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Bellfaire includes rules for adding a fifth and sixth player to your games of Everdell. I prefer lower player counts if only to save on time and table space. Having said that I do have a regular 5 player gaming group so adding the facility to play above the original 4 player max is very much appreciated. It also makes this one of the more versatile games out there with an incredible solo to 6 player range.
The new Bellfaire special Events are less specific events than those found in the base game. These can be added to the game in a number of ways, depending on preference: Elderkin, Beth (September 11, 2018). "Pandemic Infects Rome, Tales From The Loop Heads to the '90s, and More Tabletop Gaming News". Gizmodo . Retrieved January 18, 2019.Everdell is a superb game and a beautiful product. It deserves its recently held placement in the BGG hotness list and I hope it remains a popular choice that continues to impress new and old players alike. If you only buy one game this year, Everdell should be on the shortlist alongside the likes of Lords of Hellasand Lowlands, with only your personal preference to differentiate between those in the running. You may keep this drawn card, or you may give it to an opponent. If you give it away, draw 2 cards. At the end of the game, the player who has the most cards in their city of the type listed on the Garland will gain an additional 6 points. Second place will gain an additional 3 points. I can almost guarantee that everyone’s first play featured mildly neglected cities or cities engineered specifically to grab pearls to get the big Wonders, just to see if they pay off. I can still remember my daughter striving to build the EverTree—her favorite card—only to then trash it via the University or Ruins for a bonus and a chance at the twenty-five point Starfalls Flame. It was exciting, but why must the inclusion of a River eradicate celebrated Events and thrust play in one specific compass direction? The idea that a natural setting could upend the and eliminate key bits of creaturely life seemed odd then, and still does.
The player boards, while nice, didn’t provide that appeal either. These have never really caught on in our family. They are large and awkward, and they obscure the game materials that normally stand out so well just sitting on the table. And besides, we love freestyling the cities. Even when we take the boards out, I doubt we’re using them as intended. They’re just there to make our areas pretty. 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.
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As players collect resources, spend them on buildings, add animal cards and build out their personal tableau (up to a maximum of fifteen cards, unless a specific card breaks that rule) they will begin to notice more and more point scoring combos appear. Some cards care about other animals (like the Husband and Wife) whilst others care about resources in hand at the end of the game. Others give bonuses depending on how many buildings of a certain type you’ve constructed. These point scoring options drive player behaviour, because as you’ve probably guessed, the player who scores the most at the end of all seasons will be the winner. Players can get pearls for being the first to visit the underwater locations/citizens and flipping those cards over (which then become additional expansion spaces.) Sometimes these spaces allow pearls to be spend, as do some of the seasonal event cards that Pearlbrook introduces, but the main way in which you’ll spend pearls is by investing in the monuments, which are worth increasingly more points (right up to 25) should you be able to afford them. Hasty: During Rugwort's Prepare for Season action, he will immediately achieve the leftmost special Event. Everdell: Bellfaire is an expansion on the base board game which increases the total player count, letting up to six players compete to build the best city the woodland has ever seen. Developing on the base mechanics of Everdell, Bellfaire introduces a new board extension, representing the bustling market where players may trade their goods or send workers to gain resources. The market opens up gameplay, making resources more available to cater to the increased player count. As expected, Pearlbrook asserted its dominant reach all over the board. The trouble with water is it gets into everything. We left the Events on the board, but there was never a moment where selecting one was more lucrative than pushing toward Pearlbrook’s Wonders or one of Newleaf’s Visitors. In the end, the difference in the score was almost equal to the difference between the Wonders my daughter and I had chased.
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