In the summer of 2021, Forests of Pangaea attracted well over 7,000 people through crowdfunding. I was one of the backers back then. After more than two years, Forests of Pangea It's still an integral part of our game collection and is played regularly. Its fantastic table presence and clear rules, which nevertheless offer plenty of gameplay depth,, simply don't get boring. Now the sequel is in the starting blocks. I spoke with author Thomas Franken about the (further) development. and tested a prototype of the game.
From the forest at dawn
The mammoth project “Kickstarter“ was finally successfully completed sometime in 2023. But a few things stuck with author Thomas Franken (Tommy). Forests of Pangea was a large project with high-quality features and an equally high price tag. Despite discussions with various publishers, it simply wasn't financially viable to make the game widely available. The game's visual appeal (of course) also appealed to casual gamers, but its complexity is more in the realm of connoisseur games, which somewhat limits the potential target audience.
In addition, there were a few game mechanics that didn't turn out as intended. Among the things that Tommy Forests of Pangea Disturbing factors include the rather rigid sequence of both the moves (sprouting, action, trees growing) and the playing area, the blessing cards and the somewhat anticlimactic end of the game.
For some time the plan was to produce a second edition of Forests of Pangea After many different approaches, it was finally realized that reworking and shortening the game (an accessible base game and an "expert expansion") would not produce a complete and well-rounded result. Thus, the idea for a completely new game set in the world of Pangaea grew.
The requirements were clear: The fantastic material and the world should remain a part of the game. The overall game should be a bit more dynamic and interactive, appealing to family players as a base game, but also becoming more complex with an expansion.
The result of the development process with these specifications is now The Dawn of PangaeaThe many new aspects are all closely interwoven and, as a whole, bring a great game to the table.
To increase the dynamics—both at the end of the game and during the turns/actions—the turns are now open (choice of 2 out of 5 possible actions), and the goal of the game is now a race to 30 points. The "point race" takes place on the Holy Mountain to more visually and thematically integrate the increasing score.
Due to the more diverse actions, your own forest spirit is now much more important, as it can be used in rituals, among other things, and no longer places its own seeds, but triggers the growth of all neighboring seeds.
Because the forest spirit now moves much more prominently on the board, the landscape tiles (biomes) also had to change. There's now a second water tile everywhere. Instead of four, these now consist of five hexes, ensuring that every land tile is accessible. Players can now find blessings on the water tiles, which can simply be picked up like a gift and no longer need to be purchased.
An element that has long been Forests of Pangea The new Ancients were planned but were eventually dropped during the streamlining process. These are available to all players and offer important effects that should be used cleverly throughout the game. The first of three Ancients was the Turtle, which (like your own Forest Spirit) acts as a bridge over water spaces. Then came the Bear (places seeds and sprouts) and the Eagle (reduces the cost of rituals).
The rituals have also been made clearer. The path rituals have remained. A second type is now creature rituals, where you simply pay a specific combination of resources. This increases the overall value of the resources and remains relevant even towards the end of the game.
To ensure that the basic game remains accessible even for those who play infrequently, some elements that were Forests of Pangea were to be transferred to the expansion. The treetops and the individual forest spirits with tableau are now part of the expansion. Wildwoods. The possibility of “outbidding” opposing seeds is also only available with the expansion. The Dawn of Pangaea From its family version of the basic game to the game with the expansion, it offers a wide range of complexity without excluding certain groups.
The forest that is not a jungle of rules
After everything has been updated or revised, The Dawn of Pangaea Now in the starting blocks. So here's an overview of the rules.
The goal is to be the first person to reach 30 points, or to have the most points after the game ends and the final scoring. Points can be generated through rituals. For landscape rituals, you have to connect two of your own trees on spaces in the biomes specified by the ritual card. Afterward, all of your own trees used for this purpose are lost. For creature rituals, you simply pay the corresponding resources. Performing a ritual is also one of the five possible actions that you may perform on your turn. You may also perform an action twice. Additional points are awarded to the person who has the most trees (at least 5) and thus the tree marker. During the course of the game, you may exchange any one resource for any other resource once on your turn.
Two additional actions allow you to place new seeds. You can either place a single seed on any empty space or place two seeds adjacent to your own trees. The placed seeds can be sprouted with the next action. To do this, place your forest spirit on a water space. All adjacent seeds (including your opponent's) will then sprout and become trees. For each tree created in this way, you receive a resource from the biome in which the tree grew.
The family variant can already be played with these four actions. For the complete base game, the Ancients are now added.
The fifth action allows you to deploy and move one of these Ancients. As soon as an Ancient is in play, the permanent effect takes effect, and the player who triggered the action also receives the one-time effect. Another way to deploy Ancients is with Favor Tokens.
You receive these during the game and can use them on played ritual cards to activate the Ancient that matches the icon.
A sixth action is added in the expansion. If you pay the corresponding cost, you may place a treetop on one of your own trees and unlock a blessing token on your personal board. If both treetops adjacent to a seed have been placed, the seed is unlocked and available for the remainder of the game. When placing seeds, you may now also place them on spaces where an opponent's seed is already located, provided you place more of your own seeds than there are already there.
At the end of the game, you receive additional points for treetops still on the playing field.
A (wonderful) game in all aspects
The Dawn of Pangaea is anything but Forests of Pangea in a slightly different form, such as Farshore zu everdell or wing beat zu Flapping wings It's a completely standalone game, reminiscent of its predecessor almost exclusively visually. Tommy has fully fulfilled the expectations he had for himself when he (further) developed the game.
The game is significantly more accessible, especially in the family version, and has become significantly less prone to errors overall thanks to the more open moves without a predetermined structure. The Ancients in the "full" base game add a somewhat more challenging element, which I find the most exciting new feature. They have very simple rules, but offer so much flexibility, and combined with the Favor Tokens, they can trigger an impressive move.
You have to work hard for the first 10 points, but once someone reaches around 20 points, you have to be careful that the game doesn't end sooner than you'd like. This creates a great sense of excitement and playfulness throughout the entire game.
The new type of ritual with creatures makes resource gathering significantly more important and rewarding. Even though this way of fulfilling cards isn't really new, it still works excellently in the context of the game. Path rituals were already my favorite type of ritual in the previous game, and here, too, they nicely reintroduce the necessary decay of trees into the game by simply providing more points as a bonus than creature rituals.
Visually and in terms of the materials, the game has turned out great. The creatures bring a bit more life to the world. The wooden trees are once again a feast for the eyes, and the forest, which evolves and constantly changes throughout the game, is simply beautiful to behold.
The solo and cooperative modes require hardly any new rules and shift the focus back to the core of the game, eliminating the Ancients, who must first be freed. During development, this mode was intended as a bridge between the two versions of the base game, with the more complex element of the Ancients unlocked gradually.
Due to the constantly changing composition of the bio tiles and the randomly available rituals, I see The Dawn of Pangaea No problems in terms of long-term enjoyment. Anyone who's still concerned about this is definitely well advised to get the expansion, as it adds completely new tactical possibilities with the treetops and the ability to displace other players' seeds.
The Dawn of Pangaea manages to secure its own unique place in the world of Pangaea. It features the same impressively beautiful look and feel, creating a more accessible game with a completely new feel. It makes no difference whether you Forests of Pangea already knows, or not, in order to have an easy start. The Dawn of Pangaea It doesn't replace its predecessor, but it can at least be placed on the same level as its predecessor. For me, it's one of the highlights of the 2025 gaming year so far.
The crowdfunding
The campaign to Forests of Pangea Tommy had already financed it himself. However, as a "side job," this isn't worth pursuing again for a second crowdfunding campaign. The campaign, communications, and distribution will be handled by the Swiss publisher Treeceratops, which Tommy came into contact with after moving to Switzerland.
The game will be available in German/English or English/French. At different pledge levels, players can choose between the base game (CHF 45), the base game deluxe (CHF 65), and the base game (deluxe or regular) with the expansion, which is always deluxe (CHF 60 or 80). In the deluxe version, practically everything is made of wood (resources, tokens, tree markers), and the victory point mountain will consist of 10 layers, so you really have to climb it with your own victory points. All of this can be safely stored in the inlay of the deluxe version.
In addition, there will be stickers for all tree versions and seeds so that even people with color vision deficiency can easily tell them apart.
Stretch goals are also a must for any crowdfunding campaign. In addition to improvements in card quality and cardboard thickness, prints can be unlocked for the Spirit and Ancient figures, as well as the deluxe inlay. The expansion will also include a new type of ritual card that can be used to change the type of biomes.
The campaign will start on October 07th at 14:00 PM and will then be available for 29 days.
Information about The Dawn of Pangaea
| Number of players: 1 to 4 people Age: from 10 years Playing time: 40 to 80 minutes Difficulty: expert game Classification: Set collection, Pattern building, Points race Author: Thomas Franken Illustrations: Marcel Domke, Chris Karbach, Nina Pommelin, Johanna Tarkela Publisher: Treeceratops Link to the campaign: Kickstarter Campaign: October 7, 2025 to November 6, 2025 Price: from 45 CHF (approx. 48 euros) |
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