Spooky Forest is a recent game/puzzle from Alexander Shen. I’m scared to say the latest game since Shen so routinely publishes quirky, charming PnP games that I can’t keep up lol
I’ll be honest. The last few games I’ve learned by Shen haven’t really engaged me. They’ve been interesting and I will play them again but none of them have been games that will make regular rotation. Spooky Forest, though, that’s looking to be a regular game for me.
It’s a flip-and write where you are filling in a four-by-four grid. There are four symbols: rocks, trees, ghosts, and skulls. Symbols can _not_ be drawn next to the last symbol drawn. Except for rocks, which must be.
The game ends when you’ve either filled in the entire grid or you can’t make a legal move. Ghost and skulls are worth two points when paired together (and each symbol can be part of multiple pairs) and negative three points if alone. Blank spaces are also worth negative three points. Trees are worth a point as long as they are in a group of at least three. Rocks aren’t worth anything.
Spooky Forest is very simple but the placement restrictions are enough to make it work. While you know the kind of patterns you need to make to optimize the score, the restrictions, particularly the rock one, keep you from mindlessly filling out the grid.
The game also has a puzzle option. Instead of using the deck of eighteen cards for the flip-and-write option, there is a fifty-four card deck, each with a pre generated draw. I didn’t expect the puzzle deck to interest me but it effectively allows me to reduce the game to two pieces plus a dry erase marker, which makes a quick game/puzzle really convenient.
Shen works with these small spaces, puzzles and games that fit into coffee break time frames. Not all of them take off but some of them just really balance simplicity and whimsy and actual decisions. And Spooky Forest is one of them.
While brevity is one of Shen’s virtues, the cramped grid actually is one of the keys to making Spooky Forest not a mindless exercise. The restriction on placing a rock is the other key. If it wasn’t for rocks, you could just make a checkerboard of skulls and ghosts with an outline of trees. Rocks not only ruin your carefully made plans, they can end a game early.
Don’t get me wrong. Spooky Forest is a very simple game that uses mechanics and paradigms that are well worn. It’s a comfortable pair of old shoes that you wear for a nice walk around the garden. It’s got just enough going on to make the couple minutes of play fun.
Spooky Forest is an example why I always look when I see Alexander Shen’s name.
No comments:
Post a Comment