Wonder Woods Board Game Review

Good and easy to teach four player board games can be a bit tough to find, but I think perhaps I’ve found it! A few weeks ago, a copy of Wonder Woods was delivered to the office, and although it took us a bit longer than we wanted to get it to the table, once we did, we played it for hours. Is Wonder Woods any good? Let’s take a peak!

In Wonder Woods, players are using baskets to collect different mushrooms, to hopefully score the most points at the end of the game. There are 4 different mushroom patches players can get mushrooms from, and each mushroom patch has 4 associated numbered cards – 1, 3, 5, and 7. These are the potential points each mushroom is worth at the end of the game.

To begin, shuffle each mushroom type deck separately and select one of the 4 cards and place it face down beside the mushroom patch it is associated with. This hidden card will be what that patch of mushrooms is worth at the end of the game. Once all 4 mushroom patches has a hidden card, shuffle ALL the cards together and deal them to players as indicated by the rule book for your number of players.

Each player will have a small hand of cards, giving them some insight into what values are NOT hidden below each patch. Now, the deduction work begins as you try to understand which patch might have the highest value in points. More info can be obtained, however. Players only begin with 5 baskets to start the game, and an additional 6th and 7th basket can be earned between rounds by placing one of your cards face-up on the table for all other players to see. While you do get an extra basket to use, you also provide all of your competitors more information for them to use.

So what do you do with these baskets? Each patch has 5 columns – a 1 basket column, a 2 basket column, a 3 basket column, and 2x 4 basket column. On your turn, if you want to select a mushroom from a specific patch, you must fill the entire left-most column. So early on it might only cost you 1 basket to get a mushroom, but as more players go, further mushrooms will cost more baskets. After each player has either used all their baskets or passed because they cannot use their baskets, that round ends.

At the end of each round, whomever has the most baskets on each individual patch receives an additional mushroom of that type. The game ends when two patches have been completely emptied.

Worth it?

The concept of Wonder Woods is so easy to understand, which makes it a very enticing game to bring out on board game nights. Whether you’ve played games a ton, or rarely played at all, it is so easy to learn and even young players – my 8 year old has played many times – can understand how to win.

I love the deduction aspects of the game – trying to figure out which cards are under each patch was a lot of fun, and deciding whether or not to show a card for an extra basket felt like a hard choice to make. My go-to was toa always go for the 6th basket, but maybe not for the 7th. I should also say, though, that I have never won!

Overall, it is a great experience and I’m so happy to have this in my collection. It receives an easy recommendation from us here at GamesReviews.com!