Image taken from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/7111048/wild-gardens

Designer: Isaac Vega
Publisher: Rose Gauntlet Entertainment
Artist: Alyssa Menold
Writers: Lindsey Rode, Isaac Vega

If you only read the beginning of this review (trust me, I get it), know this: Wild Gardens is an adorable, beautiful, fun, cozy game that I highly recommend for solo play. There is a specific solo scenario booklet that provides actual story chapters with unique rules, requirements, goals, and interactions and dialogue with different characters. All three expansions each have one additional solo scenario as well. Even though I have only experienced this solo thus far, I’ve gotten in at least fifteen plays just learning the game and working my way through the book and added scenarios. It’s truly phenomenal. I can only imagine the amount of work that was put into just the solo game itself. The book is so well thought out and each scenario is pages and pages long – it’s incredible. As a mostly solo gamer, I feel loved. 😂

Now that I got that out (more praise to come), let’s talk about actual game play! In Wild Gardens, you are frolicking in the forest to forage ingredients to cook meals and ultimately serve them to your guests. There are two main rounds (called trips), each made up of three days.

On the first day, you get to use all five action tokens (a 1, 2, 3, 4, and 1-4 which indicates the number of spaces you move) to either forage for ingredients, cook a meal, serve your guests, reserve a recipe card, or study in the library (provides you with skill tokens to benefit from throughout the game). One important caveat to cooking and serving: you have to be at a picnic table (icon on the board) to perform either of these actions. Overall, the actions are pretty self- explanatory and make logical, thematic sense.

There is always one location card face up that provides daily goodies. On the back of each location card, different benefits are placed in four quadrants – one for each of the four main movement values (1, 2, 3, 4). At the conclusion of each day, every player selects a preferred bonus (you can only get each benefit once per day) and places the corresponding turn marker in the dedicated spot and it remains there until the end of the trip (meaning you lose one action each day). Once three days have passed and one “trip” is complete, you do some resetting and shuffling and then retrieve all your action tokens for the second trip. At the end of the second trip, the game is over, and you calculate your points!

The art in this game is gorgeous. The path board is double sided, with both sides being unique in terms of color, vibe, and movement pattern(s). The components in the deluxe version are lovely, but even in the base game, the player meeples, scoring tokens, books (for the library), and action tokens are all thick wood. My only small complaint: I wish the action tokens had the movement numbers on both ends.

The theme is also adorable and shines through beautifully. Each action has a purpose for the goal of the game, so nothing feels thematically out of place. Even the studying action makes sense; after all, you need to know which mushrooms might be poisonous! Although the play time can get a little long, while playing, the game doesn’t feel long. It’s such an enjoyable experience that you get sucked into the game and don’t even realize how much time has passed.

Regarding the solo scenarios, they are laid out in a separate booklet (very organized) and are written very well and have stories that are silly and fun. Each feels unique and challenging in their own way. The first few are “basic” scenarios which are good for introductory play and getting the feel for the flow, but the latter half and all included in the expansions are advanced scenarios that definitely ramp up the difficulty (a few of them are actually quite tough!). I appreciate that different scenarios utilize unique characters, so you get to see and interact with most of the guests. They also contain specific milestones, set up instructions, and rules to add variety, freshness, and thematic integration. Even if you complete one by achieving all the milestones, there are still scoring goals you can work for which help with the replayability factor.

Mechanically, I appreciate the tension in the game from the limited number of turns and the decrease in action tokens after each day. There were many games when I felt I needed one or two more turns to either maximize my points or achieve all the milestones in the scenario.

Something else I really appreciate is that the design of the game facilitates multiple gaming experience levels. The mechanics are pretty simple and interconnected thematically to the game, so I could see this being very easy to teach. That being said, as a gamer that enjoys a mix of games (including heavy euros), while not being strategically complex, there is still a nice optimization puzzle in terms of maximizing your turns to achieve a specific outcome. Also, with the changing board, locations, people, and recipes, there is the need for adaptability.

In terms of the expansions, each comes with additional recipes, guests, and an extra location. The solo scenarios for each are linked to the added guests which make it fun, interesting, and different. If you have all three expansion packs, I’d highly recommend saving the media pack scenario for last. The ending feels like a very fitting and satisfying conclusion to the whole solo gaming adventure and experience. They also come in little seed packets which are adorable!

My only major complaint about this game is how fiddly it is, especially when resetting the board. Honestly, if this is my biggest issue, it’s a pretty solid game. It’s just a little irritating updating the skill tokens and source tokens, but I do understand the importance of refreshing them.

For me, this game is reminiscent of how I feel when I play Stardew Valley. It’s not a high stress game with deep decision making or a super complex puzzle, but playing it makes me happy. It transports me into a world where I get to have fun, cook, and spend time in the woods with friends. Who doesn’t want that?! Overall, I absolutely adore this game, and while I would love to play multiplayer someday, if I only ever play it solo, I will be more than content.