Designers:  Pierpaolo Paoletti, Michael Schacht (China, Coloretto, Hansa, Web of Power, Zooloretto)

Artist: Natalie Dombois (Kiwetin, Spirits of the Forest)

Publisher:  ThunderGryph Games (Spirits of the Forest, Tang Garden, Tao Long: The Way of the Dragon)

Genre/Mechanisms: abstract strategy, card drafting, cooperative game, expansion, set collection, solo/solitaire game

Funding Status: At the time of this posting, Spirits of the Forest: Moonlight is already fully-funded. Pledges currently total almost 8x the initial funding goal with 2 days left to go on the campaign.

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode:  yes

Complexity: light

Risk: medum-low

What It’s About: “Cooperative and multiplayer scenario-based expansion for Spirits of the Forest. In the base game, players compete to acquire the most spirit symbols, which are bound to a different element of nature. Each turn, a player drafts up to two spirit tiles from the forest, collects favor tokens, and moves, places, or recovers gemstones.”

How It Works: “Spirits of the Forest is played over multiple turns. On each turn, a player collects tiles, examines favor tokens, and places gemstones. Once a turn is complete, the player to the left takes a turn and the game continues in clock-wise order around the table.”

“On each turn, the player collects tiles from either of the two ends of the forest choosing one of the following actions: Take a tile of a color with two spirits symbols on it, or Take up to two tiles of the same color that each have only one spirit symbol. After collecting tiles, the player organizes them by color and places them face up on top of each other so that only the spirit symbols and power source icons are showing. If a player collected a tile with a favor token on it, they also secretly examine the favor token and place it face down in front of themselves. Favor tokens with spirit symbols or power source icons remain hidden until the end of the game. They count as an additional spirit symbol or power source icon when scoring.”

“Once the player has collected tiles, they may choose to place one of their gemstones on a spirit tile in the forest. The gemstone may be placed on any spirit tile that does not already have a gemstone on it. Gemstones can be placed on spirit tiles that have favor tokens on them. If a player has no gemstones left in front of them, they may move one of their gemstones on the table from one tile to another as long as the destination tile does not already have a gemstone on it. By placing a gemstone on a spirit tile, that player attempts to reserve that tile for a future turn. If the player collects the reserved tile on a future turn, they also collect their gemstone and can place it again that turn or on future turns.”

“Players continue taking turns until all tiles have been collected from the forest.  Then players reveal any favor tokens they’ve collected and determine how many nature points they have. Spirits: Each player counts how many spirit symbols (not spirit tiles) they have for each of the nine spirits including any spirit symbols on collected favor tokens. The player with more spirit symbols for a particular spirit scores nature points equal to the amount of spirits symbols the player has. All other players score no points. If players are tied for the most spirit symbols for a spirit, all tied players score nature points equal to the amount of spirits symbols they have. If a player has no spirit tiles for a given spirit, deduct three nature points from their score. Favor tokens are not counted when determining if the player loses these points. Power Sources: Power sources are scored in the same way as spirits. Each players counts how many power source icons they have for each of the three power sources (Fire / Moon / Sun) they have, including any power source icons on collected favor tokens. The player with more power source icons for a particular power source scores nature points equal to the amount of icons the player has. All other players score no points. If players are tied for the most power source icons for a particular power source, all tied players score nature points equal to the amount of icons they have. If a player has no power source icons on the spirit tile for a given power source, deduct three nature points from their score. Favor tokens are not counted when determining if the player loses these points. The player with the most nature points is the winner. In case of a tie, the player with the least number of tiles among the tied players is the winner.”

The new Moonlight expansion includes 26 different scenarios.

Comparisons: Several other very light card drafting and set collection games include Archaeology: The New Expedition, Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra, Biblios, Cat Lady, Century: Golem Edition, Century: Spice Road, Coloretto, Dream Home, Eight-Minute Empire: Legends, Fairy Tale, Fantasy Realms, Jaipur, Linko!, Majesty: For the Realm, Morels, Point Salad, Port Royal, Rise of Augustus, Sagrada, Splendor, Sushi Go!, Sushi Go! Party, Ticket to Ride, Ticket to Ride: Europe, Ticket to Ride: New York, Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries, and World’s Fair 1893.

What Should I Pledge?:
$18 SotF: Moonlight expansion (cardboard): the cardboard version of the new expansion, access to the digital game, and all unlocked stretch goals.
$31 SotF: Moonlight expansion (wooden): the wooden version of the new expansion, access to the digital game, and all unlocked stretch goals. The wooden version of the Moonlight expansion upgrades the following components from cardboard: 4 Eclipse tokens, 2 Nocturnal Creature meeples, 14 tiles, and 8 Moonlight meeple “bits.”
$36 Base game + Moonlight Bundle (cardboard): includes everything in the SotF: Moonlight expansion (cardboard) pledge level, plus a copy of the cardboard edition of the base game.
$71 Base game + Moonlight Bundle (wooden): includes everything in the SotF: Moonlight expansion (wooden) pledge level, plus a copy of the wooden edition of the base game. The wooden version of the base game upgrades the following components from cardboard: 48 Spirit tiles, 15 Favor tokens, and 12 Plastic player stones (from smaller gemstones); and also includes the Seasons mini-expansion with 16 Wooden Season Tokens, the Air Spirit mini-expansion with 8 Wooden Spirit Tiles and 5 Metal Fireflies, and the Wishes & Hexes mini-expansion with 12 Wishes cards and 8 Hexes cards.

Add-Ons:
$4 Limited Edition Moonlight Bit (to indicate difficulty change)
$6 Moonlight Journal (translated versions)
$7 Aether Stones (3)
$7 Arctic Wolf Mini-Expansion (free for returning backers)
$6 Creator Journal

KS Exclusives
The wooden version of the game is a Kickstarter Exclusives, which includes all of the various mini-expansions. It is not anticipated that the wooden, deluxe version of the game will again be reprinted after this Kickstarter campaign.

All-In Total: In the continental U.S., you’re looking at $71 for the Base game + Moonlight Bundle (wooden), $4 for the Limited Edition Moonlight Bit, $7 for the Arctic Wolf Mini-Expansion, and $19 in shipping for a total of $101.

Spirits of the Forest: Moonlight completes its Kickstarter on Wednesday, August 5th and tentatively ships in May 2021.