Review of the game "Living Forest".

• Mechanics: Different cards to use, challenging luck
• Game difficulty: medium
• Game duration: 40-60 min
• Number of players: 2-4
• Best number of players: 3-4
• Language: regardless of language, rules in Latvian

Brain Games has been localizing games that have won the big gaming award "Spiel des Jahres" for many years. This is a huge boon for local gaming enthusiasts who don't speak English that well or don't follow all the trends until they're in our stores. This year the award was won by "Living Forest" , and in this review I will explain what "Living Forest" is and why it is or isn't the game for you.

Subject matter

It is interesting that the game "Living Forest" is localized at once for the entire Baltic market, thus keeping its English name, in contrast to the game "Winged" , which is called differently in each of the Baltic countries. The name means "Living Forest" and the story of the game revolves around the spirits who protect the Sacred Tree of the forest from fire. It's a bit amusing and even thematically illogical that the flames mostly come from the spirits themselves (players) recruiting new animals. But it seemed to me a fine metaphor for the fact that people themselves are both saviors and a threat to ecology. Overall, the theme is very successfully integrated into the mechanical gameplay. My favorite thematic element is the ritual dances, where the spirits dance in a circle to gain bonus actions and steal victory points from each other.

Components

The game is very bright and definitely looks good on the table. Everything is fine with the components. There are tons of cardboard tokens in the game - so many that even my three-year-old got tired of pushing them into the field. Everything was achieved very effectively with the help of cardboard. There are even really nice holders for the cardboard tree squares, and the card designs are clearly legible. Although I'm not sure how I feel about the look of the cards themselves. The cards feature animals that look a bit scary because the animals have white eyes. On the one hand, it made me feel funny looking at the cards, but on the other hand, it's definitely a more thematically effective option than just having a plain fox.

My only real criticism is the nature spirit and the Holy Tree cardboard markers. I have nothing against the markers, but they are made of two pieces of cardboard and I think it would be much more sustainable and effective if the markers were made of cardboard embedded in a plastic base. I'm worried about these that they might not hold up as well after a few games.

Mechanics

The game consists of two phases: showdown and spending resources.

Showdown: Players reveal their cards until two black symbols are revealed and then the luck challenge phase begins, as players are allowed to reveal more cards, but if a third black symbol is revealed then players will only have one penalty, instead of two actions. A huge plus for this mechanic is that all players can do it at the same time, which speeds up the game significantly. In addition, it helps a lot in teaching the game - tell them to reveal the cards and then it is immediately clear what actions can be taken.

Spending resources: There are 5 types of resources on the mentioned cards, which each card has in different amounts and when collecting them, it can come out that the player has, for example, 6 waters and 4 cards. The catch is that a player can only use 2 of these resource types per turn to buy new cards, put out fire, plant trees, or perform ritual dances, so you have to make a choice, invest because you have more resources, or because it fits for your strategy.

To make this choice not easy, the game has interesting victory criteria - the first to score 12 points in one of the three ways is the winner. Players can extinguish 12 flames, plant 12 different trees, or collect 12 sacred flowers.

This mechanic creates an interesting ending to the game where players have tension over their progress and that of their opponents. All of this is successfully enhanced by ritual dances, where, if you overtake a player, you have the opportunity to deprive someone of such an important victory point.

Multiplayer

It is high because the available animals vary each time, which strategies will be easier and which will be more difficult to execute. Also, the different opening order of the cards and the competitive element help the game to be fresh even after several plays. In addition, the first expansion of the game has already been announced.

Rating

Living Forest is a very well designed game - you can see that it is well polished and works very well. I appreciate the design qualities that are available here, but I find the gameplay experience too smooth. So, while my rating is good, for players who want to try their luck, I'd recommend Quedlinburg Blisters more, and for deckhands, Winged would be the primary choice. If you already own these games, Living Forest is a pretty decent addition to your collection. Rating 7.5 out of 10.

Author of the article: Kristaps Auzāns