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The active player draws tiles from the draw pile based on the number of players (2 tiles in a 2-player game, 3 tiles in a 3-4 player game). The game ends when the pool of habitat tiles runs out (which is, rather satisfyingly, exactly 20 turns per player). There is a slight variation in the scoring of corridors for solo mode: your corridors have to have at least 7 matching adjacent terrain tiles to get a 2 point bonus. But besides that, it is a standard BYOS affair (unless you are playing the Achievement/Campaign mode – see below) Curious Creatures If you are playing with children, or you wish to simplify the gameplay for yourself or other players, the game includes variant scoring. There are two extra options, presented as an easy mode and an intermediate mode. The easy mode makes each animal score in a similar way, reducing the number of scoring conditions the player must learn. Intermediate mode increases the challenge of the spatial puzzle, without adding complex scoring conditions.
I sit and look at the row of pairs, sometimes for a really long time. And a series of trade-offs and options run through my head. A Chinook Salmon swims around my brain suggesting this tile and pondering that objective. Everything about Cascadia feels calm. Methodical. Meditative. I almost feel like I am breathing in the fresh mountain air when playing. After placing tiles, players score points for completed habitats according to the requirements on their habitat cards.
Point Salad
Place all of the wildlife tokens into the bag and mix well. Then deal out 4 face up habitat tiles and pair each of them with a face up wildlife token. Set the nature tokens to the side (more on that later). Finally, select the A, B, or C wildlife cards and place them to the side where all players can see them. When you’re done, your setup should look something like this.
Cascadia came out last summer from Flatout Games, the same studio that gave us the surprisingly complex game Calico the year before, with Cascadia a sort of “spiritual successor” to the first title. Calico looks cute and simple, with a theme built around cats and quilts, but the game itself presents a difficult challenge with tight scoring rules and an unforgiving structure—you have a board with a frame around it and have limited places to put hex tiles, with no chance to move them later if you make a mistake. Simple to learn, but hard to master – Cascadia is a dual-layer puzzle. There are a variety of goals that you can mix and match, creating a brand-new experience every time you play. Explore hundreds of unique puzzles and build beautiful terrain maps in competitive, solo, and family modes. Thistleville is the world’s most bustling little town — it’s a challenge to keep up with everything going on, from who took home first prize for their baked goods at the community fair to who has been digging in Mrs. Brambleberry’s carrot patch. Fit to Print is a puzzly tile-laying game about breaking news, designed by Peter McPherson and set in a charming woodland world created by Ian O’Toole!
Deep Dive
Terrain Diversity: Aim for a diverse selection of terrain types on your wilderness grid. Having a variety of terrain tiles will increase your flexibility in completing habitats that require different terrains. If, however, you want the most relaxing and accessible version of the game, a family variant is included which simplifies the scoring to just groups of animals. This is a great addition for young children and non-gamers playing for the first time who want a gentle introduction to Cascadia. What’s even better about this: some players can play the family rule alongside the normal game to allow people of different abilities to play together and still be complex enough for everyone to enjoy. I think this is such a good idea as it really makes the game suitable for every type of group. Design & Components Point City late pledges are open here HERE: https://gamefound.com/projects/flatout-games/2023-releases As long as the turns keep coming fast enough there’s a certain pleasure in wondering what you’ll get to select from during your turn. Maybe it’ll be that last salmon you need for a big score, maybe it won’t. While the tactical focus means you can’t plan ahead, it does keep everyone constantly on their toes. You’ll often be rewarded for keeping your map flexible enough to pivot to different scoring chances if the ones you’re chasing don’t come off. It results in a surprising amount of excitement for such a low interaction game.
After your habitat tile has been placed, you’ll move on to placing your wildlife tokens. Placement rules for animals also have only two rules: a wildlife token can only be placed on top of a matching animal icon of an existing habitat tile and only one wildlife token can be placed on each habitat tile. Since you’ll get a large portion of your points from scoring animal cards, you’ll want to pay close attention to where the animals wind up. Balance Expansion and Optimization: While expanding your wilderness grid is important, ensure that you’re optimizing your existing habitats as well. Completing additional habitats often yields more points than simply adding terrain tiles. Benjamin Abbott (2022-07-18). "Cascadia is board game of the year after Spiel des Jahres 2022 win". gamesradar . Retrieved 2022-07-22. Then select your Wildlife Scoring Cards. There are 4 sets marked A, B, C, and D. Each one includes the 5 animals in the game: Bears, Elk, Salmon, Hawk, and Fox. They are spatially based, placement optimisation goals and you can play with a single set or mix and match (so long as you have one of each species). A is the simplest set which is good for your first few games. There’s also a Family variant Wildlife Scoring Card which replaces all 5 individual animal goals with a single objective which is great for younger or less experienced gamers.Point City takes the same simple concept of drafting cards and building the best combinations and adds new layers of resource management and engine building to the mix - making the game easy to learn, but challenging for everyone! Complete Unique Habitats: Completing habitats with unique requirements can lead to big point gains. These habitats are less likely to be contested by other players, giving you an advantage. And although I can sometimes be left feeling like a poor relation when solo modes are a simple BYOS, the added scenarios in Cascadia offer more. They bring a wonderful selection of challenges that don’t need an opponent to bring them to life. Plan Ahead: Take a moment to analyze your Habitat Cards at the start of the game. Identify which terrain types and animal combinations will earn you the most points. Focus on these objectives as you play. Note that if 4 Wildlife Tokens are all the same, this is known as “ overpopulation“, and they are removed and replaced with 4 new randomly selected ones. It can also happen when there are 3 matching animals on offer. But in that case, it is the active player’s choice (aka yours in solo mode) as to whether those 3 are replaced or not.
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