Episode 452 - Forest Shuffle

Release Date: Dec. 18, 2024

Download:  Enhanced  | MP3

Running Time:   40 min

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We are surrounded by a vast and verdant network. It has shaped our lives, our history, our culture, our evolution for millennia. These are superorganisms, capable of meaningful communication over great distances and across species and are most likely conscious on a level, we can barely begin to understand.

And yet, most humans today see them as a little more than a natural resource we are entitled to harvest or an obstacle to be cleared.

Let’s get real. It is not an exaggeration to say that the entire world of modern games would cease to exist without them. You might be able to imagine a game without wooden components, but what about paper? Or cardboard? This hobby we love and share has deep roots in the world’s forests.

In Forest Shuffle, players create their own network of trees, hoping to form a balanced habitat for creatures, large and small. Whether you plant a sapling a sycamore or a mighty oak, each tree card in your forest provides a home for life. Above and below, to the left and the right, insect, amphibian, mammal, bird, plant and fungus cards can be played, each according to their need. Growth always comes at a price, though. For some things to thrive, others must  fall to the forest floor and be given up to the clearing.

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Forest Shuffle

Designer:  Kosch

Art: Toni Lobet, Judit Piella

Publisher: Lookout Games

2-5 players | 45 minutes | ages 10+ | MSRP $30 | BGG Listing

Time to teach/learn: 5-7 minutes

 

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Interstitial music credits include:

The Trees | Rush | the song

The Trees | Richard Cheese | the song