Everdell: Spirecrest

Proud to be a backer! There are no words! Just....wow! It adds so much to an already terrific game. The art, as always, is breathtaking; the big meeples have their own powers. The solo game is tough but incredibly satisfying.

Suffers from the same 'Bolt-On' effect as Pearlbrook, but I don't mind it as much here, maybe because what you're doing on your quest is genuinely interesting and doesn't mess with the resource economy. Love the weather cards, they add something to the game.

I'm hoping Newleaf will be the big-box expansion I keep, and then I can get rid of spirecrest.

This expansion adds the travel board to the bottom of the board, large animal friends/companions, weather, and a new worker, bunny, to go out to travel on the board below. I do not care for this expansion. The weather events can be harsh and force you to make suboptimal choices for the season that you are in. The bunny worker moves on the travel board below and gathers these map tiles that can be turned into points at the end of the game. However, in order to gain the points for those map tiles you will be splitting your resources between them and the cards that you will need for your city. It is a balancing act, which I feel like detracts from the goal of the game which is to build up your city. I would be willing to play with this expansion again, however I'm not running to add it into each of my games.

Is this a perfect expansion? No, but it is so much fun! The weather cards make it a bit harder for players, but they are more than compensated by the discovery cards. The big critters are awesome!