Ecological strategy board game

Forestal is an ecological strategy game for the whole family.

A game to entertain, but also to spread the word and participate in raising awareness among children and adults about the need and importance of caring for forests.

What does an ecological strategy game mean?

First and foremost, it is made of 100% wood and wood-derived products, thus reducing the carbon footprint and plastic consumption.

Second, by purchasing it, you actively participate in the regeneration of Spanish forests, as a portion of the money goes to reforestation projects.

And third, the game's philosophy is to learn through play and better understand the functioning and needs for the development, growth, and sustainability of trees and forests.

Forestal is a fast-paced, family-friendly ecological strategy game, where the only essential requirement to play is knowing how to add. The game aims to place the player in the reality of forests, where an excess of species and trees in a single area causes death and limits the growth of species. Based on this idea, the player must strategically place the trees on the different lands to ensure that the maximum number of trees of their species survive.

Preparation

Choose your trees

Each player must begin by choosing the tiles or tokens corresponding to one of the five tree species in the game (Oak, Elm, Chestnut, Maple, and Birch).

Land Board

The board is made up of individual tiles or circles ("lands"), each with a numerical value, starting with the lowest value, which is 2.

The lands are placed in a circle in ascending order of their values, clockwise.

Depending on the number of players, more or fewer lands will be used.

2 players: 7 lands

3 players: 9 lands

4 players: 10 lands

5 players: 11 lands

Mechanics

Players must place their trees one by one, taking turns, on the different lands that make up the board. The objective is to score the highest number of points at the end of each turn and to have the maximum number of accumulated points at the end of the 5 turns that each game consists of.

After all the trees have been placed, the total number of points is calculated. The trees are turned over to reveal the hidden value of each one. The values ​​of all the trees on the same land are added together.

3 GAME MODES

Survival Mode

Five trees are used (excluding the tree with the special character *).

Once all the turns are completed, players turn over the trees, revealing the value of each tree on its corresponding land.

Trees whose total value, when combined with the total value of all other players on the same land, does not exceed or equal the value of the land where they were placed will count as rooted or grown trees (and therefore score points).

Example: If on a land with a value of 4, there are two trees, each belonging to a different player, and they contain values ​​of 2 and 1 respectively. The two players may add up those points. If they had placed trees with values ​​of 2 and 3, both players would not score any points for that land because their total sum exceeds the number of trees allowed for that land.

The calculation is performed for each of the lands, where each player must count and add up the number of trees they have rooted for each land, obtaining the total number of rooted trees for that round per player.

Fire Mode

Six trees are used, all five with numerical values, plus the one with the special symbol • ).

This tree's unique feature is that it eliminates other players' trees from the land it's on. If there is another tree with a special value on the same land, they will cancel each other out, without altering the total value at the end of the round (the sum).

Storm Mode

Five trees are used (the tree with the special value • is excluded).

This game mode requires the player to move one of the trees already placed on the land, additionally and obligatorily (once all players' trees have been placed on the land). The chosen tree can only be moved to a land of higher value, with the exception of the jump between the highest-valued land in the game (depending on the number of players) and the lowest-valued land, which will always be a land with a value of 2.

END OF THE GAME

The winner of the game is the player with the highest score after 5 rounds, in any of the 3 modes.

In the event of a tie at the end of all rounds, the winner is the player who has rooted the most trees in the last round of the game. If there is still a tie, the winner is the player with the highest-valued tree or trees they were able to add in the last turn.

*All images shown of the game are based on the prototype. The final units may differ, with variations in token colors and sizes.