Board game review for Mischwald: Winter is approaching – threateningly quickly!

The first game of the new series, Mischwald, will be released just in time for SPIEL '23 Greenline series of Lookout games. Games in this series should only be produced with FSC-certified paper and without plastic. The publisher – behind well-known award winners such as Agricola and Isle of Skye – is taking big steps towards sustainable board games. Mischwald is also the second title from the still young game designer Kosch, who was able to demonstrate his skills last year with FYFE. You can find out whether Mischwald is just as convincing in our review.

Things are running wild in the local forest. Animals scurry between the trees, looking for edible plants or insects. While some nest in the dense treetops, others prefer the lush undergrowth and feel right at home in the protection of the trees.

In mixed forest we create an ecologically balanced habitat for flora and fauna. To do this, we play tree cards on which we can place various animals, plants and mushrooms. We get points by taking into account the preferences of different creatures. Some animals particularly like it when certain other animals also live in their forest or prefer certain trees. If we cleverly combine the different creatures with each other, we can generate even more points, which can ultimately bring us victory. Because the person who was able to create the forest with the most points at the end wins.

The rules of Mischwald are kept pretty simple. In a game we play through a stack of cards. In the last third of the deck there are three randomly placed winter cards. As soon as the third card has been drawn by one player, the game ends immediately. Until then, we'll play through each step one after the other.

On our turn we can choose between two options. We either play a card from our hand or draw two cards from the display or stack. If we play a card from our hand, we must pay its cost in the form of cards from our hand and place it on the display. We always have to consider which cards we use to pay and, if necessary, make available to our opponents.

While tree cards can be played immediately, the cards with animals, plants and mushrooms require a tree card that has already been played, because they are placed on one side of a tree card. Cards with animals, plants & mushrooms always have two options. Depending on which creature you choose, you pay the associated costs and push the card under the tree so that only the active creature is face up on the tree. This creature now lives in the forest and generates victory points at the end of the game.

Some cards have an additional effect that is activated as soon as you play the card. If the effect has a colored arrow, the played card must be paid for with cards from the hand that have the same symbol type (top right) as the played card in order to activate the effect. You can still pay for the card with any cards, but then the effect will not be activated.

Mixed forest surprised us positively. We didn't expect much before the first game because the rules of the game sounded pretty monotonous. In addition, the huge stack of cards at the beginning of the game made us worry that the game could drag on miserably. However, all our doubts were unfounded. Because we either play one card or draw two cards on our turn, Mischwald plays quite quickly. You definitely won't get bored here, as even with 5 players playing, it's our turn again quite quickly. In addition, mixed forest offers a wide variety of options for building your forest due to its sheer number of cards. We really liked that.

We also liked the fact that we have to pay for the cards we play with cards in our hand. This presents us with a real challenge as we would prefer to keep all the cards in our hand due to the various possible combinations. In addition, it is particularly painful that the cards with which we pay for the play are made available to all opponents. Ultimately, we don't want to give our opponents an advantage. All of this forces us to have to decide at some point which path we should take. This also means that in later turns we may draw cards that we then only use to play cards.

The clever mix of simplicity and number of possibilities makes Mischwald a game that works well with casual and heavy gamers alike. Casual players are not put off by the rules of the game, as there are only two actions and the rest can be read on the cards - heavy players, on the other hand, can really let off steam with all the possibilities that the cards offer. However, people who have reading difficulties could have problems here. Although there are no painfully long texts, many cards still have text in some form. The auxiliary cards that explain the effects of individual creatures in more detail are also often needed and could make the game more difficult for these people.  

The game gets a bit stressful towards the end of the game. As soon as the second winter card is laid out, your heart beats faster with every new card you draw from the deck. If the third one is drawn, the game is abruptly over. This is disturbing and fun at the same time. From now on, every move could be the last and you have to weigh up what else you risk. However, frustration can build up if you don't reach your goal in the last few meters and that one last move is missing.

This can be purely visual first game in the Greenline series definitely let it be shown. All creatures are beautifully illustrated and, especially because you are playing with real animals, the game has a great thematic appeal. The cards are a solid standard, shuffle well and seem stable.

With Mischwald you get a rock-solid card game that can be explained and set up within 5 minutes. Thanks to its compact design and simple rule structure, Mischwald can be taken and played anywhere. Thanks to the beautiful illustrations by Toni Llobet and Judit Piella, it is also well received by many people. Mischwald offers the perfect mix to attract both casual and frequent players to the table and is a suitable game for every occasion.

Preview	Product	Rating	Price
	Pegasus Games Fyfe (Edition Spielwiese) (German edition),... *	Currently no reviews	17,89 EUR

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