Boardgame
13. March 2024 Pegasus

Streams meander around lush green hills in the picturesque Everdell valley. It has been a long time since the great adventurer Corrin Immerschweif discovered the hidden realm. Since then, a whole civilization of small creatures has been living under the canopy of the strong and magnificent evergreen tree.

In the connoisseur game Everdell, you are part of this society. You lead a group of animals to build your own town with impressive buildings in the forest and make new friends.

But once you’ve traveled to the beautiful Everdell Valley, you’ll never want to leave! That’s why the peaceful world now not only has the basic Everdell game, but also three expansions and a stand-alone family game: My Lil’ Everdell.

So that you know exactly which part offers you what, we present all the games in the Everdell world and their special features here:

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The basics: The connoisseur game Everdell

The first edition of the basic game Everdell was sold out immediately after release. No wonder, because the game by James A. Wilson not only shines with its detailed illustrations by Andrew Bosley (which were even awarded the GRAF LUDO game graphics prize), the impressive 3D bunting tree and the high-quality components, but also with its game principle:

You are busy creating for a whole year across all four seasons. Unless you want to end the season and thus the round for yourself, you have two options each turn.

Firstly, you can deploy a worker. To do this, place your hedgehog, mouse, squirrel or turtle in one place. But beware, some places can only be visited by one animal per round.

If there is already a worker on these locations, you must choose another location. Then you can collect the respective resource of the location: Branches, berries, pebbles and resin. Incidentally, you only get your workers back when the seasons change.

Alternatively, you can play a card whose condition you fulfill. With building cards, you have to pay certain resources to build them; with creature cards, owning a certain building is sufficient as an alternative to the resources.

You can gradually build up your own city with up to 15 cards. The player who has built the most outstanding city after around 40 to 80 minutes wins the game. You can play Everdell alone or in a group of up to four players aged ten and over.

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Everdell basic game

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The treasures of the water creatures: The Pearlbrook Expansion

After discovering the Immerbaum region, the people explored the area of the valley.

The royal cartographer Arta Distelmark led an expedition to explore the western forests and made an astonishing discovery: as the group refreshed themselves with the cool water of a river, they noticed a pink head with feathered spines hidden behind a rock.

A spindly hand tossed her a perfectly shaped pearl. This is how the river later got its name Pearlbrook. The fascinating water creature was a stranger to them, but obviously friendly.

Now it’s time for another trip to cultivate diplomatic relations with the many river dwellers. In Everdell: Pearlbrook, you send out ambassador frogs to trade with the water creatures.

As the shimmering pearls are perfect for jewelry, you want to bring them to your city and process them further. Four river locations can be discovered on the new part of the map, the Pearlbrook.

If you deploy your amphibious ambassador there, you will receive pearls as a new resource and river cards. On these you will find the inhabitants and locations of the underwater world.

The Pearlbrook expansion contains lots of material for your adventure on the river. You can also look forward to three new worker species: axolotls, otters, platypuses and starlings.

Celebrations in the Waldtal: The Bellfaire extension

After 99 years of hard work, it’s time to celebrate! In Everdell: Bellfaire, you celebrate the centenary year together with the inhabitants of the valley. And to mark the anniversary, the royal couple has organized festivities with entertaining parades.

Since its founding by Corrin Immerschweif, the forest creature civilization has experienced a multitude of ups and downs. The inhabitants have bravely survived a number of disasters in recent decades, such as the hornet wars, the destruction of Good River Farm after a flood and the destruction of the harvest due to a drought.

Of course, there was also a lot to celebrate, especially in the 60s! There was the discovery of gold in the amber caves, the opening of the mushroom labyrinth in Frühspross and a birth record with the birth of Yara and Brun Maibeere’s 21st child.

Now, in its centenary year, King North is hosting the Bellfaire Festival!

There is also a new game board in this expansion, which you can attach to the board from the basic game. There are spaces for the materials from the “Flower Festival”, “Market” and “Royal Awards” modules.

With the Flower Festival, a new Simple Event comes into play that can be fulfilled. With the market, resources can now not only be collected, but also sold or bought.

And as the King and Queen oversee the festivities, they present royal awards for outstanding achievements. In each game, an award tile comes into play that rewards those who have the most cards of the required type in their city at the end.

In addition, Everdell: Bellfaire features new Special Events, such as the pie eating contest, unique abilities and Cardinals and Toads as new worker races.

Even if you want to play in a larger group of five or six people, this expansion is just the thing for you. However, if you travel the valley alone, the rat Fusselwürz is already waiting for you!

Daring mountain hike: the Spirecrest expansion

Want even more of a challenge? Then the Everdell: Spirecrest expansion is essential for you! In it, you discover mysterious places in the mountains of Spirecrest, far outside your home valley.

You have heard of giant creatures in these mountains from legends that have been passed down from generation to generation. I wonder if they are true? Despite treacherous weather, you move your travelers forward across the mountain game board on the wooden giant creatures and collect map pieces with which you can plan a unique expedition.

To do this, you have to use your own special skills skillfully. You can get these by choosing one of three discovery cards and paying for it according to its price.

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After fighting your way through the foothills in winter, climbing the summit in spring and hiking over the mountain ridge in summer, you set off on your expedition in the fall. You travel via your own map pieces until you can no longer pay the costs or no longer want to. And by the way, your goal is of course still to found the most magnificent city of all!

Da Everdell: Spirecrest increases the complexity of the basic game considerably, we recommend that you do not combine Spirecrest with other expansions. And if you’ve been waiting for it, Spirecrest is also bringing new races into play. This time moles, owls and lizards. Tip: At the end of the game guide you will find exciting excerpts from the diary of the courageous mountain hiker Torrin Mümmelmann!

A visit is on the way: The Newleaf expansion

A place full of exciting encounters, magnificent architecture and thrilling discoveries – Newleaf is a city of endless possibilities! And the first railroad station in the valley has just opened here.

This attracts curious travelers who want to visit Everdell and kindly bring gifts. Welcome them to your cities and fulfill their wishes to earn points!

Your family of worker types has a new addition: the expansion includes bats, honeybees, cats and snails. Of course, there are also new creature and building cards here, which you can use to try out completely new strategies, and the valley continues to grow with a new part of the map, the train station.

This offers space for three more cards, which you can play just like the cards from the meadow. The special feature, however, is that you also receive a small reward in addition to the card – matching the adjacent wagon.

There are also two new locations: The Hill, where you can swap three cards from Meadow and/or Station and then take three cards into your hand. And the platform where you can receive guests. If you fulfill their wishes during the course of the game, they will reward you with points at the end of the game.

Newleaf also adds two new modules that you can bring into play together, separately or even without the station. They can therefore only be combined with the basic game or other expansions.

Ticket tokens allow you to reuse workers you have already deployed, while reserved tokens allow you to reserve cards from the display to pay for them in a later turn and build them in your city.

Cunning spiders and legendary times: The Mistwood expansion

Everdell: Mistwood is especially interesting for all of you who have visited the valley of Everdell solo or in pairs: In the thicket of the Mistwood-forest lives Phantomia.

She has patiently waited for the right moment to spin her terrible intrigues. Now that the time has come, she challenges you as an additional player with her own actions.

She is supported by her spider children. In addition to the “normal” Phantomia mode, you can also experience three other modules with it. Phantomia brings almost 80 new cards, 16 tiles, a large wooden Phantomia figure, eight spider workers, a twelve-sided dice and two new game boards to the game.

Mistwood also has four new modules for the multi-player game: Learn more about the explorer of Everdell Valley, Corrin Immerschweif. Discover other legendary creatures and buildings that have shaped Everdell’s history.

Experience farm life as the weather and seasons change and play with new ability cards, a card type first added with the Bellfaire expansion. There are also four new animal species to choose from: Butterflies, pigs, weasels and spiders.

The stand-alone family game My Lil’ Everdell

Do you have children, nieces, nephews or even adult friends who don’t have much gaming experience yet, but you want to introduce them to Everdell without directly bringing a connoisseur game to the table?

Don’t worry! Just for this case, James and Clarissa A. Wilson have developed a stand-alone family game set in the same peaceful Everdell world!

My Lil’ Everdell offers a gentle introduction for players aged eight and up, as the rules have been slightly simplified or modified compared to the connoisseur game. The goal remains the same, namely to build the most magnificent city in the valley, but the number of resources has been reduced from four to three.

Instead, there are new wooden animal figures: butterflies, foxes, lizards and mice. Another new feature is that the locations here are dynamic! This means that resource dice change your yield of fields in each of the four rounds.

Every evening, the hard work of the forest dwellers is rewarded with an entertaining parade. Anyone who has fulfilled the conditions of the parade cards now receives extra points.

After four rounds, a game is over after around 20 to 40 minutes. The winner is the player who collects the most points with the parades and the creature and building cards.

If you like, you can also explore My Lil’ Everdell solo with Prince Pumpernickel or Princess Periwinkle. Also included is the small kindergarten expansion for the Everdell basic game.

My Lil' Everdell

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Farshore – A game in the world of Everdell

In the expansions you have already become acquainted with various areas of the Everdell Valley. With Farshore, you now venture beyond the borders you know: follow the Pearlbrook River northwards until you reach the Ewig Sea beyond the rocky stone coast. The coastal town of Farshore lies on its shore.

It is your task to build the most prosperous city with the conditions offered by the maritime environment. Similar to Everdell, you use your animal creatures to take resources and build animals and structures.

But there are also new locations such as the harbor or the plateau that challenge you to develop new strategies. You should also explore the islands beyond the lagoon with your sailing boats, as this is the only place where you can find valuable treasure chests.

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Those of you who already know Everdell will certainly rediscover familiar mechanisms in Farshore – A Game in the World of Everdell. Additional elements and the maritime setting provide a new gaming experience.

You can also combine the new animal species, crabs, beavers, ducks and puffins, with Everdell. But even if you are new to the world of Everdell, you can still discover Farshore, as the connoisseur game can be played independently.

For an atmospheric gaming experience, you can look forward to anchors, shells, driftwood, gemstones, seaweed and mushrooms made from high-quality materials.

Even if you like to play solo, Farshore has a new challenge in store for you: Scherereien-Bonnie and her sunken treasure are a legend in Farshore. Take on the pirate and follow her ship into uncharted waters!

We hope you enjoyed our trip to Everdell! Whether with one of the basic games or the expansions, we hope you enjoy exploring the peaceful valley of Everdell. Say hello to the valley dwellers from us! 🙂

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