🌳 LIVING FOREST

⭐ 3/10

Players: 2–4
Playtime: approx. 40–60 min
Difficulty: Light / Medium
Type: Deck-building / Push-your-luck / Race Mechanics: card management, tile placement, drafting, circuit movement

After this title won the Kennerspiel des Jahres, I had high expectations. You play as one of four Nature Spirits—Winter, Spring, Summer, or Autumn—called to save the Sacred Tree from the devastating flames of Onibi. It promised a magical, engaging experience, but after a few plays, the magic completely vanished.

🎯 What is this game about?

The game is a race to fulfill one of three victory conditions:

• Planting 12 different protective trees in your forest.

• Extinguishing 12 fires to banish Onibi.

• Collecting 12 sacred flowers to awaken Sanki, the Protector of the Forest.

🃏 How does a turn work?

Everyone plays simultaneously during the Guardian phase, drawing cards to create a help line. The core is a push-your-luck mechanic: you keep drawing until you reveal three "solitary" symbols. If you hit that third solitary card, you are punished with only one action instead of two during the next phase.

☕ My Impressions

Aesthetics and Art: Let’s be honest—I expected the artwork to be more beautiful and saturated with magic. While the illustrations are fine, they feel pale and lackluster on the board. The components are solid, and the self-assembled tree dispensers are functional, but that’s not enough to save boring gameplay.

Gameplay and Interaction: This is a very light game with almost zero stress because negative interaction is nearly non-existent. It’s mostly limited to jumping over spirits on the circle to take a victory tile. As a co-op lover, I don't mind a lack of aggression, but here it just feels dull. The only slightly interesting element is the Gregarious system that cancels out solitary symbols, but it’s a small detail in a sea of mediocrity.

Replayability and Balance – The Dealbreaker: The game is drastically lacking in replayability. After the second or third play, you know exactly "how to play to win." The path balancing is broken—the "fire" strategy is by far the easiest to achieve. It cuts the game short and is incredibly frustrating when you’re trying to build a cool forest engine while someone else just puts out fires and ends the game before it even really starts.

🏆 The Verdict

Living Forest is a title that has nothing left to offer after a few sessions. Mechanically, everything clicks and the manual is clear, but what does that matter if there’s no intellectual challenge? It’s a "gateway" game that quickly becomes a burden on the shelf.

Final Rating: 3/10 It's nice for the first 15 minutes, but once you discover the most effective path to victory, the forest quickly becomes dead rather than "Ancient."