in hand. Return remaining Legendary cards to the box unseen. 3. Set up the board, Ever Tree, and Meadow cards as per standard Everdell setup. 4. Distribute starting resources and workers to each player.

Turn flow

On your turn, you may take one of the following actions: (1) Place a worker on an available location on the board or on a card that allows worker placement, triggering that location's effect. (2) Play a card from your hand or the Meadow into your city by paying its resource cost, or for free if you meet the listed conditions (e.g., owning a linked Construction). (3) Prepare for the next season by recalling your workers and gaining seasonal bonuses. Special expansions add additional card-specific actions and abilities that trigger when played or during Production phases.

Scoring and victory

Most victory points at end of game wins. Points are tallied from point tokens accumulated during play, end-game card bonuses, Event achievements, and special card conditions. Scoring sources: Point tokens gained from card effects and Events, Base point values printed on city cards, Gazette bonus (3 points if 3+ Event tokens accumulated), Fynn Nobletail: 2 pts per basic Event, 3 pts per special Event, Rugwort the Ruler: 1 pt per Event achieved by a chosen opponent, Scurrble Champion: 2 bonus pts per other Scurrble Champion owned, Oleander's Opera House: 2 pts per Unique Critter in city, Bridge of the Sky: worth base points of Construction played over it, Town Crier: 3 pts per activation (give 2 cards), Scurrble Stadium: 3 pts if a drawn card matches named color

Source: Rulebook

Rules to know

The most useful rules for getting a first game right.

Restriction

Legendary cards do not count against your hand limit.

Legendary cards dealt to players during setup are held secret and do not count against your hand limit. They are also not considered to be in your hand for any game purpose until played.

Card play

Legendary cards can be played by paying full cost or by discarding the card shown in the red banner from your city.

You may play a Legendary card in one of two ways: (1) Pay the full resource cost listed on the card, or (2) Discard the card listed in the red banner from your city to play the Legendary card for free. Once a Legendary card has been played via either method, you may no longer play any more copies of the card listed in the red banner into your city.

Special

When upgrading a Construction to a Legendary via the red banner, move any occupied token or worker from the old card to the Legendary card.

If you discard a Construction card from your city to upgrade it to its corresponding Legendary card, any occupied token or worker that was on that Construction is moved onto the Legendary card. The worker does not activate the Legendary card's ability at this time — it simply continues blocking that space.

Restriction

The Ever Tree cannot grant you a free Legendary Critter.

The Ever Tree's ability to let you play a Critter for free does not apply to Legendary Critters. Legendary Critters must be played by paying their cost or by using the red banner discard method.

Special

For Events and free Critter plays via Constructions, a Legendary card counts as the card listed in its red banner.

For the purpose of achieving Events or playing a Critter via a Construction for free, the Legendary card counts as the card named in its red banner. This means it can satisfy conditions that require that specific card type.

Special

Each Legendary card opens up an additional city slot, but still occupies one itself.

Every Legendary card grants one additional slot in your city, effectively allowing your city to grow beyond the standard limit. However, the Legendary card itself still takes up one city slot.

Restriction

Legendary cards cannot be discarded from your city for any reason.

Once a Legendary card is played into your city, it is permanent. No card effect, game rule, or ability can cause it to be discarded from your city.

Special

In solo mode with Legends expansion, playing a Legendary card gives Rugwort 3 points and lets him play 2 cards instead of 1.

When playing solo with the Legends expansion, any time you play a Legendary card, give Rugwort 3 point tokens from the supply, and Rugwort then gets to play 2 cards (instead of his normal 1) on his next activation.

Common questions and edge cases

Can I play more copies of a card after using it to unlock a Legendary via the red banner discard?

No. Once you discard a card from your city to play a Legendary via the red banner, you may not play any more copies of that card into your city for the rest of the game.

Can I use the Ever Tree to play a Legendary Critter for free?

No. The Ever Tree cannot grant you a free Legendary Critter. Legendary Critters must be played by paying their full cost or by using the red banner discard method.

Does a Legendary card count as the card in its red banner for the purpose of achieving Events?

Yes. A Legendary card counts as the card listed in its red banner for the purpose of achieving Events and for playing a Critter for free via a Construction.

I have a worker on a Construction and then upgrade it to a Legendary via the red banner. What happens to my worker?

The worker (or occupied token) moves onto the Legendary card but does not activate its ability at that time. It simply continues occupying/blocking that space on the Legendary card.

Can I discard the Construction played atop Bridge of the Sky?

No. Any Construction played over Bridge of the Sky can never be discarded from your city for any reason.

Can the Construction placed atop Silver Scale Spring be discarded?

No. Any card placed atop Silver Scale Spring may never be discarded from your city for any reason.

When using Amilla Glistendew to achieve an Event, do I also need to place a worker on the Event itself?

No. Placing a worker on Amilla Glistendew is sufficient to achieve the Event. You do not place an additional worker on the Event space.

I steal a Husband with Rugwort the Rowdy. Does Rugwort share a space with the linked Wife in my opponent's city?

No. Although you may steal a Husband, if that Husband was linked with a Wife, Rugwort the Rowdy does not share a space with the Wife when placed in the opponent's city.

Can Rugwort the Rowdy steal a Legendary card from an opponent's city?

No. Rugwort the Rowdy cannot steal a Legendary card. Legendary cards cannot be discarded or removed from a city for any reason.

Can I still use Rugwort the Robber's hand swap if I have no cards in my hand?

Yes. You may still trigger the hand swap even with an empty hand. Your opponent will simply receive no cards from you, but you will receive their hand.

Does Rugwort the Ruler steal points from my opponent?

No. Rugwort the Ruler grants you 1 point per Event achieved by a single opponent, but those points come from the supply. Your opponent retains their own points from those Events.

Do multiple Scurrble Champions each take up their own city slot?

No. All Scurrble Champions in your city share a single city space, regardless of how many you have.

Do I have to decide in advance how many cards to reveal with the Juggler?

No. You decide one twig at a time. After each reveal, you may choose to stop or continue paying 1 twig to reveal another card.

When using the Carnival's second option (gain 1 resource per pair of Production cards), does the Carnival itself count?

No. The Carnival is explicitly excluded from the count when calculating pairs of Production cards for the second option.

Does a Legendary card increase the size of my city?

Yes. Each Legendary card opens up one additional city slot, but the Legendary card itself still occupies one slot. Net effect: your city capacity increases by 1 for each Legendary card you play.

In solo mode, what happens when I play a Legendary card?

Give Rugwort 3 point tokens from the supply, and on his next activation Rugwort plays 2 cards instead of his normal 1.