Rainforest City: Review
Information:
Mechanics: Drafting, Tile Placement, Ecosystem
Player Age: 8+ Player Count: 1 - 5 PlayersGame Designer: Daryl Chow Publisher: OrigameYear Published: 2021BGG Weight: 2.14Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.
Player Age: 8+
Introduction:
Rainforests are a wonderful aspect of nature's larger ecosystem. In this tile placement game you will be creating a grid of connected habitats and adding fauna/flora through cards. These tokens come in three types for each habitat. To score the higher-level token there has to be a lower-level token feeding it in the same habitat. Finding the careful balance between the flora and fauna is the biggest challenge in Rainforest City.
Game Anatomy:
Fruit Dial:
The fauna/flora and terrain cards will spread evenly (two at a time) around a centre dial in the middle of the play area (as shown below). This is how players will gain cards on their turn. Each player is represented by a fruit token and each turn the player will choose where their fruit will point using the centre dial. They will then gain those two cards and each other player will gain one card from the selection of where their fruit is pointing.
Terrain:
Terrain cards are how players will build the land constituting their rainforest. Each terrain card will be made from a 2x3 grid of the three terrain types. They can also contain one flora/fauna token location and a house.
House:
The house is an interesting element to terrains. Each house will need one token to be discarded from your grid that matches the token denoted on the house. At the end of the game, players will score a base amount of three points per house but will lose one point for every token that is adjacent to a house.
Fauna/Flora:
The flora/fauna come in three levels; level one is a plant, level two is a herbivore, and level three is a carnivore, each worth points equal to their respective level if they are properly supported at the end of the game. Flora/fauna are how you fill your newly developed habitats, but they do have several rules on how they are placed in your rainforest:
- All the flora and fauna must be placed in the same formation that the card is in.
- When placing a token, if there is already a token there it must be discarded to make way for the new tokens.
- The tokens will only survive if they match the habitat they are being placed in.
- If they don't survive being placed or are placed off your rainforest they will go into the compost pile and each score you a negative point at the end of the game.
- To score a higher level token, you will need a fed lower level token in the same connected habitat.
Objectives:
There is an advanced way to play that includes three objectives for each game. One that focuses on terrain, one for fauna and one for flora. Each player can gain points for completing the objective but the first player to complete it will score the most points, down to the last player to achieve the objective scoring the least amount of points.
Setup:
- Place the fruit dial in the middle of the play area.
- Shuffle the flora and fauna cards together to form a deck. Shuffle the terrain cards to form a deck. Place both decks within reach of all players.
- Place terrain cards and flora/fauna cards in the formation explained in the fruit dial section.
- Place all the flora/fauna tokens within reach (it's easier to sort them by their matching terrain).
- Give each player one fruit marker of their type, one player aid card and two starting terrain cards.
- Each player will shuffle and place the terrain cards next to each other in portrait position, forming a four-by-three grid. They will then place the tokens on the card onto their matching spots.
- There are globe markers that will denote the number of rounds in the game. For a 2/3/4 player game, the globe marker will be stacked up to 6/4/3.
How to Play:
Players will take turns until there have been 12 total turns in the game. Each turn will consist of rotating the dial, placing cards, and refreshing.
Rotate the Dial:
The active player will rotate the dial to point their fruit at the two cards they want. These cards are then placed immediately. Every other player will choose one of the two cards that their fruit is pointed at on the dial and place that card this turn.
Place Cards:
When placing a terrain card one square of the new terrain must border another square of an already placed terrain. When the card is placed it cannot be placed on top of any previously placed card. When playing terrains players are trying to create connected habitats that allow for connected fauna/flora at the end of the game.
When playing a fauna/flora card the icons must be placed matching the formation of the card. If the token is placed over the top of an existing token then the previous token is moved to the compost pile (negative points). If a token cannot be placed due to no terrain underneath it or no matching terrain then that token will be discarded into the compost pile as well.
Refresh:
Refresh all of the cards that were taken this turn with the same type of cards. If every player has had a turn and the first player's turn is next, flip the globe marker down one number.
Scoring:
Once the globe marker has been flipped beyond value 1, the game has ended. Every plant in your grid will score but the herbivore and carnivore will only score if there is a scored token of a lesser value, not feeding any other token, in the same habitat. For example, a carnivore will score you three points if there is a plant and herbivore also scoring for you in the same connected habitat. Each token can only support one of the tokens above it so one plant cannot feed three herbivores.
Each house will score a base of three points then it will remove one point for each adjacent token. Each compost token will also be worth a negative one point.
Final thoughts:
- Have to find a way to make the cards you get on another player’s turn work for you.
- Interesting chain of different leveled flora/fauna.
- Objectives add a strong goal to work towards during the game.
Rainforest City is an interesting ecosystem game where players are slowly building their habitats with terrain cards, trying to create connections that will score big for the objectives and previously placed fauna. During the mid to late game players are faced with the challenge of using this now-built grid to try and make successful habitual ecosystems with the flora tokens. Due to the patterns and multiple terrains needed for these tokens it can be very challenging to do. As you try to keep your compost pile low. This game will be joining my nature-game collection as there is a good challenge in building and filling the habitats with (not-quite) simultaneous play via the dial system.
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