The elegant Everdell saga continues into the misty and unexplored regions of the Spirecrest mountains, where friends and foes alike will be met, disasters encountered, and adventures surely had!
New and exciting elements and mechanisms come to life with new meeples, a rabbit traveler (one for each critter type in the base game and all expansions), weather cards, map tiles, and our favorites: BIG CRITTER MEEPLES!
Spirecrest may be the most complex of all the expansions, but it’s delightful and simple to learn. Mastering the strategy, however, will take some practice!
The new mountain board goes at the bottom of the main board and houses one weather card for each season of the game and 3 categories of Discovery decks (Foothills, Peaks, and Ridge). The Map Tiles are placed along the trail, one for each player per region.
The Rabbit Travelers mark each player’s spot on the trail through the Spirecrest Mountains. As players move through the seasons, the Rabbit Traveler moves along the trail.
The weather cards impose some kind of handicap – gain fewer resources, give up cards, etc. Weather is unpredictable and so are the season cards. Prepare yourselves for inclement events!
Preparing for the season includes all the elements from the base game, but players also draw a Map Tile and a Discovery card during the Prepare for Season turn.
Map tiles list resources and points. As player gain map tiles, they are placed in order next to the main Everdell map tile. At the end of the game, players can pay the resources listed to earn the number of coins on each map tile. But, players can only move consecutively through those map tiles. Once a map tile is reached that can’t be purchased, the player cannot purchase anymore after that.
Discovery cards represent discoveries that your Traveler makes on his way through the mountain. Players reveal 3 cards in each “Prepare for Season” turn and place them at the base of the Mountain board. The first card, if chosen, is free. Selecting the second card costs 1 card OR 1 resource. Choosing the third card costs any combination of 2 cards or resources.
Players may only choose 1 card, but the location on the board determines its cost.
Discovery cards include abilities, ongoing effects, locations only you can visit, or Big Critter cards.
The Big Critter cards are the coolest! Take the critter pictured on the card, give him a saddle, and place your meeple on the Big Critter’s back. Big Critters can visit locations just like regular travelers, but they also possess special abilities, as defined on each card.
That’s it! The extra mechanisms and rules are easy to learn, but definitely add difficulty. Those darn season cards really throw a wrench in resource collection and city building! But obstacles are always fun in board games, a victory must be hard-fought and well-earned!
The art and design of all the Everdell games is stunning and spectacular. If you haven’t experienced it for yourself yet, you’re in for a treat! This is a game that gets played well and often at our house, it has so much variety, beauty, storytelling magic, strategy, logic, decision making, and did I mention it’s beautiful?!? A gameschool closet isn’t complete without the Everdell critters!
And if you haven’t heard the news, there are two new expansions available now on Kickstarter – Newleaf and Mistwood. We can’t wait!
Thanks so much to Starling Games for creating these amazing games and sharing with us!
