Everdell is a game where players create a city made of whimsical woodland creatures and buildings over the course of 4 “seasons”. It is intended for 1-4 players and recommends players aged 14+, but Maci, age 9, has no problem playing this game. Average game time in our family is about an hour.
Everdell Basics
In Everdell, each player represents a certain creature. Players then take turns, each carrying out a single action. On your turn, you may:
- Place a worker
- Play a card
- Prepare for the next season
When placing workers, players gather resources, acquire new cards, or take other specific actions. When playing a card, players can build a critter or construction in their city, gaining a variety of advantages from each card built. Preparing for the next season allows players to reclaim their placed workers, gain new workers from the Ever Tree, and gain the next season’s bonus.
Players work through the season at their own pace, and do not have to wait for one another to move on to the next season. The game ends after all players have completed all the seasons. At this points, players calculate their total victory points.
The Mom Review
I really enjoy Everdell. When I play, I feel like I am building up a tiny city reminiscent of the Redwall books. Who doesn’t love the Redwall series by Brian Jaques?
The game setup is a little time consuming. The Ever Tree needs to be assembled for each game play, but I did not find this difficult. I just followed the instructions in the box. This assembly video can help if necessary. Additionally for setup, there are cards to be shuffled and placed, events to lay out, resources to place, and workers to distribute. I don’t feel it is overly complicated, but it does take a little bit of time.
Within the game, the basic actions are easy to grasp, and the cards are clear and descriptive in their meanings. I enjoy the engine building aspects of the game as well. Certain cards give resources throughout the game. There are other cards (constructions), which allow the player to build a critter for free one time. I find it to be a fun challenge to maximize these opportunities.
Maci is able to play this game, she enjoys playing, and understands the basics. However, she still gets stuck with one goal in mind (which you can see in her review), and at times will back herself into a corner as a result. I am sure this will improve with age and experience. This is likely one of the main reasons for the higher age suggestion listed on the box.
Overall, I give Everdell a 9/10 rating. It is a game I’d happily play on a regular basis!
The Dad Review
Everdell aesthetically looks great. The artwork on the cards is on point, and the tree that stands in the middle is awesome. It gives the game a cool storybook finish look. The workers are legit and look like woodland creatures. The resources aren’t cubes, the amber looks like amber, the twigs look like twigs, the snozzberries look like, sorry the regular berries look like berries. This is also fun for Maci, she enjoys games that look cool and different. Now back to the giant tree, some people don’t like the tree because it doesn’t serve a purpose other than holding some of the bonus cards but, if a family walked by and saw this game displayed, they’d want to come check it out. The thing is looks are only part of the reason we play games. The mechanics are the other.
This is where I’m on the fence. I love worker placement and deck building games, and this game integrates both. You’re placing workers to collect bonuses or materials to build your little forest city. You can build these buildings or creatures from your hand of cards you’re dealt or from a shared community main pool, which I think is a cool mechanic, and gives you more options than just what’s in your hand.
Pros and Cons
I don’t like putting down a worker, just to get one good or resource. Especially when you don’t begin with a lot of workers, so this is frustrating. Often, I don’t feel like I’m getting enough. I don’t think I should put down a worker and then get every item I need to build a card, but I do feel that the way it’s set up creates a limited, slow build. Additionally, I might have a problem with this game because I am not a huge fan of engine builders, and it has that quality. Another issue I have is this game can become a little luck based, if you don’t get the right card combos, it can become frustrating, especially if someone started with a hand of cards that work well together and you didn’t.
I will say Everdell does a decent job of negating that feeling by offering a selection of cards to choose from in the middle of the game board. However, someone could snag the card you need ,or you end up wasting a critter to perform a move that lets you select a certain amount of cards from the shared card pool or facedown deck.
For some positives, I do appreciate that there are bonuses you can aim for by building certain cards and it does balance the game and thematically, they work. There are some bonuses that team up certain characters to accomplish a goal, that I feel those characters would actually do. So the theme really works.
All in all, I think this is a good game and my family enjoys it. It’s not an everyday type game, but I don’t mind playing it. If I’m going to play a game like this, I would rather play Raiders of the North Sea, Architects of the West Kingdom, Wingspan, or Great Western Trail.
Dad’s Overall Impressions
With all of this said, Everdell has some expansions coming out that might change my mind on this game and I may rank it higher but we will see. I think Spirecrest may get me on board to rank this higher.
For my own personal and as a family ranking, I rank it a 7/10.
The Kid Review
I think Everdell is a great game. I love buying people and buildings. My favorite creatures are the wife and the husband. The farm is fun to build, plus there is a combo if you also have the wife and husband. I love buying berries so I can add more people to my city. If I build a specific building I can get a specific creature for free, and I really like that as well. In conclusion I will give Everdell 10 out of 10. Peace out!
Overall Impressions
As a family, we don’t completely agree on this game. We all like it, but clearly to varying degrees.
- Overall Average Rating: 8.5/10
- Ease of Instructions: 8/10
- Ease of Setup: 7/10
- Playing with younger players: 7/10