Designer:  Randy Flynn

Artist: Beth Sobel (Arboretum, Between Two Cities, Herbaceous, Lanterns: The Harvest Festival, Snow Tails, Viticulture, Viticulture Essential Edition, Wingspan, World’s Fair 1893)

Publisher:  Flatout Games (Calico)

Genre/Mechanisms: abstract strategy, drafting, pattern building, puzzle, tile placement

Funding Status: At the time of this posting, Cascadia is already fully-funded. In fact, pledges currently total more than 29x the initial funding goal with less than 2 days to go on the campaign!

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

What It’s About: “A puzzly tile-laying and token-drafting game featuring the habitats and wildlife of the Pacific Northwest.”

How It Works: “In Cascadia, players compete to create the most diverse Pacific Northwest environment as they draft Habitat Tiles and Wildlife Tokens to construct a beautiful landscape mosaic. Each game of Cascadia features unique combinations of scoring objectives linked to each of the five wildlife species. While arranging wildlife into the point scoring patterns, players will also be competing to create the largest contiguous habitat corridors. As players build out their environments they must pay careful attention to the habitats they create and the wildlife they populate them with, for the goal of creating the most harmonious ecosystem in Cascadia.”

“Beginning with the starting player and proceeding clockwise around the table, players will take turns drafting Habitat Tiles and Wildlife Tokens and arranging them into their expanding environment, until the end of the game. On each turn a player will select a Habitat Tile and Wildlife Token combination and play them into their environment. (Note: An environment is the full arrangement of tiles and tokens in front of each player that starts with their Starting Habitat Tile). At the end of each player’s turn, both the Habitat Tile and Wildlife Token selected will be replaced with new ones from the Habitat Tile stacks and Cloth Bag, respectively.”

“The game ends when there are no more Habitat Tiles available to replace one selected by a player. (Note: each player will play exactly 20 turns). Record scores on the Score Pad for the following: 1) Wildlife Scoring Cards, 2) Nature Tokens, 3) Habitat Tiles, and 4) Habitat Tile Majorities. The player with the most points is declared the winner.”

Comparisons: Some other well-regarded light to medium-light games that feature both drafting and tile placement include Among the Stars, Azul, Azul: The Stained Glass of Sintra, and The Isle of Cats.

What Should I Pledge?:
$29 Cascadia – Kickstarter Edition: includes the Kickstarter Edition of the game, the KS Promo Cards, all unlocked stretch goals, access to the print and play, and a thank-you on Flatout Games’ website.

Add-Ons:
None.

KS Exclusives
The KS Promos Cards will not be included with retail editions of the game.

All-In Total: In the continental U.S., you’re looking at $29 for Cascadia – Kickstarter Edition plus $9 in shipping for a total of $38.

Cascadia completes its Kickstarter on Wednesday, October 21st and tentatively ships in August 2021.