Everdell is the Mona Lisa of cozy board games – if the Mona Lisa came with resin, berries, and a pigeon running a post office. Since its 2018 debut, Everdell has grown through a forest’s worth of expansions: Pearlbrook 2019, Spirecrest and Bellfaire in 2020, and the releases of Newleaf and Mistwood in 2022, all finally gathered together in The Complete Collection of 2022.
Publisher: Starling Games
Designer: James A. Wilson
Players: 1-6 (Ideally 3 for base game and 4-5 for expansions)
Playtime: 40-180 easily higher
Genre: Worker Placement, Deck Builder, Tableau
Release: 2022
Building A City With Critters
The goal is to achieve the most prosperous city by next winter. It’s basically a forest critters’ desperate struggle to use all the time available and store up before winter comes again. Choose from 23 different critters to gather resources, and construct your own woodland city, balancing production and opportunity while other players eye the same spaces you desperately need.
Each turn, you get to play a worker or play a card until you’re unable or just choose to prepare for the next season. Workers may be placed at locations to gain twigs, resin, pebbles, or berries. Some locations allow you to draw or discard cards or gain coins. It’s deceptively peaceful – until someone takes your pebble space and the woodland serenity collapses.
The game is designed to be independent cities striving for greatness, not to go against each other (outside of taking a space or two needed by another player). The artwork and component design make this game stand out above most others. They are both stunning and make every move feel like actually holding twigs to build a house or berries to feed critters.
Life In Everdell Valley
The setup is simple: lay out the resource piles, choose your critters, and spread a few cards across the meadow before tucking the rest into the towering Evertree. In a few minutes, the table transforms into a living forest waiting to grow. Early action in Everdell feels small at first, some twigs here and a berry there, but by mid-game, your forest city becomes a tangled web of combos that hums like an engine (unless you play with Nightweave, then you really have webs everywhere).
I feel the main standout, though, is the cozy feel the game has throughout. Just building a city with butterfly workers or sending your frog ambassador underwater to Pearlbrook can make this relaxing to play. And the artwork helps feed this feeling as Andrew Bosley’s illustrations make it feel like there is a rich history (there is in Tales from The Green Acorn).
The game itself starts gently, but it can move fast as players progress through seasons independently. Player count can drastically change the flow. It’s rated for 40-120 minutes, but let’s be real, those are more like guidelines. I’d plan for 60 with 30-50 minutes more per expansion.
Theme & Components
The art brings out the coziness of The Hundred Acre Woods with the strategic heart of a modern Eurogame. The quality of the critters is what games should strive for; you can tell what the animals are, and each resource is exactly what it’s meant to be. The big critter meeples that your workers can ride on are a really clever addition.
The deluxe edition’s components really elevate the experience, from metal coins with some heft to polished pebbles, all the way up to the gorgeous wooden Evertree that towers over the table. It also includes the small packs: Glimmergold, Legends, and Extra! Extra! Rugwort is the og solo opponent, but Nightweave is the customizable solo/2-player challenge.
Ease of Learning / Accessibility
The rules are approachable, but layering in expansions can turn a gentle stroll through the forest into an expedition across Spirecrest. The first play, I had to refer to the rulebook a couple of times, but by the second playthrough, it was an easy walk through Everdell valley. This game is for those who want to have a casual game night building a city, all the way up to the strategically minded wanting to score as high as possible.
The Full Everdell Experience
You’ll cheer when your combos work (Farm and Husband/Wife), curse when someone unknowingly blocks your perfect spot (looking at you, Scott, 3 times in one game), and smile at how much story a handful of cards can tell. With each city having a different theme and feel to it, everyone’s city really tells a different story. In the end, I’ve never been upset at losing; it’s just fun to swim through Pearlbrook and take train rides in Newleaf, watch as your little city comes to life each session.
Everdell: The Complete Collection is available for purchase at the TycoonGames website.
Summary
Everdell: The Complete Collection is the ultimate display of charm and depth – the kind of game that reminds you why you fell in love with board gaming in the first place.
Pros
- Easy learning curve
- Gorgeous, immersive art. Later with the addition of the Everdell for Everyone promo, to make Husband/Wife into Harvester/Gatherer cards.
- High replayability
Cons
- Luck of the draw can challenge your need to adapt
- Advised against playing with all the expansions at once as many components can conflict
- Can take up a lot of table space
