Starling Games | Everdell: Bellfaire | 1-6 Players | Ages 14+ | 40-120 Minutes Playing Time

Product Information

Jonathan Bolding (2022-08-03). "One of BoardGameGeek's top games now has a Steam version". PC Gamer . Retrieved 2022-10-04.

Everdell: Bellfaire is an expansion on the base board game which increases the total player count, letting up to six players compete to build the best city the woodland has ever seen. Developing on the base mechanics of Everdell, Bellfaire introduces a new board extension, representing the bustling market where players may trade their goods or send workers to gain resources. The market opens up gameplay, making resources more available to cater to the increased player count. This may include locations on Destination cards like an Inn or Queen, but not a Cemetery since it is a permanent location. By far the largest and most complex expansion to Everdell, Spirecrest introduces a large new board that adds to the bottom of the base game, and brings with it a load of additional content. For starters, there are new critters, and each of the species that exists both in this expansion and across the base game and other expansions also gets a rabbit explorer. Those rabbits are the brave souls who will adventure into the mountainous region of the titular spirecrest. During setup, shuffle the Garland Awards and draw 1, placing it either faceup beside the main board or in the designated area on the Bellfaire board.a b Law, Keith (August 30, 2018). "The Beautiful Everdell is One of the Best Board Games of the Year". Paste Magazine . Retrieved January 18, 2019. Deal this number of starting cards: 1st player: 5 cards 2nd player: 5 cards 3rd player: 6 cards 4th player: 6 cards 5th player: 7 cards 6th player: 7 cards Asymmetry has come to the land of Everdell! One of the most interesting modules added by Bellfaire are the unique player abilities. Each critter type, including all those from the collectors editions, get their own critter card with a totally unique ability or power. If you like asymmetry in your games or just fancy a bit more variation this is a really nifty way to achieve it. Each set of rules are concise enough to fit on a very small card but can change the way you play appreciably. Critter comforts A new resource is introduced in the form of pearls, and an additional animal meeple (a Frog Ambassador) is added for each of the existing colours from the base game, plus one for each of the four new animal types/colours that are included in Pearlbrook itself. The box also includes four three-dimensional monuments that represent different wonders, and these sit along the top of the river on the base board, which is amended slightly by using a couple of overlay tiles. The flower festival is a new basic event that requires one of each card type for four points. This works just like the other basic events, and it is such an intuitive add that I kind of started to wonder why it wasn’t in the base game.

Spirecrest proved its worth admirably. The Big Critters were a massive help in the wider affair, and the Weather effects forced the same sort of strategic adjustments along the way. We were still able to pull off most of our Expedition targets. For what it’s worth, the new saddles (if any out there know the frustration of the first edition’s troubles) work beautifully—we were so happy to finally mount up the critters properly. Finally, a word of praise for the board itself in all its unorthodox glory. No rectangles here, folks! I applaud the decision to use rounded edges, insets, and interesting contours. I think Everdell feels more like a world right out of the box because the board is so very strange. Even in its unusual dimensions, it is terribly efficient and a fit showcase for the game. Everdell is a board game for 1 to 4 players designed by James Wilson and published by Starling Games in 2018. In the game, players take the role of forest animals building a city over four seasons by collecting resources, recruiting workers, and constructing buildings. The game has been well regarded by reviewers, with its art and components receiving strong praise. The Bellfaire board contains the Market location, and spaces for the Flower Festival Event and Garland Award tiles. Using Player Powers will give each player a unique ability, based on which critter type they choose.As I mentioned at the start of the review, players can mix and match the different modules. If you’re playing with basic Everdell, I think it is easy to mix in the Bellefaire board and everything on it, and to throw in the new player powers. The player boards, while nice, didn’t provide that appeal either. These have never really caught on in our family. They are large and awkward, and they obscure the game materials that normally stand out so well just sitting on the table. And besides, we love freestyling the cities. Even when we take the boards out, I doubt we’re using them as intended. They’re just there to make our areas pretty. Everdell is perhaps one of the most beautiful games ever made. It’s certainly one of my favourites. This year (2020) Everdell received not one but two new expansions, Bellfaire and Spirecrest. Both share the beautiful art of Andrew Bosley and sky high production values of the base game. These additions however are in fact very different to each other. Spirecrest is more like the original Everdell expansion, Pearlbrook, in that it adds a single gameplay module that raises complexity appreciably. Bellfaire on the other hand is a veritable smorgasbord of small modules and variants that can be added into your games however you see fit! Sound good? Then read on Everfan! Boards game There isn’t much more to say, and that is probably why it sits in the #2 spot. It just fits. #1 – Legends