Tragic, this tiny tarantula weaving its terrible web on my painting...

After Pearlbrook (2018), Spirecrest, Bellfaire (2019) and Newleaf (2021), Mistwood is the fifth and final expansion for the now legendary Everdell. Friends Bibz and Mooh had also written a beautiful, very laudatory article on the base game (laudatory... the word is weak; let's say rather: dithyrambic, tearful, exalted, and so on). If you haven't had the chance to read it, it's here: https://www.asdesjeux.com/en/blogs/news/everdell-plus-que-du-carton-c-est-de-l-art

For my part, constantly overwhelmed by the new features (and the new new features which replace the new-more-so-new features), I had not had the opportunity to play Everdell as regularly as I would have liked (and certainly not as often as Bibz and Mooh!) When the Ace suggested that I write you a little note about the latest expansion, Mistwood , I said to myself: "Comrade, this is the perfect opportunity to right all the wrongs that you play this game by letting it gather dust on your shelves! » So stopping at nothing for your pleasure (and mine), I first took care to dust off my copy of Everdell and replay a few games of the base game before diving into the expansion. And when I started reading the Mistwood rulebook , I realized that it was an expansion like no other: it's designed specifically for solo or two-player games. What is this, I asked myself? Didn't the Everdell base box already have a single-player mode where we had to face the infamous rat Doormat? Who is this cute spider, with its top hat, which invites itself into the bucolic landscape of our beloved animals of Everdell ?

I had played a few games of Everdell 's single-player mode , which I found quite decent, despite some criticism. Indeed, developing a successful single-player mode for a game which, basically, is designed for 2 to 4 players is no easy task. You have to find the delicate balance between the feeling of playing against a real opponent and the heaviness of managing the machine. In some games, the single-player mode is an overly simplified version which distorts the mechanics and strategies, and which at the same time reduces the pleasure we get from it; other games have an overly complex single-player mode (hello, 64-page single-player rulebook) where we spend more time checking rules and playing for the automaton than we spend thinking about our own turns.

The single player mode of the Everdell core box is, as I indicated above, quite decent ; it really leans more towards simplicity than complexity: the automaton blocks certain action spaces each round, and plays a card each time we play one. He doesn't have to respect most of the rules of the game (or pay for his cards), which speeds up his management a lot, but gives us the feeling of playing against a cheating robot. It is above all a pretext to make him accumulate points against which to compare our final score; but if we want to have the impression of playing against a real player, we remain a little unsatisfied, let's say it. This is where Mistwood comes in: the expansion builds on the single player mode of the base game, improves it, tries to give it a little more variability and personality through the cute spider Nightweave. As a bonus, even if you're not used to (or don't want to) play solo, this expansion adds cards and variants that you can integrate into your usual games.

How it works ?

Mistwood can be combined with any of the game's previous expansions. It is a modular expansion (which contains several mini-expansions that you can choose to use or leave out, depending on your preferences). desires) whose main interest is centered on the integration of Tissenuit, the automaton spider, which extends and improves the solo mode of the base game, but which can also be used to add a third player in a game with two humans .

Before talking to you in more detail about how single-player mode works, a few words about the Mistwood modules that are not connected to it (there are four):

Each season offers alternative Farm cards that replace the eight farms in the base game. These new cards offer a choice of reward each time they activate.

Corrin Evertail is the legendary founding hero of Everdell. Five cards bearing his image, very powerful, are added to the game;

Mistwood Legendary cards are upgraded versions of buildings or characters from the base game. We can pay their cost directly, or play them for free by replacing the appropriate card in our city;

New unique powers, adding to those of previous expansions , allowing asymmetrical games where each unique power directs the player towards certain strategies.

However, Mistwood 's main course is Nightweave's Lair . To use it, start by setting up a game for two (solo) or three players (including 2 humans), and place the new board/memory aid representing Nightweave's lair next to the main board. We then choose a difficulty level (0 to 4) which corresponds to the speed at which the spider will accumulate points during its year at Everdell.

We then prepare the packs of Tissenuit activity cards . These cards determine what actions the automaton performs on each of its turns, and on which spaces it sends its pretty spider-meeples. Indeed, unlike the automaton of the base game, the behavior of the spider changes over the seasons (turns): at the start of the game, it usually favors certain actions (such as collecting resources), but more so part advances, the more it will branch off towards more profitable actions (such as recovering objectives). Each time Tissenuit moves to a new season, a few cards are added to it which will allow it to adapt its behavior to the progress of the game.

Tissenuit begins the game like the other players, with two “workers” whom she will send, according to her activity cards , to fetch wood, stones, amber or juicy berries, all while happily spoiling all the plans that you were working on with the sweat of your brow, blocking the spaces you need, stealing the cards you coveted... everything you needed to reconcile with the spiders, in fact! And the more the game advances, the more small worker spiders it will have at its disposal to harm you.

To top it off, Nuitweave itself is represented by a gigantic spider meeple (very plump, very juicy, just the way you like them) and certain activity cards will send it to spoil the party in the Card Meadow. Because when she visits the Prairie to appropriate one of the eight cards usually available, she then blocks the location of her big hairy mass of an octopod, and prevents the renewal of the market in the occupied space until the end of the season, leaving you with only seven measly cards at your disposal (usually those you don't need)!

In terms of rules and management of the machine, despite the variability introduced by the evolving pack of activity cards , we remain simple. On his turn, Tissenuit draws a card from his deck and performs the action that corresponds to the current season. She does not accumulate resources, does not have to pay the cost of the cards, which she accumulates at random in her “hand” (or rather, her hairy paw); consequently, the city she builds (her tableau) develops randomly from the cards she draws and, barring some fabulous chance, is generally not a masterpiece of strategy. This is undoubtedly the price to pay to maintain a certain fluidity in the management of the automaton player. This also means that, as with Paillasson, luck (or bad luck) can make him build very profitable cards very quickly or, conversely, a whole bunch of cards worth almost nothing... *shrug* , that's life !

To add more depth to the games (but also, let's say, a little more complexity in the management of the automaton), Mistwood offers optional modules which are added to the functioning of Tissenuit: personalities , plans and conspiracies .

Personalities give Nightweave a special power that activates when she visits the Meadow . In addition to stealing a card and preventing the market from renewing, it spreads its viscous webs over all adjacent cards, which can increase their cost, block them or even force you to pay Nightweave in order to acquire them.

Blueprints are long - term effects that Nightweave benefits throughout his game. They generally make certain actions more effective, or grant bonus points when the prescribed conditions are met. For example, the “Web Weaving” plan allows Nightweave to gain victory points every time you play a “prosperity” type card. The plans therefore force you to drastically modify your approach to the game: you will have to avoid triggering Nightweave's bonuses as much as possible, at the risk of getting stuck in its webs (read here: losing miserably)!

Ultimately, plots are events that occur each new season. Several of them are one-off (their effect is immediate) while others remain in effect until the end of the season. Just like plans, plots often allow Nightweave to gain points under certain conditions, but can also block action slots, market cards or cards from your hand, or even prevent certain of your buildings from being destroyed. 'activate... it's really difficult! Needless to say, only the bravest squirrels will dare to mess with Tissenuit the Conspirator...

Graphics and hardware

Here I will be brief, because I think Bibz and Mooh have already said everything in their post on Everdell . Andrey Bosley has accustomed us to masterful graphic design and magnificent illustrations from the core box through the first four expansions, and Mistwood is no exception. Let's just note that there is less unique artwork in Mistwood than in the base game or previous expansions (for example, all plot cards have the same artwork).

The quality of the material is impeccable: the cards are of good quality and the pieces of wood are very pretty. Special mention for the enormous figurine of Nightweave, which really gives us the impression (visually!) of casting its horrible shadow on the green meadow of Everdell!

The size of the additional board (that of Nightweave) may seem a little excessive; This is because we also chose to make it a memory aid to speed up the management of the automaton and avoid having to resort to the rulebook. You need to provide additional space on your gaming table, and if you have also integrated other extensions for your game, you risk feeling cramped. That being said, after a few games to familiarize yourself with how Nightweave works, you could easily do without its game board to save space.

So… what do we think?

Let's put our cards on the table right away, if you'll allow me this very playful expression: Mistwood is aimed primarily at Everdell fan-collectors and the community of solo players. Let us mention in passing that it is a community that has greatly developed in the last five years, due to the pandemic. The proof is that there are few publishers, in 2024, who still dare to launch a game without providing a single-player mode, either in the base game or in an announced expansion... If you are the solo type, Today there are a multitude of forums and Facebook groups aimed at this hobby, for just about every game... even those that don't have an official single player mode! Thanks to social networks, and to borrow the words of a Michel Tremblay character, solitary players have become “a gang of only you together”!

Still, if you're not a solo player and only own the core box of Everdell , Mistwood probably shouldn't be your first choice of expansion to add to your gaming experience; you risk remaining on your appetite. Bibz and Mooh, our undisputed experts, suggest that you instead turn your attention to Newleaf , which adds much more material and further opens up the possibilities offered by the game.

In short, Mistwood is a well-designed expansion whose numerous modules will offer solo players more varied games, considerable challenges to overcome and undoubtedly many hours of entertainment.

WE love…

-Impeccable graphic design, typical of Everdell ;

-Added depth to the single-player mode, which makes it feel more like playing against a real player;

-The modular nature of the extension, which allows us to customize the difficulty and complexity of the games.

We like less…

-The quality/price ratio for those who don't like playing alone;

-The necessary space on the game table.

Everdell: Mistwood

An expansion for 1-2 players

10 years and over

40-100 minutes

 

-Mast

 

To obtain: Everdell base game, or the Mistwood , Pearlbrook expansion , Spirecrest , Bellfaire or even Newleaf