Note that if 4 Wildlife Tokens are all the same, this is known as “ overpopulation”, and they are removed and replaced with 4 new randomly selected ones. It can also happen when there are 3 matching animals on offer. But in that case, it is the active player’s choice (aka yours in solo mode) as to whether those 3 are replaced or not. The premise of Cascadia is simple- collect hexes of different terrain that can support different animals, and score accordingly. The foxes, eagles, elk, bears and salmon all score in a different way depending on how you place them on your board; and with four different scoring cards for each animal, Cascadia has enough variety from play to play to keep interest. In addition, you also score depending on how large an area of one terrain is, with bonus points awarded for the person with the largest and second largest of each type. Each hex, with the exception of special ‘Keystone’ tiles, has two terrains printed on it so placement is crucial to your score at endgame.

Having said that, Cascadia is well made and well presented; and is a beautiful addition to our shelves. Final Thoughts Note: Achievements and Rule Restrictions aren’t intended for solo play, but I can’t see why not and I use them for added crunch sometimes! Final Thoughts The game ends when the pool of habitat tiles runs out (which is, rather satisfyingly, exactly 20 turns per player). There is a slight variation in the scoring of corridors for solo mode: your corridors have to have at least 7 matching adjacent terrain tiles to get a 2 point bonus. But besides that, it is a standard BYOS affair (unless you are playing the Achievement/Campaign mode – see below) Curious CreaturesI sit and look at the row of pairs, sometimes for a really long time. And a series of trade-offs and options run through my head. A Chinook Salmon swims around my brain suggesting this tile and pondering that objective. Everything about Cascadia feels calm. Methodical. Meditative. I almost feel like I am breathing in the fresh mountain air when playing.

Simple to learn, but hard to master – Cascadia is a dual-layer puzzle. There are a variety of goals that you can mix and match, creating a brand-new experience every time you play. Explore hundreds of unique puzzles and build beautiful terrain maps in competitive, solo, and family modes.

Cascadia comes with a variety of spatial wildlife goals allowing you to mix and match new challenges each and every time you play! There are hundreds of unique puzzles to explore! Create stunningly beautiful terrain maps as you build your own personal environment, while competing with others for the habitats and wildlife you desire! Cascadia runs very smoothly with little conflict as playing competitively will prevent you from scoring big. If you play only to stop someone else from getting a scoring group, you are more likely to lose as you will likely place hexes that do not add value to your own board. Replayability Whether solo or multiplayer, your starter tile is a 3 Habitat Tile hex combo showing a random selection of 3 out of 5 terrain types (Mountains, Forests, Prairies, Wetlands, and Rivers). There’s also one or more animals on each (Bears, Elk, Salmon, Hawk, and Fox). The number of Habitat Tiles in the pool depends on the number of competing conversationists around the table, but the set-up and gameplay is the same for single or multiplayer. Take A Turn