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Game Info
Year
2022
Collection
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Description
Winterhaven Woods is a 1-6 player strategic card drafting and set collection game that takes place over 3 rounds and typically takes 15-20 min. It features light player interaction each round, and customizable levels of "take that" mechanics.
In Winterhaven Woods, players are preparing the animals of the forest to endure the long winter months. They do so by planting trees to create woods, populating their woods with creatures, and using their predators to hunt creatures left exposed in player's meadows. Players may also use steal cards to swipe cards from their opponent's woods & meadow, however utilizing too many incurs a penalty.
Each round, players will draft cards, then plant & populate their woods, building it up over the course of the game. Player's may also collect predators in their meadow to hunt with, taking advantage of creatures not able to be populated by other players.
After three rounds players total their scores, bonuses and penalties, and the player with the most points wins!
—description from the designer
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 2
This page: 2
Sentiment:
pos 2 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–2 of 2
Video kQa2vIC9Z-I
kovray Playthrough at 0:53 sentiment: positive
video_pk 90376 · mention_pk 300626
Click to watch at 0:53 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Beautiful prototype visuals
- Drafting-centric mechanics with quick play
- Engaging two-player interaction and clear tactical decisions
- Transparent end-of-game scoring guide
- Animal/wilderness theme is appealing and well integrated
Cons
- Stealing can cost points if overused
- Requires memory to track cards passed across rounds
- Prototype version may differ from final production
- Two-player variant can be a bit complex at first
Thematic elements
- wildlife management, predator-prey dynamics
- forest/woods with animals in a winter-themed ecosystem
- ecological balance and winter survival
Comparison games
- Sushi Go Party
- Magic: The Gathering
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card Drafting — Players draft one card face down, then pass the pile around; the process repeats for six rounds in two-player mode and seven cards per round.
- Card drafting with pass — Players draft one card face down, then pass the pile around; the process repeats for six rounds in two-player mode and seven cards per round.
- Deck Building — Players plant trees to create forests; up to three woods; a wood becomes valid only when it contains at least three trees.
- end-of-round and end-of-game scoring — Scoring is guided by a printed or shown reference; includes population, forest presence, predators, and dietary bonuses.
- Forest/wood building — Players plant trees to create forests; up to three woods; a wood becomes valid only when it contains at least three trees.
- Population by species with placement rules — Animals populate the woods with species that cannot be intermingled in a single wood, with rabbits allowed a special population rule.
- Predation and hunting phase — Wolves hunt in rounds; a pack must form (three wolves) to hunt; bears can eat other animals; wolves can steal from others.
- Two-player variant with central prowling wolves — In two-player mode wolves occupy a middle column; hunting requires a complete wolf pack to trigger.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's absolutely beautiful out of the prototype
- it's a drafting game so it's relatively simple once the cards come up
- I like this game because it's pretty quick
- end game scoring guide
- inviting you really feel like you're preparing for the winter
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video qMwA7LZEbRw
kovray Monthly Recap at 16:54 sentiment: positive
video_pk 89817 · mention_pk 307161
Click to watch at 16:54 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Stunningly beautiful
- Set collection and drafting
- Quick and easy to teach
- Adorable vibes
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Set collection and drafting to build the best winter haven
- Winter Haven Woods
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Drafting — it's a set collection drafting game.
- Set Collection — it's a set collection drafting game.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The action selection in this game the complexity the symbols it just hits in the best way possible.
- It's very every step really matters and every decision you make really matters.
- it's just a game that really just drawn me in right from the start.
- Every single time i've played this game I've tried a different strategy and it just amazes me the different strategies that I've personally been able to come up with.
- This is their second game that's kind of like the heavier rolling rate and it's just wonderful and I definitely think it rivals Fleet.
- it's a gorgeous gorgeous i think even like every little detail in that game is just fascinating.
- it's such a unique game in that sense too where you can use your opponents as well and use their resources.
- I had a really hard time of like mapping through the different like ways to do things and accomplish things and it really like it chugged at my brain.
- everyone's described it to us as like a battle yahtzee and that's a very accurate description of what it is.
- I love that it's the simplicity and the sheer joy in it.
- It's such a fast game right if you think about a drafting game like that and you're like oh it'll take a while but this boom like it's just because it's like two two sets two handfuls.
- I love games like this they always bring me a lot of joy.
- this is a great introductory gamecheck game that we can definitely play with many of our fans.
- there's a campaign within this game.
- the replayability in this game is significant but it also draws you in right from the start.
- this absolutely stunningly beautiful amazing game called winter haven woods.
- it's a set collection drafting game.
- it's very like quick easy easy to teach and super adorable like it just gives a lot of good vibes.
- it's so hard to get back to it because you just have to remember so much.
- we did play architects which was great and the best part about it is now that we've played architects with our our friends we made we're making plans to play paladins.
- it's also a deck builder so i'm pretty excited about it.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
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