The Grimm Forest
At long last (about a week later than expected), we have played The Grimm Forest!
If you've kept up with us on Twitter, you already know that this week has been a whirlwind of sorts. The kids are back in school, Benji is in gymnastics, we went to a birthday party for a sibling group of quadruplets, and more.
Tonight, we game.
The Grimm Forest was one of the first tabletop games I backed on Kickstarter. I was immediately drawn in by the production value invested in it, both by the amazing artwork and the detailed tokens and miniatures. Plus, it didn't hurt that Druid City Games' James Hudson is a fellow Alabama-ian. James has since joined Skybound as their Senior Director of Tabletop Games, and continues to release games under the Druid City label.
***Note: Druid City/Skybound recently completed another Kickstarter with The Grimm Forest's creator Tim Eisner...Tidal Blades - Heroes of the Reef. There's still time to join the project and get all of the fantastic stretch goal bonuses!***
The Grimm Forest is a fairly difficult game to teach younger gamers. I would encourage the adult running the game to read the rules ahead of time so that they can determine which mechanics will be harder to understand for the children they are playing with. Some mechanics can be altered, or removed altogether, in order to make your playthrough more accessible for kids. This is an amazingly rich game with well-written mechanics. If your children are able to understand them, I wholeheartedly suggest that you play the game as written.
During setup, each player receives a pig token (one of the Three Little Pigs, plus one for the four-player game), a set of location cards (Fields, Forest, and Brickyard), and a game board to build your houses upon. The players will be sending their pigs to the locations in order to collect resources (straw, wood, and brick) with which they will build their houses. The first little pig to build three houses of any type wins the game.
There are lots of little bits and pieces, so be wary if your children like to put things in their mouths, or if you have pets that like to jump on to tables. Each of the three house types is built from a floor, walls, and roof. There are beautifully designed miniatures for the piggies, the Big Bad Wolf, and several other monsters that you may encounter. The three resources come in single and multiple denominations, which gives an excellent opportunity for teaching currency exchange and value.
The Grimm Forest consists of two main phases: Gather and Build. During the Gather phase, each player selects the location they will send their pig to (in secret!) by setting aside the corresponding location card. The selected location cards are revealed, and each player moves their little piggy token to the location they had chosen. If two or more pigs arrive at the same location, they must split the resources evenly.
In addition to choosing a location, each player may elect to play a Fable card during the gather phase. This mechanic definitely adds to the fun for older and/or more experienced gamers, but can make things difficult for younglings. I'd suggest leaving the Fable cards in the box until they've played the games a few times. Sorry, Mr. Eisner, if I'm breaking your game!
During the Build phase, each player gets to take two actions. They can build one section of a house, draw a Fable card, pick up one of any resource, or play a Special Action from the Friend card they have in play. The Friend cards are obtained when a player constructs the wall portion of any house. They add additional mechanics which, like Fables, activate at various designated points in either phase.
Again...while I greatly appreciate the depth of this game as written, I'd suggest omitting the Friend cards until your children understand the other mechanics of the game.
Play continues, alternating phases, until one of the piggies has constructed three houses of any type. Once they have done so, complete the Build phase so that the other players have a chance to take their turn. If two or more players have completed three houses by the end of the final build phase, the winner is determined by the piggy who built the most "durable" houses. Brick is better than wood; wood is better than straw.
Truth be told, I did not omit the Friend and Fable cards during this playthrough. The aforementioned alterations I suggested were merely in hindsight. During gameplay, I found myself having to keep up with everyone's cards as they trigger mechanics at various stages of each phase. Introducing the Friend and Fable cards after everyone is familiar with the phases would allow each player to track their own cards more effectively.
It may be advantageous to select some of the Friend and/or Fable cards to introduce each time you play, so that your children can become familiar with each of them over time.
Benjamin and Isaiah really enjoy The Grimm Forest, and they improve every time we play. Isaiah says that "it is challenging...but not too challenging." He particularly enjoys telling me about each of the stories that the various characters come from. Benji didn't have any comments after this game, other than he was ready for dinner.
Tomorrow, join us for Dice Throne! We'll be playing with characters from Seasons One and Two, probably in a tournament of sorts. I fully plan to lose, as usual.
If you've kept up with us on Twitter, you already know that this week has been a whirlwind of sorts. The kids are back in school, Benji is in gymnastics, we went to a birthday party for a sibling group of quadruplets, and more.
Tonight, we game.
The Grimm Forest was one of the first tabletop games I backed on Kickstarter. I was immediately drawn in by the production value invested in it, both by the amazing artwork and the detailed tokens and miniatures. Plus, it didn't hurt that Druid City Games' James Hudson is a fellow Alabama-ian. James has since joined Skybound as their Senior Director of Tabletop Games, and continues to release games under the Druid City label.
***Note: Druid City/Skybound recently completed another Kickstarter with The Grimm Forest's creator Tim Eisner...Tidal Blades - Heroes of the Reef. There's still time to join the project and get all of the fantastic stretch goal bonuses!***
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| The game is enclosed in a sleeve that resembles an beautifully bound tome |
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| So many pieces! ...and there are more underneath the trays! |
There are lots of little bits and pieces, so be wary if your children like to put things in their mouths, or if you have pets that like to jump on to tables. Each of the three house types is built from a floor, walls, and roof. There are beautifully designed miniatures for the piggies, the Big Bad Wolf, and several other monsters that you may encounter. The three resources come in single and multiple denominations, which gives an excellent opportunity for teaching currency exchange and value.
 |
| Setup is complete, but I think I needed more coffee. |
The Grimm Forest consists of two main phases: Gather and Build. During the Gather phase, each player selects the location they will send their pig to (in secret!) by setting aside the corresponding location card. The selected location cards are revealed, and each player moves their little piggy token to the location they had chosen. If two or more pigs arrive at the same location, they must split the resources evenly.
In addition to choosing a location, each player may elect to play a Fable card during the gather phase. This mechanic definitely adds to the fun for older and/or more experienced gamers, but can make things difficult for younglings. I'd suggest leaving the Fable cards in the box until they've played the games a few times. Sorry, Mr. Eisner, if I'm breaking your game!
During the Build phase, each player gets to take two actions. They can build one section of a house, draw a Fable card, pick up one of any resource, or play a Special Action from the Friend card they have in play. The Friend cards are obtained when a player constructs the wall portion of any house. They add additional mechanics which, like Fables, activate at various designated points in either phase.
Again...while I greatly appreciate the depth of this game as written, I'd suggest omitting the Friend cards until your children understand the other mechanics of the game.
 |
| Isaiah often insists on "helping" Benjamin decide how to play. |
Play continues, alternating phases, until one of the piggies has constructed three houses of any type. Once they have done so, complete the Build phase so that the other players have a chance to take their turn. If two or more players have completed three houses by the end of the final build phase, the winner is determined by the piggy who built the most "durable" houses. Brick is better than wood; wood is better than straw.
Truth be told, I did not omit the Friend and Fable cards during this playthrough. The aforementioned alterations I suggested were merely in hindsight. During gameplay, I found myself having to keep up with everyone's cards as they trigger mechanics at various stages of each phase. Introducing the Friend and Fable cards after everyone is familiar with the phases would allow each player to track their own cards more effectively.
It may be advantageous to select some of the Friend and/or Fable cards to introduce each time you play, so that your children can become familiar with each of them over time.
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| I was the first to build three houses, and claimed the victory...this time. |
Tomorrow, join us for Dice Throne! We'll be playing with characters from Seasons One and Two, probably in a tournament of sorts. I fully plan to lose, as usual.
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