Welcome To Everdell Review: A Brilliant Entry Point for All Ages

Everdell has become a beloved franchise in the board game world, and there are a multitude of ways to add to the experience through expansions. That’s great for those looking to make the core experience that much richer and more complex, but what about those who are looking for a way to retain that richness while also involving players of younger ages? Well, Tabletop Tycoon, Starling Games, and Asmodee have the perfect answer to that question with their newest release Welcome to Everdell, a standalone entry point that captures the magic and strategy of the original Everdell while also crafting an adventure that encourages kids and younger players to actually participate in the game rather than just watching from the sidelines.

What Is Everdell?

In the original Everdell, players look to build a Woodland city by recruiting new villagers (who are all brought to life through beautiful artwork of adorable animals) and purchasing cards that give you additional resources and end-game points. You’ll accomplish this by placing your workers in different areas to gain resources that allow you to recruit new characters and build new locations, all within a stunningly rich game board with wonderful artwork.

In Welcome to Everdell, that’s all still here, though scaled back. Notice i didn’t say scaled down, as the experience isn’t dumbed down in any way, but there are just more concise options that play out in a smaller window of time. You’ll still place your three workers on the board during a given round, and you’ll choose from the Fort Builders (Beavers), Doctors (Owls), Farmers (Pigs), and Heroes (Foxes), all brought to life by illustrators Andrew Bosley and Jacqui Davis.

Key Differences

Instead of a village though you’ll be trying to create the ultimate Fort, though you’ll still be constructing your Fort buy picking up resources, adding cards to your collection, and attaining the most points before the Moon makes its way across the board. The time commitment is also shorter, as Everdell can take 40 to 80 minutes for a play through, while Welcome to Everdell comes in at around 30 minutes.

The other key difference is built into the rules. Welcome to Everdell is for ages 6 and up, though my daughter is 4 and a half and took to it just fine. That’s because of two additional options that you can choose to use right at the beginning of the game, and for our first time through we used both. You can have everyone get a starting bonus of 1 Resin, 1 Twig, and 1 Berry, which are the resources you use in the game to buy cards and therefore unlock options and points.

Then you can also start the game with a pair of Captain and Fort cards already in your collection. These cards are both utilized during the Gather Goodies phase, which is where you collect any resources listed on green cards ahead of everyone’s turn. Between the two options, this allows you to have four resources right off the bat, meaning you can jump right into making decisions and adding cards to your area without having to spend a whole turn or possibly two just gaining resources.

It’s all part of the design team’s mission to create a game you can truly play and enjoy with your kids. Keeping shorter attention spans in mind is one of many aspects considered when designing the game, and combined with the adorable artwork, smaller time commitment, and streamlined gameplay, allows new players to feel as if they are understanding the game they are playing as opposed to just going through the motions before moving on to something else. My daughter and i play a lot of games together, and I’m used to adapting certain rules and mechanics on the fly depending on how it’s going, but aside form using both starting options, i did’t change a thing with Welcome to Everdell, and she wanted to play again right after.

The Perfect Entry Point

Here’s the thing though, it’s not just for younger ages. When I say it appeals to all fans, I mean it. I don’t always have 2 hours to jump into a game, but more often than not I can find 30 minutes, and Welcome to Everdell provides a thoroughly entertaining experience in that small timeframe. It’s also not going to break the bank. While the core Everdell is $70, Welcome to Everdell comes in at $25, and that’s pretty hard to beat.

Welcome to Everdell is a brilliant entry point to the Everdell franchise, but more than that, it’s a wonderful first entry in someone’s journey into board games overall. Perhaps most impressive is how it works in the franchise’s core mechanics and creates an experience that all ages can excel at. Welcome to Everdell is a win across the board.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Published By: Tabletop Tycoon, Starling Games, Asmodee

Designed By: James and Clarissa A. Wilson

Illustrated By: Andrew Bosley and Jacqui Davis

Welcome to Everdell is available at Walmart.

What have you thought of Welcome to Everdell? You can talk all things gaming with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!