WOODS GOT THE GOODS (Forest Shuffle Review)

[@cube-drone]

"games that are twee" IT'S FULL OF TWEES, MATT

[@shutupandsitdown]

Too good

[@TheRealCodeBlack]

So if I tried to pitch this to someone and they were turned off by the design, could I say they "Couldn't See The Forest (Shuffle) For The Twees"?

[@SoloBattles]

Maybe there's a variation where you can lure (take) animals from other players' forests. It's called Copse and Robbers.

[@luigiscazzari4724]

Get this man an hedgehog

[@SoloBattles]

@@cube-drone There is unwest in the fowest, there is twouble with the twees...

[@OldSkooolGamer]

I watch boardgame reviews all over the internet. And god guys you're simply the best.

[@mahna_mahna]

This review definitely tracks with my experience of Forest Shuffle. It's just one of those games where what I built is much more important to me than how I'm doing. Last game I had a forest full of bats, and I won. I'm not sure if I scored more points than everyone else, but _I won._

[@martenvisser8483]

I laughed way too loudly that my brain immediately went "mahnamahnamahnamahna BATMAN!", while reading this comment

[@jeppekjr4618]

Man, susd videos are SO good. I wish they made way more, but i'm just happy that they're still going:)

[@frangelic87]

Same, been watching for years. Good to see them still going strong.

[@Legrandfrigidaire]

Good review, liked the fox Never mind, liked the mushroom even more

[@PetrVojtech]

I love the David Attenborough part :D :D

[@ThelemicMagick]

Seems like a mad biologist crossed Earth with Meadow and Arboretum, three of my favourite board games. Just ordered a copy, thanks for the recommendation!

[@heikesiegl2640]

Was just going to say that^^ and also Fungi

[@daili4917]

That ending makes me wish there's a Matt Lees card in the deck, just peeking from behind a tree.

[@seanfsmith]

there is on the BGA implementation either that or he's trading with the hat man again

[@DrMcFly28]

Cool I'm convinced, I'm going to my FLGS right away and ask for a small card game with the fox in the forest

[@GregariousBant]

"another player is collecting lizards and I have some of those" (shows two amphibians)

[@adamhunt7892]

I played with my 10-year-old the other evening, and I kept calling the amphibians "lizards", too. She got SO PISSED OFF with me.

[@bearhustler]

Matt has history of deliberately (I assume) misidentifying animals😂

[@twoflower9239]

Man, I had a very full and piping hot cup of tea up to my very lips when Matt mentioned the "damp hole". Thanks SU&SD! I'm now a burn victim.😅

[@SoloBattles]

I ordered a copy. I hope you're happy. 😃 What tipped me into the "must get" bin was when you specified that this was a game that focused on creating options, not preventing creative game play. The test for this is what usually happens when someone asks, "can I do this?" Do you say, ABSOLUTELY! or do you say "NO EFFING WAY! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO, HAVE FUN?!"

[@bearhustler]

Unfortunately I've heard that that's not quite the case and theres some strategy that involves wolves and deer that out performs any other tactics...I'd always want to take insects and amphibians.

[@mahna_mahna]

More than anything, you're competing against _yourself._ You'll want to play almost every single card in your hand and never get rid of anything. It's all just so precious and has so much potential. It's delicious torture.

[@SoloBattles]

​@bearhustler I bought it and play it, now. While the wolf strategy is strong, it doesn't work once everybody knows about it and is either doing it themselves, or trying to prevent you from doing it. There is no strategy where you can say, "Just do this, and you'll win."

[@mahna_mahna]

@@SoloBattles It's the general problem with the hobby as it is today. Most people play most games once or twice before they're on to the new hotness. Three times? You must LOVE it! In an environment like that, sure, there are winners. Especially if one persons first play is with someone else's third play. You can absolutely have strategies that are instant win in many games when you're playing with people who are just trying to figure out *ANY* strategy. I don't think it's fair to judge a game based off that.

[@SoloBattles]

@@mahna_mahna I think you mistook me for the gentle.an that I was responding to. I think the game is not broken, and rewards many plays.

[@BoardwithMeandMyself]

Played this tons of times, especially the great BGA implementation. Especially shines with the alpine expansion

[@ashwinkamath4598]

Playing on BGA is amazing. It's harder to play in person, lol

[@SenetTheSnek]

Great review and be safe you guys.

[@dadsandgames]

Great review Matt. Added this one to the wishlist.

[@Styrophoamicus]

Getting through that first playthrough of a new game is always challenging. I find that as long as the players know how to play and find the rules intuitive enough, even if they lose they'll realize how to score properly next time around and be more likely to pick it up again

[@remitheriault6622]

What timing to have caught the elusive forest shuffler in action in its natural element, congratulations!

[@joshuagrahamcrackers]

It's interesting you mentioned Arboretum because I was thinking about that from the moment I clicked on the video. I've found myself lately with more of a yearing for these kinds of games in my collection. I still enjoy the vast sci-fi epics like Xia and TI4, the dastardly conniving Dune and Junta, the cunning dance of Fury of Dracula and Beast. I could go on, but the point is that sometimes it's nice to just sit down and make a nice nature preserve with pretty trees and fluffy animals.

[@rickvantonder6127]

Cool video thanks. I ordered this game and now I'm very excited to get it and play. Also, I do like it when content creators try to be funny and succeed!

[@SPQRKlio]

Perfect timing-I was sitting here staring at this game in my cart wondering if it had bewitched me enough to buy it.

[@SocksAndPuppets]

There's a distinct feel of Lost Cities to this...

[@Jumbocrableg]

Tons of lost cities vibes here.

[@jenspoder8322]

Love the mechanic, where you play cards to a shared card pool, to play other cards. It works so great in Ethnos.

[@missamo80]

Definitely gives Arboretum vibes with the drawing from the discard pile and using the discard pile as an ever-optimistic extension of your hand. Plus the interplay of wanting to hold things to either use or screw over your opponent? Sounds tasty.

[@typektypowy]

@2:12 thats not what a chaffinch sounds like xD

[@nazokashii]

Seems like a really lovely, beautiful game :D thank you for sharing

[@TisJarJarBinks21]

Intro and exit were… hilarious. Well done

[@Architectofawesome]

I like how right away when I saw the layout of the game somehow I like it.

[@ajtame]

Im so glad I already own this before the costs soared. I love this game

[@littlemonztergaming8665]

I'm ordering this game, it has a lot of the simple rumi & sorta-mean mechanics that I'll be able to play with grandparents w/o it being a big sell

[@GambitsEnd]

Not sure how I haven't seen this game before, it's exactly the kind of game I like.

[@cogito_edo_sum3372]

Thinking about getting this game, inviting friends to play, invest all my turns in getting all the foxes and never discard them just to say "0 fox given" when they inevitably win with strategies based on other animals.

[@_malprivate2543]

Matt with a moustache looks like a young Kurt Vonnegut. Very dashing!

[@JHuntjens88]

Great review, Matt. We bought our copy last year at Essen SPIEL and it has swiftly become one of our favourite cardgames! Really crafty.

[@lrthedude]

For ultimate immersion, you can't go wrong playing this game in the forest with your friends while listening to Cupid Shuffle on repeat.

[@VorpalSlade]

Then do the Skyrim Shuffle when you win

[@thomassimeroth701]

Reminds me a lot of Ethnos / Archaeos Society. Discarding cards back to the supply, and drawing three special cards to end the round are two key mechanics of these games

[@jokerES2]

Well, thanks for making a lil' video about it after feeling you should make a lil' video about it.

[@seanfsmith]

i'm here after emily raved about this on the pod **go trees!**

[@andymcguire237]

Scoring IRL in hellish though. Also, that Deer/Wolves broken strategy killed this one for me, personally.

[@FloorSB]

I could watch planet boardgames all day

[@kanedafx]

Love the gameplay. Hoping for a 2nd edition to fix deer + wolf imbalance.

[@SolviKaaber]

Such a lovely game, I go a different strategy every time. The expansion is also fantastic

[@WFierce]

Instructions unclear: I put my stamped, self-addressed envelope in the clearing, but I'm not sure how many cards it counts as.

[@seanmcgowan4842]

Elevendy

[@kubrickfan101]

God I love me a tableau

[@Brighton24601]

We have always been at war with Kerflufflia…

[@ericsmith9212]

Looks like a great family game.

[@sjlawton]

This game is fantastic but the expansion is necessary to balance it out. There is definitely a dominant strategy in the base game

[@darinherrick9224]

Thanks for review. I still haven’t played my copy and need motivation.

[@fireant202]

omgomgomg PUT A BIRD ON IT!

[@jacktongeman]

Great review as always! Would be curious to hear what the expansions are like; are they more for people who have played it a ton and want to add a new flavour, or does it have some fundamental change to the games flow/structure?

[@Timkerbel]

Thanks for the review! How do you know what to pay to use the bonus? It's not clear in the rule book.

[@HoudiniSplicer]

Beautiful review, also when can we expect another review from Emily? It seems awhile now since the last came out.

[@fordprefect6151]

someone should really build a warehouse for all these pork futures

[@matijapospis4367]

I was delighted by that reference, having just read Men at Arms last week

[@AlexLarzelere3]

I've really liked playing it on BGA, the only issue is that wolf/deer is so powerful. I think the expansion helps balance it a bit, but if not everyone knows about it, it can be rough

[@timjamespettigrew]

Love this! Piggy army!❤

[@DanielSolis]

Butterfly / Hedgehog combo is the way to go.

[@MrSaturn012]

Was just rewatching the EARTH review, so this is remarkably on-brand

[@burrliese3810]

This looks fun, reminds me of Fungi. The only thing I don't quite like is the 3rd winter card ending the game, because what if it pops up early and cuts the game short? That would just suck.

[@andrewoconnor8180]

We see you sneaking that Majora's Mask coaster in the video

[@eliehrenfeld4508]

Sounds oddly similar (in playstyle) to new favorite hansa teutonica

[@siiimom9304]

Forest Shuffle is a good game, but the end game scoring is just insanely complicated for how streamlined and nice the play experience is.

[@ImagenaryFriendd]

Did you just say that you can take cards from the clearing when a card says you can draw cards? My rulebook explicitly states that you can only draw from the deck in these instances, so you can’t take back the cards you just paid for that card. As in, they put that in bold letters in the rulebook. Do you maybe have an older version of the game where it is allowed?

[@alexanderbrady5486]

I would echo the vibe-sy "toothless" feeling, especially at 2P. I was successful at teaching this game to my non-hobbyist family, but I would say the iconography, but it was right on the edge. Ultimately, I think the game might be too smooth. I had more success with something like Azul, which was simpler to learn and also allowed my family to be a bit mean to each other in a more consequential way. But it will probably depend on your family and how the sit on the rules complexity / meanness of interaction spectrum.

[@Maspital]

I'm honestly very surprised to see this game receive such a positive review. I wouldn't call it broken, but it it's so utterly imbalanced (regarding deers/wolves) that it plays itself, with the strategy being as follows: - Play as many deers and wolves as possible, leveraging the matching boni. - Don't have any? Get as much card draw as possible, ideally while getting a few points here and there. Best cards for this purpose are Raccoon and Tanny Owl, but things like Douglas Fir and Eurasian Jay can work too. - That's it. Anything else shouldn't be played unless it is super efficient, like a European Badger/Silver Fir with a Lynx, or if you really have nothing else to do (in which case you're probably going to lose the game). This is at it's worst at 2p and 3p. Higher player counts don't really "solve" this, just make it more unreliable. My win rate after ~50 2p/3p plays (mostly BGA) was >90% (I've played so much because I'm petty and wanted to prove a point), and if you look at the top players on BGA, *ALL* of them pursue this exact strategy. I don't know if the expansion fixes this, I couldn't be bothered to play it. It's a real shame, art and theme is spot an, but there really isn't any reason to -play- own this (edited, sounded a bit harsh).

[@RichardHaywardMelbourne]

Cunning plan, Baldric!

[@chrism7395]

Designed by Kosh? I shall have to play at The Hour Of Scampering

[@flow3730]

Forest Shuffle basically replaced Ark Nova for us.

[@christopherbarnette8350]

I did have to look up the definition of twee. Today I learned.

[@RTopes]

Evil Matt is the best Matt

[@VinnyByt]

(@4:33) "choo-sing"? That's really how you want to hyphenate that?

[@Prlwy-T]

Getting Jumpdrive vibes from the card buying by discarding! But less random since you draw from a market than blind drawing?

[@Jonaelize]

How does it compare to "Meadow"?

[@Merlandese]

another great, snappy animals game is LURE

[@gijoe250]

This sounds similar to ethnos, I dont think it seems worth it to have both except maybe for the visuals. I do also prefer area control, thats probably the biggest difference

[@maximilian9000]

Matthew Elizabeth Lees, how are you? Everything okay?

[@bearhustler]

I appreciate what you did there. I insert Elizabeth into my son's name when I'm pretending to be cross with him and not until he was 15 did I explain why.

[@VorpalSlade]

I'm confused, we could find nothing in the rules about putting cards voluntarily into the cave. Is this a 'patch' from the developers? The only way we could see to put cards into the cave is with the Bear or Raccoon.

[@SmashingPlastic]

This game certainly reminds me of “something” but I can’t put my finger on it

[@Flea_ip]

The writing in this video is *chef's kiss*

[@kirbyone]

I like what I see, but the most important question for me is: does it have an owl?

[@NikolajLepka]

sounds like a better version of Fungi

[@neilwalker4277]

You missed out some fundamental rules. At the end of the game: 1. Those who played most wolves and deer automatically win 2. Those who played the most butterflies automatically lose 3. Those who used the cave the most gets laughed at for wasting their time 4. Scoring must take longer than the actual gameplay and at least one person has to calculate their score wrong In addition, if you have the expansion: 1. You get points for collecting rabbits, but some rabbits aren't rabbits for scoring and while the new rabbit cards have enough space to tell you this, they don't because they'd rather resign it to a small note in the instructions so everyone forgets about it and plays the game wrong

[@WanderingLunatic]

Yeah it's a fun game but feels a little underdeveloped with regards game balance.

[@NormalTheBand]

Looks like Matt being stuck doing the heavy lifting now that Tom has sold his soul to Cole Wehrle

[@SIZModig]

Print some Pork-Coins to put in your Pork-Quets!

[@ConeDefense]

Great game UNTIL you realize the Deer Wolf strategy is so overwhelming. You can defend it… by participating in it. Alpine helps, but only a little since it’s only 36 cards max (depending on deck distribution).

[@adamhunt7892]

Deer-wolf kills me, I wish it was easier to counter, or harder to pull off. Playing with two of my kids, and the younger one just randomly got two wolves and three deer down, and he got more points than me and his sister combined.

[@saron95662]

Maybe I’m not smart but I have no idea what a twe game is

[@murrayjeffree8245]

What a beautiful bastard

[@ajtame]

My god this game is a huge table hog if you go tree strategy

[@BenGreen1980]

Rules correction: If you discard cards that make the clearing have MORE than 10 cards, you discard them 1 at a time and trash the clearing when it hits 10. So you can selectively dump some of your cards forever, while saving some goodies for yourself.

[@dilraen]

Hmm, where in the rules does it say so? The number of cards in the clearing is checked only at the end of turn, not when playing cards.

[@openfire2691]

No, the rule as explained in the video is correct. Here’s what the rulebook says on page 6 under “Checking the Clearing” (emphasis from the source): “At the end of your turn, if there are **10 or more** cards in the clearing, the clearing must be **emptied**. Remove all cards from the clearing and return them to the game box.”

[@georgiiparkin]

Dissent game

[@grungekids11]

Matt sounds like Capt. Jack Sparrow. Savvy?

[@Timmysteve]

🦡🦡🦡🦡🍄🍄

[@BGBigMax]

So that mustache isn't ironic, is it?

[@Ovetupp]

I love it when SUSD refuses to meet a theme halfway and reduces the gameplay to something like "putting animals behind trees"

[@rhodesn7bgg716]

I don't often disagree with Shut Up & Sit Down, especially enough that I feel the need to speak up, but I had issues with this game. Too much luck of the draw with totally imbalanced cards. I honestly felt like the game didn't have any strategy.

[@lf2334]

Imagine disagreeing with something that is 100% subjective. Let me put your comment into perspective... you like the movie "Legally Blonde." I don't. Hope this helps.

[@rhodesn7bgg716]

​@@lf2334Correct. That is how opinions work. Would you prefer if everyone agreed? I personally prefer a variety of perspectives.

[@noeljonsson3578]

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[@noeljonsson3578]

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[@Noobwater]

yep!

[@ArnoVdVelde]

I found this game so forgetable.

[@simonbrowning5423]

Podcast on a hiatus. Should I keep hoping it will return?

[@violet_broregarde]

nature is cruel lmao

[@123LuffyDMonkey]

Why are all the games you review out of stock the moment SDSU posts a review ......... i saw this video, watched it. like the game and wanted to get it but noooooo its out of stock

[@andierothenhausler805]

First like, so proud :D

[@jordansmith1541]

9:30 yes, you are a terrible person