Forest Shuffle is a smaller box card game that is eco friendly and has a nature theme to match. Players will be building their own forest, planting trees and building an ecosystem of creatures and animals around it. It has really nice artwork design and simple mechanics. Cards in the game are of two main types, the trees which must be planted in your forest first, and then cominations of two creatures or animals that are split either horizontally or vertically, meaning you have to select which side of the card you wish to play. Each tree in your forest can accomodate four denizens being added around it, one of each side of the card.
Players will begin the game with six cards, and mechinically each turn you choose to either play a new card, paying its cost by discarding other cards into the clearing or alternatively drawing two new cards, either from either the clearing or blind from the top of the deck. Each turn is swift and easy. The clever part of the game is that trees and creatures combine to score acorn points in many combinations. Also some cards provide an instant trigger effect or an bonus if you paid the cost with the right type of cards. As such you will be planning ahead which combination of cards you want to put into your forest during the game.
It has a similar feel to games like Everdell, Caverna or Wingspan, but without the added worker placement elements and extra rules complexity, and as a smaller game does not really compete with their depth, providing a similar feel but easier to set up and play. The gameplay is smooth and satisfying as you build your own forest, and regardless of the final score you can be happy with the environment you created. There is some relative complexity in adding up the scoring combinations at the end, but nothing beyond what is seen in many games of this type. It proves very reliable as a fun family game, with a relatively low cost and is visually good looking. It is a game you can introduce most people to, and have them leave creating something they are pleased with. For seasoned players it also provides a good degree of depth and competition once you become familiar with different combos to try out.