Everdell: Spirecrest Review

INTRODUCTION

Those of you who have read my review are undoubtedly aware of the fact that I am not overly fond of the Pearlbrook solitaire experience, the first expansion to the critically acclaimed board game Everdell. In terms of actual content, the discrepancy between the retail versus collector’s edition proved a bitter pill to swallow and the added difficulty to the solo mode did not do Pearlbrook any favours.

When it was announced that publisher Starling Games had launched its latest crowdfunding campaign with the aim of bringing not one but two new Everdell expansions from designer James A. Wilson to the market my initial reaction can best be described as cautiously optimistic. On paper though, when compared to its forbearer it seemed that Spirecrest was indeed a much more evolved addition to the core game experience. And let us be honest: cute woodland critters hitching a ride on a regal white wolf who has wandered from the frozen tundra is a pretty enticing proposition, at least in my book.

COMPONENTS

Let us start off with the bad news: the saddles, specifically the fact that they are too tight a fit and will cause damage to the woodland and/or Big Critter to which it is attached. Based on several testimonies on Board Game Geek it would seem that I am not alone experiencing this defect, as several people have reported similar issues with damaged meeples as a result. The silver lining though is that for all intents and purposes, the saddles can best be described as a cosmetic upgrade. Yes, it is true that they aid in distinguishing which player “owns” the Big Critter in question as these animals of a grander stature effectively replace one of your woodland animal workers. But in practice, I have yet to encounter a situation where it is unclear who is actually in possession of the mighty bear Honeypaw or the majestic white wolf Whisper to name but a few.

*“Hi Ho Silver!” A wily fox hitches a ride from Whisper. Photo: Fredrik Schulz*

One of my main criticisms regarding the Pearlbrook expansion was the lack of actual content in the retail edition, where the main culprit was undoubtedly the absence of Event and Adornment cards. The good news is, that the difference between the various editions of Spirecrest in terms of content is much more sensible. Besides the actual box being coated in spot UV, the Spirecrest Collector’s Edition contains nine additional Discovery Cards and three accompanying Big Critters. To me, this is not a substantial increase when compared to the retail equivalent that comes with 33 Discovery cards and five Big Critters. Having played this latest expansion to Everdell close to ten times in solitaire, I can honestly say that although the additional cards are a nice addition I would not characterise them as a necessity and I would happily play Spirecrest with only the retail content any day of the week. What I do suspect might be a deal breaker for a lot of people are the included Critters (Owls, Lizards and Moles). The wooden animal worker tokens are a huge part of the success of Everdell and so the lack of additional critters in the retail version might prove a bitter pill to swallow for some.

My point is that this particular collector´s edition adds a cherry on top, as opposed to Pearlbrook which robbed you blind of the entire dessert if you acquired the retail equivalent. As for the actual components, they are of outstanding quality throughout. I never cease to be amazed at the wonderful artwork courtesy of Andrew Bosley, his vivid illustrations of anthropomorphic woodland critters and the locales they inhabit are one of the main reasons I keep returning to this magical realm known as Everdell.

OVERVIEW

“I was convinced that Grim was going to drive us to our deaths, but by some miracle we survived the frigid road of the Bellsong Trail, and then the treacherous climb up the tower of Stormvale. The glowing beacon at the tower’s peak was certainly a light of hope for us.” – excerpt from the journal of Torrin Hare

Outside the realm of the Everdell valley, over snowclad mountain peaks and past the horizon lies a whole new world waiting to be explored; from ancient ruins buried in the desert sand, to underground caverns filled with precious gemstones. Mind you, this is not a journey for the faint of heart. Much like Gandalf the Grey, I cannot promise that you will come back. But if you do, you will indeed have a tale or two to tell of your exploration of these previously uncharted lands. Throughout the course of the game, you will encounter mystical creatures and locations whilst braving treacherous weather that can have a serious impact on your journey. It takes courage to venture forth into the unknown and you are most definitely a brave rabbit, ready to carve a name for yourself by mounting an expedition through the mountainous regions of Spirecrest!

*“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Photo: Fredrik Schulz*

Similar to its predecessor, the Spirecrest expansion adds a whole new game board which expands the scope of Everdell both in a literal and figurative sense. Each player’s journey through the mountainous regions of Spirecrest is symbolised by the Traveller i.e. the rabbit who will bravely hike across the trail, unearthing new and mysterious locations along the way. Your Traveller will start their adventure in the Foothills region of the mountain board, from there the brave little rabbit will trek across the various provinces of the board whilst collecting map pieces that are needed to undertake the final Expedition at the end of the game. The act of moving your Traveller token and collecting map tiles is known as the Exploration action and consists of three steps: Chart, Discover and Travel.

One of the main goals when playing with the Spirecrest expansion is to collect map tiles, which will form the foundation to your expedition at the end of the game. Each acquired map tile will grant you a certain amount of victory points, provided you are able to pay the associated cost of resources and/or cards. The higher the cost, the greater the reward. When performing the Chart action, the active player selects one of the available face-up tiles from the region on the mountain board where their Traveller is currently located and adds the chosen map fragment to their starting Everdell Valley tile. It is important to note that the acquisition of map pieces operates on a “first come, first served” mechanism, where players are moving their Traveller independently from one another much like the dynamic round structure of the base game in terms of the changing of seasons.

*The illustrations by artist Andrew Bolsey never ceases to amaze me. Photo: Fredrik Schulz*

Once you have chosen a map tile, you will then perform the second step called Discover. Each of the three regions of the mountain board has an associated deck of cards, which represents the creatures and locations your Traveller will encounter over the course of their journey. The Discovery cards grants the player some form of special ability or bonus, ranging from additional victory points at the end of the game to new worker locations where players can gather additional resources. There is also the possibility to befriend Big Critters, these majestic animals possess rare and powerful abilities. Take for instance the mighty bear Honeypaw, who when deployed onto a basic or Forest location gains berries in addition to the resources of the location in question. Or the white wolf known as Whisper, who can ignore the exclusive placement rule altogether that otherwise affects the various locations across the main board.

When performing the Discover step of the Exploration action, the player draws the three top cards of the deck and arranges them from left to right in a market row which is located at the bottom of the mountain board. Each slot also has an associated cost which must be fulfilled in order to acquire the allocated card where the leftmost card on the row is free of charge, whereas the card at the far end of the row costs two resources and/or cards. After choosing a card to keep, the player returns the other two Discovery cards to the bottom of the deck. Finally, as part of the Explore action you will perform the Travel step where you move your rabbit to the next uncharted region of the mountain board. The player who is the first to discover a new region flips the map tiles face-up while simultaneously revealing the next Weather card in line.

Speaking of, the life of a woodland critter is not always sunshine and rainbows as evident by the introduction of the Weather Cards. If you ever thought to yourself that the core Everdell experience is just too gosh darn endearing and tranquil then “good” news, because the way the weather cards impact the lives of the poor little woodland critters can best be described as downright cruel: from droughts that causes all green production cards to not activate at all during the current season, to hail storms which forces you to discard a card after visiting a basic or Forest location. Or even worse, wildfires that ravages the autumn forest and requires you to place one of your workers on the weather card in question for the remainder of the game. And as anyone who has ever played Everdell will tell you, every single worker counts in order to achieve your long-term strategy. It is indeed the case that life in the Everdell forest is sometimes cruel and unjust.

*Throughout the journey across the mountains you will collect map tiles, which will form the foundation of the Expedition. Photo: Fredrik Schulz*

After journeying through the Spirecrest mountains, collecting map pieces and discovering all sorts of wonders the time has finally come for your brave rabbit Traveller to embark on the grand expedition. At the end of the game, each player’s expedition row will consist of their starting Everdell Valley tile along with three additional atlas pieces that they have previously acquired over the course of the game. Starting with the first map tile to the right of the Everdell Valley tile, the player has an option to pay the resource cost(s) printed on the map piece, if able or willing they then move the rabbit token one step to the right repeating the same procedure. Only by paying the resource cost will you be eligible to score the associated amounts of victory points during the final tally.

THE SOLO MODE

The pesky, cantankerous old rodent Rugwort is back once again! Not content with merely laying claim to the Everdell kingdom, the sneaky rat has decided to hire a suspicious looking critter whose mission is to track your rabbit explorer along the twisting path through the mountains of Spirecrest. As is the case with the solo mode in the base game, playing Spirecrest solitaire requires extremely little upkeep on the part of the human player. Much like yourself, throughout the course of the game Rugwort will collect three atlas pieces which constitutes his future expedition. In practice, this amounts to the rodent taking the map tile that you did not choose during the Chart steps of each area on the Spirecrest board. You simply take the leftover tile, add it to Rugwort’s expedition row and then proceed to the next step of the Exploration action. At the end of the game, your opponent will automatically score all three of his map tiles so choose wisely which one to pick for yourself versus leaving for Rugwort’s shady companion to collect.

*The cantankerous old rodent known as Rugwort always has a dirty trick up his sleeve. Photo: Fredrik Schulz*

This notion of weighing the pros and cons is also applicable to the act of deciding on which Discovery card to acquire. Depending on which out of the three cards you choose, Rugwort will receive a set amount of point tokens. The leftmost card may be free of charge on your behalf, but it is also the case that the scruffy old rat will receive three point tokens whereas the rightmost Discovery card grants your rodent opponent a mere one point to be tallied during the end-of-game scoring. Other than these two slight rules alterations, the Spirecrest solo mode manages to preserve the core game experience rather elegantly.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I love when a board game or expansion manages to exceed one’s expectations and Spirecrest does this in spades. A contributing factor to my positive feelings towards this most recent expansion to Everdell lies in the fact that James A. Wilson has designed the solo mode to provide the player with tangible options to manage Rugwort, as opposed to Pearlbrook where I always felt handcuffed and limited when trying to carve out a strategy for myself. The way this is achieved in Spirecrest is as simple as it is clever. Having the player choose which map tile to keep versus leave behind for Rugwort’s shady critter provides a much needed sense of control and tactical consideration, as you ponder over what will benefit you versus providing the scruffy rat with precious end-of-game victory points. This rather agonizing decision also extends to the acquisition of Discovery cards. Sure, the leftmost card on the market row is looking rather tempting, but do you really want to hand over three point tokens to Rugwort? It may sound somewhat simplistic but believe me when I say that these tweaks to the solo formula provides such a more enjoyable and interesting experience compared to the solitaire aspect of Pearlbrook.

One key aspect of Spirecrest is the implementation of the weather cards, which I suspect may cause some difference of opinion in the board game community concerning whether said cards are a positive addition or not to the core game experience. It is certainly the case that they force you to approach the game from a different point of view, finding new venues for collecting resources or playing down cards into your city tableau. I can understand those who feel that the effects of the weather cards are too punishing, transforming Everdell from a relative tranquil board game affair into something more serious and complex. Mind you, we are not talking added complexity in the vein of a Vital Lacerda board game design.

Personally, I welcome the added nuance and depth that the Spirecrest expansion brings to the game table when playing Everdell solitarily. If you were not a fan of the core solo experience to begin with, then I suspect that the Spirecrest expansion will probably not make you have a change of heart. But for those who do in fact enjoy playing Everdell in solitaire and want to add just the right amount of complexity and new mechanisms, then I wholeheartedly recommend taking a closer look at the Spirecrest expansion.