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63 About this deal
The flower festival is a new basic event that requires one of each card type for four points. This works just like the other basic events, and it is such an intuitive add that I kind of started to wonder why it wasn’t in the base game. By far the largest and most complex expansion to Everdell, Spirecrest introduces a large new board that adds to the bottom of the base game, and brings with it a load of additional content. For starters, there are new critters, and each of the species that exists both in this expansion and across the base game and other expansions also gets a rabbit explorer. Those rabbits are the brave souls who will adventure into the mountainous region of the titular spirecrest. This review was updated on 07/09/2021 to include details of each of the three Everdell expansions; Pearlbrook, Bellfaire and Spirecrest. You can read about each expansion at the bottom of this review, above the Conclusion section. Every now and then, a rare board game comes along that blends crunchy decisions and interesting combos with simple, clear mechanics that anyone can enjoy. Add incredible build quality, cute artwork and an unbeatable table presence into the mix and you’re certainly on to a winning formula. That, in an acorn-shell, is Everdell, and let me tell you —- it is every bit as good as the hype suggests. Keep reading and I’ll tell you why. Overview I was worried the Visitors would turn into a late-game dumpster dive, but the mechanism is preventative. With a one-worker limit on the location at a given time, the stars must align to pull multiple cards in a given season. Plus, with all the work being done in the city, there isn’t always time to spend a worker gaining the card. Instead, they are a pleasant temptation and an occasional competition. Nicely done! These boards may be used as an area to store resources, workers, and point tokens. Players may choose any board that they wish to use.
Like Pearlbrook and Spirecrest, Bellfaire comes with a few extras that don’t add new gameplay elements, but that nonetheless accentuate your base game. It has player pieces for two more players — cardinals and toads — and each of those come with the ambassador you’d need for the Pearlbrook expansion. There are 4 new forest locations and 9 new special event cards, and the new special events are less specific (and thus arguably easier to achieve) than the ones in Everdell. There are also new player boards which have areas for your resources and cards, but I consider these superfluous, as they just occupy tablespace with little new functionality. A shedload of realistic looking and nicely crafted resources (rolly wooden logs, hard, shiny stones, translucent, golden amber and squishy pink berries) are also placed along the river at their gathering locations, with the effect of both the tactile resources and the huge Evertree put together resulting in a nice sense of height, albeit one that is, unfortunately, purely cosmetic. There are, of course, the animeeples, money tokens and a few other components, but the final major piece of the puzzle (and the one that you’ll spend the most time staring at) is probably Everdell ’s single, huge pile of cards.There isn’t much more to say, and that is probably why it sits in the #2 spot. It just fits. #1 – Legends Squirrels: Any time you use a worker to gain at least 1 twig, gain 1 additional twig. When playing a Construction, you may pay 2 twigs to replace 1 of any resource from the cost.
First, I recognize how important solo gaming can be within the hobby. I know the original Rugwort solo experience was viewed with mixed sentiments. Too punishing: I think that is the common phrase that accompanies the rat. With Nightweave, however, there is now a solo experience that feels more like the actual game with several twists. In the same vein as adding the Garland Awards, Bellfaire ups the ante on the different events that players are vying for. The Flower Festival Event tile acts similarly to the four Basic Event tiles found in the base game where a player can place a worker here once he or she meets the criteria and score four points at the end of the game. To be eligible for the Flower Festival Event, a player must have one of each card type in their city. My first play of Everdell lasted three hours. I was new to so many of the concepts in the base game that we were wide-eyed throughout the experience. Three of us played that first game. With Bellfaire, the invitation was set for up to six players. Six players! On the one hand, that’s so exciting. But on the other hand, every time a new player comes to the table, the length of the game jumps inordinately. Until recently, I’m not sure I had ever had six people around the table at once who knew how to play. Those that did weren’t looking for the extended experience. I get similar feelings—feelings of home and grandeur—on a lesser scale when I finish a game of Everdell. The work of city building finished, with every uncertainty laid to rest, nothing remains but to enjoy the splendid scene and leave the critters to their new home in relative peace. You may keep this drawn card, or you may give it to an opponent. If you give it away, draw 2 cards.
Contributors
With an expansion stretching in each compass direction, it sure seems like we’re closing the book on Everdell (in terms of game production, anyway) , and the critters are at home on many a kallax around the world—probably on top, though, because of the sheer size of the box. I suppose it’s time to start evaluating the full panoramic experience.
Whilst this additional board – and the focus on it when it is in play – adds some additional complexity, it’s all relative, and Spirecrest does not turn Everdell into a heavyweight experience. Almost all of the action in Spirecrest (aside from additional critters and a few new clearing and event cards) takes place at the end of each season – effectively giving the player options and decisions to make at a phase in the base game where not much usually happens. The Everdell Bellfaire Expansion is a captivating addition to the beloved Everdell board game. This expansion takes players on a new journey to the bustling and vibrant Bellfaire, where they will encounter new characters and engage in exciting gameplay.
Components
The two new Events make sense in that they round out the collection to include all of the most sensible options. Having two extra on the board increases the opportunity, temptation, and indecision over whether and when to secure the points. After playing Pearlbrook, I was a little worried about Spirecrest. This massive expansion introduces beautiful new scenery, another oversized specialized meeple—the Rabbit Traveler, several tokens and cards, and, of course, the OVERsized (and wonderfully adorable) Big Critters. What separated Spirecrest from Pearlbrook and landed it higher on the list is the way the new mechanisms keep attention on the base experience. Among the additional modules is one of my favourites – that of specific player powers. Each of the different animal species now benefits from a specific power or ability, and it’s nice to see that Bellfaire includes cards for all (as far as I know) of the animals that feature in the base game and all of the expansions featured in this review and released at the time of writing. Also included in Bellfaire is my least favourite expansion – the player boards. These simply allow players to store resources and workers whilst giving them a “start” to place their tableau into – sadly, these stay in the box for me. The Bellfaire board contains the Market location, and spaces for the Flower Festival Event and Garland Award tiles.
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