Components
- 48 Spirits tiles
- 14 Favor tokens
- 12 Gemstones
- 1 Single player card
- Instructions
Object of the Game
In Spirits of the Forest, players represent the four elements that nourish the forces of nature. Up to four players compete to acquire the most spirit symbols, as they score nature points for having the majority of each spirit.
The winner is the player with the most nature points at the end of the game.
The Spirit Tiles
The deck of spirit tiles represents the nine different spirits of the forest. Each spirit is associated with a unique color and a unique spirit animal.
Each spirit tile has one or two icons at the top that are either a spirit symbol or one of three power source icons - the ferocity of fire, the mysticism of the moon, and the life-giving power of the sun.
Each spirit tile also features a number at the bottom of the tile that signifies how many spirit symbols of that spirit are in the deck of tiles.
Setup
Shuffle the 48 spirit tiles and deal them face up in four rows of12 tiles to the center of the table to create the forest.
Shuffle the 14 favor tokens and place eight of them face down on spirit tiles in the forest as in the example below. The remaining six favor tokens are not needed and are returned to the box without looking at them.
Give three gemstones of a single color to each player in a two-player game, and two gemstones of a single color to each player when playing with three or four players.
The player that most recently hiked in a forest is the first player.
Game Play
Spirits of the Forest is played over multiple turns. On each turn, a player collects tiles, examines favor tokens, and places gemstones.
Once a turn is complete, the player to the left takes a turn and the game continues in clock-wise order around the table.
Collect Tiles
On each turn, the player collects tiles from either of the two ends of the forest choosing one of the following actions:
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Take a tile of a color with two spirits symbols on it.
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Take up to two tiles of the same color that each have only one spirit symbol.
Note: Taking two adjacent tiles with one spirit symbol on each is allowed. By taking the first, the next one adjacent will become the "end of the forest".
Note: For the first turn of the game, the first player may only take one tile, no matter how many spirits are on the tile.
After collecting tiles, the player organizes them by color and places them face up on top of each other so that only the spirit symbols and power source icons are showing.
Note: If the player is unable to collect a spirit tile, they skip this step.
Examine Favor Tokens
If a player collected a tile with a favor token on it, they also secretly examine the favor token and place it face down in front of themselves.
Favor tokens with spirit symbols or power source icons remain hidden until the end of the game. They count as an additional spirit symbol or power source icon when scoring.
Favor tokens with the "+" symbol may be used at any time to return a gemstone that was previously removed from the game back to the player.
Place Gemstones
Once the player has collected tiles, they may choose to place one of their gemstones on a spirit tile in the forest.
The gemstone may be placed on any spirit tile that does not already have a gemstone on it. Gemstones can be placed on spirit tiles that have favor tokens on them.
If a player has no gemstones left in front of them, they may move one of their gemstones on the table from one tile to another as long as the destination tile does not already have a gemstone on it.
By placing a gemstone on a spirit tile, that player attempts to reserve that tile for a future turn. If the player collects the reserved tile on a future turn, they also collect their gemstone and can place it again that turn or on future turns.
Note: Only one gem can be placed or moved per turn.
A player may collect a spirit tile with an opponent's gemstone on it, but they must remove one of their own gemstones from the game - either one already on a spirit tile or an unused one in front of the player. The opponent's gemstone is returned to the opponent for future use.
If all of a player's gemstones have been removed from the game, they are unable to collect spirit tiles with an opponent's gemstone on it.
End of the Game
Players continue taking turns until all tiles have been collected from the forest. Then players reveal any favor tokens they've collected and determine how many nature points they have:
1. Spirits
Each player counts how many spirit symbols (not spirit tiles) they have for each of the nine spirits including any spirit symbols on collected favor tokens.
The player with more spirit symbols for a particular spirit scores nature points equal to the amount of spirits symbols the player has. All other players score no points.
If players are tied for the most spirit symbols for a spirit, all tied players score nature points equal to the amount of spirits symbols they have.
If a player has no spirit tiles for a given spirit, deduct three nature points from their score. Favor tokens are not counted when determining if the player loses these points.
Example:
At the end of a three-player game, the players are comparing the "leaves" spirit symbols.
Both players 1 and 2 have four "leaves" symbols on their Spirit tiles, but player 2 managed to get a favor token with the "leaves" spirit symbol, which adds 1 their total.Player 2 has the most symbols, and gains 1 point for each symbol collected.
Player 3 loses three nature points since they did not collect any "leaves" spirit symbols.
Only the player with the majority of spirit symbols is the one who scores the points of that given spirit, therefore Player 1 does not score any points.
2. Power Sources:
Power sources are scored in the same way as spirits. Each players counts how many power source icons they have for each of the three power sources (Fire / Moon / Sun) they have, including any power source icons on collected favor tokens.
The player with more power source icons for a particular power source scores nature points equal to the amount of icons the player has. All other players score no points.
If players are tied for the most power source icons for a particular power source, all tied players score nature points equal to the amount of icons they have.
If a player has no power source icons on the spirit tile for a given power source, deduct three nature points from their score. Favor tokens are not counted when determining if the player loses these points.
The player with the most nature points is the winner.
In case of a tie, the player with the least number of tiles among the tied players is the winner. In case of a further tie, the tied players share the victory.
Turn Example
It is the blue player's turn. During "Collect Tiles", the blue player has the following options:
Collect one of the tiles with two spirit symbols
1.Collect two tiles of the "leaves" spirit with one symbol on each
2+3. If the player collects tile 2 but doesn't take tile 3, the player could instead collect tile 4 as the second tile.
If tile 4 is collected, the player would need to remove one of his gemstones from the game as there is already a green gemstone on that tile, the green gemstone returns to its owner.Collect two "moss" tiles
5+6with a single spirit symbol on each. The blue player would then retrieve their gemstone from tile 5. They would not be able to collect tile 7 since no more than two tiles may be collected in a turn.Collect one "branches" tile
8(and the Favor token). They would not be able to collect an additional "branches" tile1in the 2nd row on the right, as this would exceed the total spirit symbols they may collect each turn.
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