Image taken from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8778736/reforest-old-growth

Designer: Sébastien Bernier-Wong
Publisher: Firestarter Games
Artists: Janine van Fram, Maddy Vallée

Before I go into this review, please note that a print and play version of the prototype was provided by Sébastien for an honest review and overall feedback. Everything discussed here (no pictures because I cheaply printed these in black and white for free at work) is subject to change before the final production.

I’m not going to do a deep dive into the game mechanics because you can check out my other review on the base game for that. I’m just going to explain the exciting changes the expansion brings and my thoughts on it. Also, if you read my previous review, you will see that I adore the base game, so I had high hopes going into my plays with the expansion.

The first major inclusion in this expansion is additional cards that can be mixed into the base game, both plant cards and animal visitor cards. These new cards are really fun and different; I particularly like the new solo visitor challenges/requirements! They don’t change any mechanics, but they increase the variability and provide some interesting, unique challenges. Also, some new cards allow players to store animal visitor cards as energy rather than just plants.

Besides the additional cards and alterations mentioned, a couple of distinct modules are also included. The cards in this expansion can technically be played as a standalone game, which I find super neat, or they can be combined with the base game as expected. If you choose to play with only the expansion cards, there is a module that has to be introduced into the game, the expansion’s namesake, called the Old Growth Trees module. Here, there are duplicates of trees already present in the game, but some of these old growth trees introduce new keywords like “Reveal” that allows players to expose a covered plant effect, and “Regenerate” which permits the player to flip a card from stored energy into a plant in the same stack it came from at no cost. This module adds a really nice touch: the old growth trees can be “expensive” to play, but both the reveal and regenerate actions are killer, and they still provide a hefty number of points.

Apart from the Old Growth Trees, there is also a new Parasitic Plants module. When a player chooses to play a parasitic plant, they don’t have to “pay” for them, but some of these parasites require a certain type of plant or for a plant to have a specific trait. If achievable, the parasitic plant gets added to the stack where it falls in terms of height. Note that only one parasitic plant can be in each stack, as well as only one old growth tree is allowed in each stack.

My personal favorite new module is the Terrain module. During setup, three of these new cards get dealt to each player. After looking at the terrain cards, players select which card they want associated with each level in their tableau. Some of them have effects during set up, others during the game, and the rest have unique end-game scoring conditions. Although it’s a decently simple addition, it adds a whole other layer of strategy to an already surprisingly strategic game, and I love it! Not only do you have to decide at the commencement of the game at which elevation to place which card, but then your game play can also be affected by the cards you selected and their associated plant cards. It’s so simple and brilliant.

Lastly, this expansion adds more event cards that can be introduced into the game like the ones from the base game. In my previous review, one of my complaints regarding these event cards what their integration, or lack thereof, into the solo game. The new cards in this expansion fix that – each one can be included and used in a solo and/or multiplayer game.

As you can see, there is a lot of new content in this little expansion! The best part is that each module can be played singularly, or you can mix and match as you please. This provides an insane amount of replayability, especially when combined with the base game (which I already thought was highly variable)!

If you are a fan of the original Reforest, I personally find this expansion a no-brainer. If you don’t own the original and have been curious if it’s worth the plunge, it is. And this expansion makes it even more so, which I didn’t think was possible. This game is truly a gem; it’s a small portable box, the packaging is environmentally friendly, the artwork is stunning, and especially with this new expansion, it seems infinitely replayable.

Thanks, Sébastien, for the preview copy!! This game is incredible, and your design work is impeccable. Keeping being awesome and making fantastic games that are ecologically responsible!!