Spirits of the Forest Review

Spirits of the Forest box cover

As a long time Michael Schacht fan, I've often found myself trying to hunt down his various designs to add to my collection, or at least to try them. In 2025 alone, I've been fortunate to secure copies of Iwari, Patrician: Towers of Influence, and now Spirits of the Forest which I managed to buy second hand, new in shrink, the KS deluxe version for only $15. Bargain!

Of the three games mentioned above, SotF is my least favourite, but a game I still enjoy. Indulge me while I share my thoughts:

COMPONENTS & PRESENTATION

There's no arguing about the stunning production quality of Thundergryph's KS deluxe version. The game comes with 48 (wooden?) tiles that are thick, and sturdy, and a delight to handle (if not shuffle). The Power Stones are intricate, hefty little eggs that are similarly satisfying to handle, as are the tokens, and I love that it comes with a little scorepad and pencil.

The artwork, while pretty, is not to my particular tastes, and I don't really like the washed watercolour vibe. though it is certainly eye-catching. Given that one of my regular playgroup members is colourblind, I knew this game would struggle for accessibility for him, which is regrettable. The animals/spirits depicted are also not easily categorised, so it's hard to refer to them during the game. "Now how many...I don't know,...gorillas, did everyone get?"

For a game of its size, component count, and complexity, I'd certainly say it was over-produced, and I might have preferred a smaller box, simpler version personally, though for the $15 I paid I have no complaints at all. I'm not sure if I'd bought the game at retail, whether the game experience would justify the cost, despite the stunning production.

In short: I'm not sure how to feel about the production! But it is incredible.

RULES QUALITY

The rules are clear and well laid out, with good examples and I found them easy to learn from. It is a very simple game, so I'm not sure how much credit to give the rulebook, but it does a good job.

GAMEPLAY

I'll start this by saying the game offers a very different experience at 2 players, compared to 3+ players. The game becomes much tighter, and more brutal with 3 or more players - so much so it caught me off guard completely, with the friendly nature theme and all.

The rules are very straightforward: on your turn take 1 (or 2 tiles) from the ends of the 4 rows in the shared play space, and add them to your collection. Pay a stone to take one that someone else had reserved, and reserve a tile at the end of your turn if you can. Some tiles have small bonus tokens on them which add a welcome injection of hidden information to an otherwise abstract set collection puzzle. Clear. Simple. Schacht goodness.

I haven't played with any of the expansions (and probably won't, I don't tend to like expansions). I'm not sure I need to, as the base game offers plenty of tension and interesting decisions.

The parts I really like about the game play are the tension of trying to hold out taking a tile, because it'll reveal a good tile for your opponent, and the unashamed pettiness of blocking a player off with a reservation stone, forcing them to pay up or miss out. These are interactions in the subtle, devious way of Coloretto, my all-time favourite game, and they shine here.

What is less successful for me are the game's bookends: the shuffling and laying out the 48 tiles, all face up, as the set up is quite time consuming and laborious (not aided by the difficulty shuffling the thick tiles). Similarly, the scoring is fairly slow as you compare totals across 12 different scoring axes. Each aspect of the game feels like a third of it: a third set up, a third playing, and a third scoring. That might be a little unfair, but I'd like to have spent more of the experience playing than setting up and scoring.

I wish there was a little more variety in the scoring, though I do really like the penalty for not acquiring a tile of a type, forcing you to go wide, as well as deep as you seek to get the most icons of each type. That -3 for missing out completely hurts.

At 3 players, mis managing your stones can be incredibly costly, and my early aggression left me missing out on about 6-7 turns at the end of the game, which was a bit unsatisfying watching the others go one to collect more and more tiles while my turns kept getting skipped. I'd certainly play differently in the future, but that's something to be aware of for players new to the game. DON'T UNDERVALUE YOUR STONES!

OVERALL - 7.5/10

Spirits of the Forest is a simple, engaging set collection game with a sharp edge that belies its soft nature theme, especially with 3 or more players. The game is easy to learn and teach, quick to play, and routinely offers interesting tactical decisions, all in a beautiful package. What holds it back from a higher score for me is the proportionately long set up, and the lack of variety in how you score, as you simply compare who has the most of 12 different types of icons. I see it hitting the table mostly as a 2-player game, as I'd probably choose Patrician or Iwari if I had 3 or more players, and it's not portable enough to take travelling or to a pub like we would with say Lost Cities or Jaipur. It fits more of the same space as Duel for Middle Earth in my collection, and I'm not sure the decision making is quite as rich as that game.

Still, a solid, fun filler game with a gorgeous production.