Living Forest Review: Did This Deserve to Win the Kennerspiel?

My review of the 2022 Kennerspiel des Jahres winner Living Forest. Did this game deserve to win or even be nominated to the most prestigious award in board gaming?
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0:00 - Introduction
00:38 - Overview
09:23 - Final Thoughts
BGG: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/328479/living-forest
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[@aimajica]

This game also won the "As d'or" in France in the "initiate" category (it was also the less compelling of the three games in competition: Living Forest, Nouvelles contRées & my favourite Oltréé). It's a solid game with an interesting mashup of existing mechanisms, but I am also kind of surprised by this result. Cryptid was, for sure, the most innovative and exciting game of the three and I was also rooting for it. That being said, "Living Forest" had BIG advantages over its competitors: it has a great production value, a wonderful table presence, and a lot of gorgeous artworks by Apolline Etienne. On those criteria, it had a clear lead. Esthetics and production probably pushed him just enough to go past its rivals in the end.

[@jeremyfrost3127]

Fantastic overview and review, although I disagree with the conclusion (somewhat). I think you understand the potential of the game better than most reviewers I’ve watched. After 30+ plays on BGA, I can attest to what a solid design this is with the caveat that it shines with equally experienced players. It’s both highly tactical AND strategic, and game balance holds up with repeated play. It’s currently out of stock at Asmodee, so it’s definitely selling very well. I would argue that as experienced gamers, if we played Splendor for the first time today, we’d almost certainly say it was uninteresting. Set aside the nostalgia, let’s be real: it’s uninteresting. But what the discerning gamer will admit is that Splendor is an excellent design. And I would argue that Living Forest is equally excellent, and it has the potential to light the hobby fire in gateway gamers in the same way it’s predecessors did. It has extraordinary depth for a simple rule set and unlike many gateway games today that lean towards multiplayer solitaire (including Cascadia), it has loads of subtle player interaction that adds that tension that makes a game design shine (like Splendor). Is it my favorite of the year? Not even close. Like you, it’s not interesting enough for me to continue playing. But I agree with both the nomination and the win. The Kennerspiel should award excellence, and I think this game is excellent in art, design, balance, and accessibility, and newer gamers will get loads of play out of this.

[@TheGameBoyGeeks]

Great thoughts here Jeremy! I thought Splendor was much more interesting than this on the first play. Most of my Top 10 Family Games of 2021 I feel were better than this and in the same weight range. I’m still shocked others didn’t get nominated over this, but the SDJ is such a weird and impossible process to understand which games were even considered or played that match their criteria (timeline of release, in German, etc). Maybe some of the ones we thought were shoe ins never officially when got submitted to them. I’d love to hear exactly how their process works and what their guidelines are for considering and submitting.

[@TheDarkever]

Living Forest's mechanics are deeper than a first look might suggest. Just to give an example among many, the three completely different victory conditions correspond roughly to the 3 Magic the Gathering deck archetypes: aggro (fire), control (trees), and combo (lotuses). You could concentrate on a single one, but you also need to adapt your game to counter what other players do, often developing all three of them to avoid losing the endgame tie-breaker. It's of course also a game of luck, but there are so many nuanced aspects that put all together create a game that is more than the sum of its part, with a gorgeous presentation to top it all.

[@dougiehockeym8071]

Just wanted to say you do the best rules gameplay overviews! Always clear and engaging.

[@TheGameBoyGeeks]

Thanks Dougie! I appreciate that!

[@cursivecurses]

I'm about 25 games in on BoardGameArena and it's more subtle than it looks

[@twinkle04evr]

Which one of these three do you like the best? Meadow, Living Forest or the new Evergreen? Thanks.

[@TheGameBoyGeeks]

Evergreen by a mile

[@helxis]

Seems like an iteration on Quacks (a previous Kennerspiel winner), which is a game that I find about as interesting as you find this one. Many people *love* Quacks, though, and I suspect that will also be true for this. These feel like games designed to please the average person rather than the hobbyist board gamers. Same with Cascadia. I find that one to be rather boring, with a low skill ceiling and basically no interaction. However, my casual players gobble it up like an addictive drug that they can't get enough of.

[@TheGameBoyGeeks]

I didn’t like Quacks either!

[@Tr1n1tyNZ]

Interesting review. I bought and played Quacks once based on the hype, then sold it. Played Cascadia once, not interested in playing again - not sure why it’s so popular. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@AkmalGameAtion]

yes it deserves to win

[@bradleyhayward7122]

Liked this at first, but it has extremely limited replay value. Disappointed in this KDJ pick. Nobody will be playing this game in a year.

[@reksilog]

It's just mystic vale

[@TheGameBoyGeeks]

The main mechanism is definitely inspired by Mystic Vale, but it feels very different from that game

[@lajeit]

No.

[@JohnQSpartan]

Never heard of it, and after watching this it doesn't look that great.