Living Forest rules: how to play and how to win

Living Forest quick rules

The goal

There are three ways to win: plant 12 different Protective Trees, extinguish 12 Fires or gather 12 Sacred Flowers. The game ends at the end of the turn in which someone manages it.

Elements

Your Guardian Animal cards and the Trees in your Forest show symbols: the sun attracts new Animals, the water drop extinguishes Fires, the sprout plants Trees, the whirlwind moves your Spirit around the Circle of Spirits. The Sacred Flower is only used to win.

Revealing your Guardian Animals

Everyone at the same time turns over the cards of their draw stack one by one to form their Help Line, and stops whenever they like. At the third solitary symbol, you must stop; each gregarious symbol cancels one. A Fragment tile lets you set aside the card you just revealed.

Actions

Players take turns, starting with the Sacred Tree, and take two different Actions, or only one with three solitary symbols. With your suns, take Animals from the reserve, placed on your draw stack; with your water drops, take Fires from the center of the Circle; or take a Fragment tile.

Planting and moving

With your sprouts, plant a Tree next to a Tree in your Forest: its Elements count right away, a completed row gives a bonus and a corner a bonus Action. With your whirlwinds, move around the Circle: the arrival rock grants a bonus Action, and each Spirit you jump gives you a Victory tile.

End of the turn

If the Fires left at the center are worth more than your water drops, you take one Fire Varan card per Fire, a solitary card that brings nothing. Then each Animal taken this turn adds a Fire to the center, worth 2, 3 or 4 depending on its level, never more than 7 Fires. The Sacred Tree passes to the next player.

Game end

It comes at the end of an Action phase, as soon as a player has 12 different Trees, 12 Fires or 12 Sacred Flowers, Victory tiles included. If several manage it on the same turn, the highest total of Trees, Fires and Flowers wins.

Beginner pitfalls

Your two Actions must be different, unless a Tree allows it. Attracted Animals go on your draw stack, not into your hand. Keep water drops against Onibi, and remember that every Animal taken lights a Fire.

With Kodama

You need 13 Trees, Fires or Flowers to win, 15 of a type whose Kodama stack is empty. Kodama symbols are spent on a Fragment, an Element tile or an extra Action, and the new Call a Kodama Action moves Onibi, who lights Fires.

How to win Living Forest

No points

Living Forest has no points: you win by meeting one of the three conditions.

Protective Trees

12 different Trees in your Forest, starting Tree and Tree Victory tiles included. Two identical Trees count only once.

Fires

12 Fire tiles extinguished, counted in tiles and not in value, Fire Victory tiles included.

Sacred Flowers

12 Flowers visible on your Help Line and in your Forest, Flower Victory tiles included.

Several winners on the same turn

Each adds up their Trees, Fires and Flowers: the highest total wins. The Ludingo sheet keeps those three numbers for the record, and the condition met.

Example ending

At the end of a turn, Leo has 12 different Trees, 4 Fires and 6 Flowers, and Mia has 13 Flowers, 5 Fires and 7 Trees. Both meet a condition: Leo totals 12 + 4 + 6 = 22, Mia 13 + 5 + 7 = 25. Mia wins.

Common mistakes

• Counting the value of Fires: you count tiles.
• Counting two identical Trees: only different Trees count.
• Forgetting Victory tiles, including those taken by jumping other Spirits.
• Ending the game before the end of the Action phase: everyone finishes their Actions.

How to set up Living Forest

Setup takes five minutes. Follow the first three parts; with the Kodama expansion, add the last one. The first player is chosen at random and takes the Sacred Tree.