Leaf Board Game Review

Leaf Board Game

• Designer: Weird City Games
• Players: 1-4 Players
• Playtime: 30 – 45 minutes
• Ages: 10+

Leaf by Weird City Games is a cozy game designed for 1-4 players ages 10 and up. Gameplay for Leaf lasts approximately 30-45 minutes and takes its players through the seasons, creating a large tapestry of multicolored leaves on the forest floors. Players connect leaves to earn animal cards, grow mushrooms and collect additional leaves to play, all while trying to beat the frost! The game can be competitive, but it’s hard to get too riled up with the gentle beauty of the artwork and ease of game play.

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What’s In the Box?

It has to be said that out of every game I have, and I have many, Leaf provides the most thoughtful box imaginable. With separate compartments for each of the game components already build in, this attention to detail makes it easy to stay organized, clean up and put back together over and over again.  There are squirrel meeples with matching mushroom tokens in four different colors, green, yellow, brown and red, with a player aid for each color. A tree serves as your game board and the squirrels run up the tree to earn you bonuses. There are two sets of cards in the base game, one set for leaves and one for forrest critters, each with it’s own mat, and a variety of point tokens, which are scored in acorns, and 32 leaf tiles. For solo mode there is also a set of North Wind cards that we did not use for this play through. Additionally there are sun tokens, a season marker and a first player marker (that is a cute little hedgehog).

Setup

We discovered that Leaf requires a large area to play on, so keep that in mind. We recommend a large game/dining table or even the floor as a play area. The first place to start is by placing the tree, animal, and leaf mats. The animal cards will go next to the mat with the first 5 cards set up on the mat. The leaf tiles are organized by type on the leaf mat with the leaf deck close by. Each player will get a box of their mushrooms and meeple, as well as a player aid. On one side of the player aid turn overview and leaf actions are written out. The other side of the player aid contains scoring information. The area underneath the player aid is called the winter den and this is where any earned forest animals go. Finally, in the center of the play area, place the two starter leaves, touching and facing in opposite directions. These leaves are marked with the North Wind symbol.

Game Play

The player that has walked in the woods most recently goes first. On a turn a player MUST play a leaf card and take the top leaf of that shape from the leaf mat and place a leaf on the forest floor. Actions are earned up touching as many leaf tips from the leaf you are placing to the leaves already on the forest floor. Actions depend on the color of the leaves that are touching. Green tips draw a leaf card. Orange gain an animal card (either from the animal mat or the top of the deck). Brown allow you to move your squirrel up the tree board. Yellow gain you a sun token and red allow you to grow a mushroom, by either placing a baby mushroom or growing a baby to an adult mushroom. The sun tokens are important as once per turn, a player may spend 3 sun tokens to move the season marker forward. Advancing the season token forward keeps the game moving. When a player advances the season token, they will earn any benefits written on the space. If the player crosses the frost line, the season immediately ends and all players will choose one type of forest animal to their winter den. These animals will earn acorns at the end of the game.

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Objective

The objective of Leaf is to earn as many acorns as possible by the end of the game. There are a number of ways to earn acorns. Acorns can be earned by climbing higher into the tree, growing mushrooms on the forest floor, moving animals into your winter den, and ending the game with sun tokens or leaf cards. There are so many different ways to earn acorns. You will want to strategize on what you will prioritize during game play. Keep an eye on other players too, as you may be able to stunt their efforts. For example, if you and another player are both be going after the same animal type, it may be a good idea to switch tactics.

Final Thoughts

I had originally picked up Leaf thinking it would be a cute game to capture a fall theme. I left feeling a deep sense of gratitude to the creators. From the time you open the box until the time you score, you feel the love the creators put into this game. Very few games can be both competitive and relaxing at the same time. The artistry of the leaf and animals are stunning and create a deeper sense of immersion into a deciduous forest moving though the seasons. The storage compartments built into the box are unlike any I have seen before and the playe It made me want to go camping and adopt box turtles as friends. I will happily be playing this game for years to come. To order your own copy of Leaf CLICK HERE

Are you going to give Leaf  a try? What other games would you like to see us review? We would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions in the comments. Be sure to check back here at Variant Ventures for all things Gaming & Entertainment!

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