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The valley of Everdell is as busy as ever, with critters rushing to build their little cities before the year is up. Only this time, things are more personal. Everdell Duo is a standalone version made for one or two players, which makes the world feel more cosy, almost like you’ve been invited to a small woodland dinner party rather than a village festival.
Across four seasons you’ll place workers, gather resources, play cards and try to complete events. At the end of autumn everything is tallied to see who built the most prosperous city. But there’s more to it than just that. Alongside the competitive mode, the game also includes a cooperative option, a fifteen-chapter campaign with evolving goals, and even a solo challenge against Miss Lily Thorn, a rather nosy skunk reporter who does not hold back. She’ll happily beat you while writing about it.
👥 1-2 players, ages 10+
⌛ Playing time: 30 minutes
📝 Designers: James A. Wilson & Clarissa A. Wilson
🎨 Artwork: Enggar Adirasa & Andrew Bosley
🏢 Publisher: White Goblin Games (Dutch version, review copy provided) Originally published by Starling Games.
Gameplay Overview
On your turn you can do one of three things. You can place a worker, which lets you use locations on the main board or red destination cards in either city to gather resources or trigger abilities. You can play a card, paying the cost to add new critters or constructions to your city. Or you can pick a card, either from the deck or from the meadow.
What sounds straightforward is made trickier by the presence of the sun and moon tokens. Every action moves one of them forward along the meadow track, and once they reach the end, the season is over. Workers come home, seasonal effects take place, and you move on. It creates tension because every choice eats up the limited time you have in that season.
Events spice things up a bit. Meeting certain conditions, like playing specific card combinations or collecting enough of a resource, rewards you with points and bonuses. These often make the difference at the end.
The game offers different ways to play. In competitive mode you go head-to-head to see who can build the most successful city. In cooperative mode you work together on one shared city while chasing the goals of the current chapter. The campaign strings fifteen of these chapters together, each introducing new restrictions or twists. And if you want to play solo, or with a partner against a common enemy, Miss Lily Thorn is ready to challenge you.
Artwork, Components, and Visual Design
Anyone who has played Everdell before will instantly feel at home here. The artwork and production values are what you would expect: lush illustrations, charming critters and those famous wooden animal meeples.
The cards really are the star of the show. Each one looks like a page out of a storybook, showing scenes such as a hare tending crops, a skunk up to no good, or grand constructions like a monastery or a locomotive. Every card has its own personality, and the illustrations make you want to pause for a second before you play them, just to take it in.
The pieces are equally delightful. Workers come as hares, tortoises and skunks. Resources are represented by chunky tokens: amber resin that looks like boiled sweets, smooth grey stones, tiny twigs and bright pink berries that are almost too cute. The board is double-sided, compact but clear, and decorated with earthy tones that fit the woodland setting. Cards laid out in the meadow create a colourful display, with the sun and moon tokens reminding you that time is slipping away. The campaign book ties it all together with more illustrations and little narrative touches.
All of this makes the game inviting from the moment you open the box. It is easy to tell cards and resources apart, while the artwork and tactile pieces make you feel part of the valley.
Our Experience
Playing Everdell Duo felt both familiar and new. It is clearly related to the big-box Everdell, but it has been designed with one or two players in mind from the start. The sun and moon system is a clever addition. Every action you take brings the season closer to its end, which makes each decision carry more weight. It can be frustrating if your engine takes too long to get going, but it does keep the game sharp.
In competitive mode it feels like Everdell at a brisk pace, almost like someone has tightened the screws. There is even a slightly mean edge, since moving the sun forward when taking a card can stop your opponent from placing a worker later. We found this head-to-head tension engaging, though I imagine some players might find it a little spiky.
In cooperative campaign mode the experience completely changes. Building one shared city forces you to constantly discuss who gathers which resources, which cards are worth investing in, and which events are worth chasing. The introduction of skunks as obstacles brings some unpredictability in a good way, often forcing us to rethink plans mid-game. This mode was the highlight for us, since it demanded real teamwork. We have only played a couple of chapters so far, but it left us eager to continue.
As for Miss Lily Thorn, she proved a worthy rival. The challenge mode works well as a solo puzzle or as a co-op opponent, and the difficulty can be adjusted so it does not become stale too quickly.
Our Thoughts
Everdell Duo isn’t perfect, of course. The sun and moon track, while clever, can sometimes feel punishing, and depending on your play style the competitive mode may be more enjoyable than the cooperative one or the other way round. But for us, when we want to play Everdell with two players, this version will be the one we reach for first.
Competitive play is sharp and tactical, giving us quick sessions where every choice matters. Cooperative play is slower and more thoughtful, rewarding planning and negotiation. Solo play offers a decent challenge too. Strategically, success often comes from balancing quick wins with long-term scoring potential. Build your production engine early, but don’t ignore prosperity cards and events. In co-op this balance is harder, because you need to communicate and compromise. If you chase your own goals too much, the shared city will collapse under its own ambition.
Compared to the original Everdell, Duo is smaller in scope and easier to get to the table. It doesn’t try to replace the original, but instead offers a tighter, more focused experience. For couples or solo gamers who enjoy the theme and want something that fits neatly into an evening, it works brilliantly.
The artwork and components are as beautiful as ever, and the extra modes give it more staying power than most two-player spin-offs. It really does feel like its own branch of the Everdell tree.
📝 We received a copy of the game from White Goblin Games, the publisher of the Dutch version.
