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Once an age, a mythic wind lifts the veil between the spirit world and ours. Whimsical seraphs, drawn to the vigor of an ancient forest, descend through clouds to once again take up their centennial game. You are one of these seraphs – a being of great power and curiosity. The life of the forest fascinates you, and you eagerly gather plant, animal, and sprite alike to add to your mystical menagerie. But beware, for you are not alone. Other beings just like yourself contest to collect the life of the forest as well!
In Spirits of the Forest, players represent the four elements that nourish the forces of nature. Up to four players compete to acquire the most (of nine different) spirit symbols, which are bound to a different element of nature. Each turn, a player drafts up to two spirit tiles from the forest (a common pool of 48 spirit tiles), collects favor tokens, and moves, places, or recovers gemstones. Players continue taking turns until all tiles have been collected from the forest. At the end of the game, players score nature points for each spirit (augmented by favor tokens) of which they have a majority. Whoever has the most nature points at the end of the game wins.
- lovely art and satisfying spatial puzzle
- great for traveling and casual solo play
- solo mode can be challenging; balance relies on AI interaction
- nature and spiritual collection strategy
- forest realm with nine spirits to collect
- puzzle-centric with a nature-forward vibe
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- solo puzzle / exactly nine spirits to collect — aim to gather majority of all nine spirits; AI opponent present in solo mode
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I really really enjoyed it
- I absolutely love this one I love the art of this one too and this one will definitely be one that I choose to bring traveling and stuff in the future. I really really like it
- I freaking loved it. I am so, so happy that I have it in the collection
- I absolutely love it and I'm excited to hop into those
- I love engine-building games
- I absolutely love the solo I've heard a ton of good things about the solo from a few of the people in the board game Garden solo community
- I think it's very cool that you can name the baby too; it just makes me very happy
References (from this video)
- stunning box cover
- delight in the box art style
- puzzle mechanics are enjoyable
- nature spirits and forest life
- forest glade / small-box puzzly game
- abstract nature-inspired
- Sagrada
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Tile drafting / tile placement — players draft and place tiles to form sets and complete patterns
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Spirits of the Forest. Absolutely gorgeous box cover. I am just obsessed.
- I can't stop staring at it.
- Mysterium's box cover is gorgeous.
- I love the box art for Portals—the circle and portal motif just draws you in.
- Flamecraft is just so, so pretty.
References (from this video)
- easy to learn (five-minute setup/learn)
- great for casual players and families
- works solo or with up to four players
- abstract visuals may not appeal to every gamer
- depth and strategy may be limited for some players
- set collection with elemental symbolism
- four elemental forces represented by forest spirits in a nature-driven setting
- abstract, approachable
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- set collection — players compete to acquire spirit symbols to score points
- solo or multiplayer (2-4) play — versatile player count with quick onboarding
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- a very charming set collection abstract like game
- you can learn it in five minutes
- the player with the most nature points wins the game
- is a real-time app driven board game of world war ii submarine warfare
- the companion app and the challenging enemy AI system will make it all feel very real
- every single game in Tokyo series is modular