LEGENDARY FORESTS

OBJECTIVE OF LEGENDARY FORESTS: The objective of Legendary Forests is to be the player with the most Victory Points when the game comes to an end. 

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 to 5 Players 

MATERIALS: 1 Construction Token, 125 World Tiles, and Instructions 

TYPE OF GAME: Tile Placement Board Game 

AUDIENCE: Ages 8 and Up 

OVERVIEW OF LEGENDARY FORESTS 

Players are given the same cards, and they are told to place the same cards at the same time. The location, however, is up to the players. The player that is able to place their tiles in the most strategic place throughout the game will earn the most points. The player with the most points, wins the game. Who will create the most legendary forest of them all? 

SETUP 

To begin setup, each player will choose a color to represent them throughout the course of the game. Once chosen, they will collect 25 world tiles that are in their chosen color. They will then identify the first tile in their deck and place it directly in front of them, creating their starting point.  

One player is randomly chosen to be the Architect for the game, and they will be the first player. This player will then shuffle their deck face down, removing five random cards and placing them in the box. The rest of the cards are used to form a draw pile. The other players will place their cards beside them, face up, in whatever order they choose.  

For every player, two tree tokens should be placed in the middle of the table, forming the reserve. The left over tokens can be placed back in the box, as they will not be needed for the rest of the game. The game is then ready to begin. 

GAMEPLAY 

The game is played over the course of 19 rounds, with each round consisting of four phases. The phases are played in order. The first phase is the Architect draws a world tile, and during this phase, they reveal the top card in their pile and announce the number to the group.  

The other players will then draw the tile that has the matching number of the one that the Architect drew, finishing the second phase. For the third phase, the players will place their tiles in front of them. In order for the tile to be placed, the following rules must be followed: one side of the tile must touch a tile that has already been placed, the sides that touch must match in color, the tile can be rotated as needed, and a tile cannot be moved once it has been placed.  

Once everyone has placed their tiles, the players will place three tokens. This phase only occurs when the Architect draws a tile in which the number on it is found to be on a light background. Beginning with the player that has the construction token, then continuing clockwise around the group, the players will take a tree token from the middle and place it on a zone of their planet. The tree has to have the same color as the zone, it cannot be placed with grass, it can be placed with other tree tokens, and it cannot be moved once it has been placed.  

Once the tree tokens have been placed, the construction token is passed to the player on the left of the current holder. A new turn will then begin. Gameplay continues in this manner for 19 rounds.  

END OF GAME 

When every player has placed their 19th tile, the game comes to an end. Each player will then tally their victory points to determine the winner. The tree tokens are worth various victory points, depending on what zone they are located in. If it is found in the Closed Zone, then it is worth twice the number of full runes found in that zone. If it is in the Open Zone, then it is worth the number of full runes found in that zone.  

The player with the most points, wins the game! 

Ellie Phillips
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