ATTN: Anybody that has played lots and lots of Everdell and Wingspan.
I'm looking for a recommendation.
I have both above mentioned games and like both a lot. There are a lot of similarities between the two. I however slightly prefer WIngspan.
The only reason is because Wingspan has obvious goals to work towards, end of round goals and bonus cards, where as Everdell (base game) feels much more open ended.
So my question is, do any of the Everdell expansions add goals/targets/things to work towards like Wingspan? I'm keen to grab an expansion and if one add this sort of mechanic, I think it could push Everdell to the top spot.
Thanks.
P.S. I currently have no Everdell expansions and one Wingspan expansion (Oceania).
I recently received Everdell: Emerland. Given that the developers plan to move away from the regular Everdell format for future games, I thought that this might be a good time to compare the versions of Everdell for recommendation purposes.
For the sake of this comparison, I've included both Everdell and Everdell: The Complete Collection as separate entries. Note that I've left out "Welcome to Everdell" as it's the only entry in the series that I don't own as I'm not the intended audience.
6. Everdell: Farshore
In last place is the only Everdell that I've sold. While there has been some praise for this version and it did a great job of changing some problematic aspects of the original Everdell, I have a few concerns with Farshore. The way that maps work where you are incentivized to go all in on them or not do them at all due to exponential scaling is a huge issue and is the worst implementation of events in this series. The windrose mechanic is a great idea, but since everyone is incentivized to go for the same cards, it adds too much competition for specific cards in the bay in my opinion. Farshore was interesting the first couple of plays, but its faults became too apparent for me to enjoy playing it and I got rid of it after five plays.
5. Everdell
Base game Everdell is a decent game. Playing without expansions is generally not the choice I would make, as even adding some small things like player powers or Legendary cards adds a bit more spice. There are some balance issues with certain cards like Crane or Innkeeper essentially being free resources, and other cards being incredibly weak for what they give you. That being said, there are a variety of ways you can play the original, and the simplicity of it allows for an easy entrance into the Everdell series. This would be my go-to choice if I were playing someone who didn't have a lot of experience board gaming.
4. Everdell: Silverfrost
Silverfrost is a great step up from base Everdell. The fire mechanic adds some interesting counterplay and the cards are a lot more impactful. Having quests(?) that are hidden events for you to complete gives a variety of objectives for players to take part in and incentivizes trying different things each game. Similar to how Spirecrest had weather that was something you needed to play around, the snow can feel bad at times if you're getting overwhelmed with it or you don't have a good solution for it. For that reason, this might not be the ideal version for someone new.
3. Everdell Duo
What I love about Everdell Duo is how tight of an experience it is. You only have 24 total actions in the game so you have to make really important choices about what cards you play and when. If you want to play a card that discounts other cards, it's a sacrifice of one of your actions, rather than just a freebie like in Everdell. There's also some ability to counterplay by denying an opponent an event, action space, or even an action if you are sneaky. The fact that every card in this game is unique allows for lots of replayability, and the campaign mode is a nice addon, even if it's not something that appealed to me as much. The downside? You can only play with two players. Almost all of my Everdell play has been at the 2P count so it's not an issue for me, but it's obviously an issue for some people. Finally, this is the cheapest, smallest and shortest version of the game which can be appealing.
2. Everdell: Emerland
The newest addition to Everdell is also my favourite of the standalone games. The addition of "helper" meeples that either enhance locations, let you enter occupied spots, or let you do helper-specific actions was a great idea that adds tension and tough decision-making. Stalling in progressing seasons can be punishing because others will beat you to locations, forcing you to waste your helpers to go to shared locations. Also, the upgrading of cards is an interesting mechanic and one that adds extra value to red and brown cards that can sometimes otherwise be a little weak in other versions of the game. Finally, a new category of cards (orange: where you discards underneath them to activate) breathes a bit more life into the Everdell formula. While RNG can sometimes be a bit overpowering (some of the artifacts/realms are much stronger than others).
1. Everdell: The Complete Collection
While I still prefer Emerland over playing with almost any individual Everdell expansion, having access to everything available in the Complete Collection with all the replayability of the different expansions causes this version to win out. Bellfaire in particular is fantastic as it can combine with any other expansion and the player powers are such a powerful way to give you a different experience every time you play. Aesthetically, having all the different meeples for each critter and large critter is a really fun addition. I've played this almost 100 times by now, alternating between expansions to help keep it fresh and still enjoy it. The obvious downside of this is that it's the most expensive version of the game by far.
So which one should you get?
Budget isn't an issue --> Complete Collection
Newer to board gaming --> Base Everdell
Best single entry --> Emerland
Small, cheap and quick --> Duo
Do we have a time that it drops today? Through the game or playstore? Sorry just itching to play haha
I got the complete collection delivered today but I had ordered it as an add on to emberlands kickstarter.
Should I be worried? Is it normal they ship separately or should I contact someone