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Game Info
Year
2021
Collection
Mechanic profile
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Description
For Northwood! Is a solo hand management and precision trick-taking game. Your objective is to peacefully unify the kingdom of Northwood through conversations with their rulers. Over eight rounds, you must visit eight animal fiefs and engage their rulers in dialogue (tricks). Each ruler's suit represents the trump for that fief. Each ruler also requires you to win an exact number of tricks to join your alliance, so the game gets harder as your options dwindle.
You start with four allies, each with an ability that you can use once per visit. These abilities can make you draw, discard, or otherwise manipulate your hand to help you hit the target score. Once you've won a ruler over, you can pull them in to substitute temporarily for one of your allies, if you need a more specific set of abilities to tackle the harder fiefs.
With multiple difficulty levels, 24 rulers (12 used per game), and a 16-scenario challenge booklet, For Northwood! offers hours of gameplay with a new puzzle every time!
Winner of *Best Overall Game* and *Jury Prize* in the 2021 BGG 54-card contest.
Also winner of *Best Art*, *Best Solo Game*, and *Best New Designer*!
-description from designer
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 5
This page: 5
Sentiment:
pos 5 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–5 of 5
Video ocA25KSbLtg
Discussion at 16:41 sentiment: positive
video_pk 69187 · mention_pk 165558
Click to watch at 16:41 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Immediately want to play again
- Excited to take it traveling
- Available on BGA
Cons
- Difficult for new players
- Slippery cards
Thematic elements
- Persuading rulers to become allies by winning a specific number of tricks
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- hand management — Players manage their hand of cards to achieve trick-taking goals.
- set collection — Players aim to 'win the exact number of tricks' to gain 'rulers as allies'.
- Trick-taking — Standard trick-taking rules apply, including must-follow.
- Variable player powers — The 'Jacks' act as allies, each with a 'special ability'.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Today's a chill day.
- My game brain is gone.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video hN3iWi6NuyM
Discussion at 12:46 sentiment: positive
video_pk 67885 · mention_pk 164162
Click to watch at 12:46 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Enjoyed immensely, ordered a physical copy.
- Interesting little game.
- Nice simple easy game, not stressful.
- Cutesy artwork.
- Tiny box, good for travel.
- Fun, solo, trick-taking.
- Highly recommended by others.
Cons
- Quite unforgiving if you lose a couple of leaders.
- Difficulty should be a little bit better tweaked.
- Seems very dependent on succeeding on high point cards.
- Some people found it boring or 'wasn't for them'.
Thematic elements
- Rallying leaders to a cause
Comparison games
- Fox in the Forest
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- hand management — Players need to manage their hands to win the exact number of tricks required to impress leaders.
- set collection — Players aim to impress leaders by winning the correct number of tricks, which contributes to an overall point goal.
- Trick-taking — The core mechanic is trick-taking with four suits labeled one to eight and a trump suit each round.
- Variable player powers — There are 24 different leaders, each with a special ability that can be recruited temporarily for future dialogues.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Remember, it's only a game.
- I mean, you know, as I mentioned those ones a second ago, those were most of the ones that I would have previously thought of.
- And you cannot pace this theme. I'm sorry. You try to pace this theme on a game and not respect it, I would go nuts.
- But, uh yeah, you know, um anybody that is willing to replicate the art style of I mean, I suppose I don't want to say I'm probably going to say no more than once this uh this discussion, but Glass Cannon Unplugged have done a good job with respecting IPs.
- And you know, when we were in the 80s and early '90s, we grew up with films that were designed to traumatize you, and they did, but they were good, entertaining movies, and they did their job, and they didn't suffer from the tropes of these days.
- So, stuff like this and Slay the Spire and things like that, I never really got into, you know, then I don't particularly I've played Slay the Spire. I found it boring honestly as a game.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video w0o1fKg_HyU
Top 10 List at 15:02 sentiment: positive
video_pk 66508 · mention_pk 162076
Click to watch at 15:02 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- An impressive solo take on trick-taking mechanics
- Close to traditional play while offering a smart puzzle
Cons
- Requires careful memory and planning; may be less accessible to non-fans of trick-taking
Thematic elements
- prediction and hand management within trick-taking
- solo trick-taking game inspired by traditional decks
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- helper_cards — Four helper cards grant special abilities to influence draws, hand, or trump decisions.
- Solo_trick_taking — Guess the number of tricks to take; use kingdom cards to set rounds.
- Trick-taking — Guess the number of tricks to take; use kingdom cards to set rounds.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The tile laying rules are so simple and obvious.
- This is one of the simplest, easiest to get into, and yet extremely satisfying to play.
- The Last Lighthouse is my number one simple solo.
- If you're a fan of a game like Cascadia or, you know, even Carcassonne, I think there's a lot of similarities here.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Y9RVa86n7MA
Tabletop Tokki Playthrough at 0:07 sentiment: positive
video_pk 59698 · mention_pk 152217
Click to watch at 0:07 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- charming art style and presentation
- compact, portable design with durable components
- strong thematic integration between story/dialogue and trick-taking mechanics
- high replayability through campaign elements and multiple rulers
Cons
- shuffling and downtime between visits can slow play for some
- early plays can be luck-dependent and require careful planning to hit perfect scores
- learning curve may be steep for players new to this hybrid of dialogue and trick-taking
Thematic elements
- dialogue-driven, trick-taking duel where players win favor from rulers by completing tricks
- the kingdom of Northwood with eight rulers and a quest to accumulate favor
- dialogue-based mini-scenarios within each trick
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- ally substitution — players can substitute allies or rulers to gain abilities, with limits on uses per round or per game
- Compound Scoring — points are gained by winning dialogues; the goal is to reach 16 favor to win the game
- deck manipulation — special cards allow drawing or discarding, or manipulating hand composition to hit targets
- deck/hand management with peeks — abilities enable peeking at top cards or exchanging cards between deck, discard, and score piles to influence outcomes
- dialogue card system — each trick is paired with a dialogue card; success depends on meeting the ruler's requirements and following rules
- draw/discard and ability cards — special cards allow drawing or discarding, or manipulating hand composition to hit targets
- favor scoring — points are gained by winning dialogues; the goal is to reach 16 favor to win the game
- Trick-taking — play rounds (visits) following the leading suit; trump is determined by the ruler card; winner is the highest in the trump suit or leading suit if no trump is played
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I wholeheartedly recommend that you get it for yourself
- this is a really great concise game solid mechanics
- portable and transportable
- the art and presentation I think it's so unique
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 8yr1dGhbt6E
Totally Tabled Playthrough at 0:06 sentiment: positive
video_pk 27753 · mention_pk 149546
Click to watch at 0:06 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Engaging solo playthrough with dynamic ally abilities
- Rules are demonstrated clearly through a hands-on tutorial-style run
- High replay potential via different leaders and ally combos
Cons
- High reliance on luck due to deck order
- Steep complexity for new players due to multiple mechanics
- Tracking multiple moving parts can be challenging during a live run
Thematic elements
- Diplomacy and alliance-building via trick-taking
- Kingdom of Northwood
- dialogue-driven progression through trick-taking rounds
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- ally abilities — Jacks and other ally cards grant special abilities between tricks to alter outcomes.
- deck manipulation — Ruler exchanges and top-card look/discard interactions influence future plays.
- hand management — Eight-card hands are built and managed across tricks with discards and draws.
- recruitment/dialogue mechanics — Convincing leaders to join Northwood is reflected through winning tricks and using ally abilities.
- Trick-taking — Players follow suit when able, aim to win tricks; trump determined by current leader.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a solo trick-taking game
- boom since we were successful we slide this ruler down and they scream for Northwood
- we managed to convince them through our action to peacefully join our cause
- we scored a perfect game all eight thieves are united peacefully for Northwood
- luck we pulled it, far more luck than skill
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–5 of 5