Hi, Forest Shuffle players. I’d like to share some thoughts on this game. I haven’t seen any systematic strategy posts on BGG or BGA. There are lots of interesting discussions in the forum from other good players. I totally agree with them. I might not be the best player, but this is what I have found so far, especially for a 2-player game. I suggest changing to a 3-player game in the arena from next season. You will find the reason after reading this post.
Let’s start with the question: Why deer-wolf-tree combo is the best strategy in a 2p game?
I guess everyone agrees on this so far. First, in a 2p game, players are able to play more cards, which makes multiplier cards more valuable. Second, it’s effortless to operate because all the cards you need to play are trees, deer, and wolves. There is a total of 14 deer on 12 cards (5 roe deer, 5 red deer, 4 fallow deer), and 4 wolves. On average, you can expect to play 5-6 deer and 1-2 wolves at the end. Third, trees alone can give you 100+ points sometimes, and the trees provide more points from roe deer and red deer. The wolf and fallow deer also provide points within the combo. Last, you can draw more cards playing Wolf, which helps you end the game faster and surprise your opponent.
You can play deer-wolf-tree only or with an additional engine: top, bottom, or paw. If you really want to focus on certain engine without playing deer-wolf, make sure your opponent is not taking the free deer and wolf.
So, the question is how to get more deer and wolves. I’m not talking about luck here. I agree Forest Shuffle is not an abstract game and largely depends on luck. However, drawing more cards from the deck is the key, I mean not from the clearing. Imagine if you draw most cards from clearing, and of course, your opponent will get more valuable cards.
There are 4 ways to draw more cards from the deck: engine mushroom (tree, paw, atop, bottom), card effect and bonus, extra turn card, and Raccoon. Always take the bonus!
Engine mushroom: Playing 1-2 engine mushrooms in the early game is ideal. By investing 3 cards, including the mushroom, as long as you play 5+ cards of that kind, it’s worth it.
Chanterelle (tree engine mushroom) and trees: Chanterelle is one of the best cards. Just play lots of trees when you get this card early. I mean 20+ trees. Trees: I rate Douglas Fir, Beech, Sycamore, and Oak higher than the other 4. Because they either give extra turns, cards, or better points. It’s not very hard to get 8 different trees in this game, but sometimes 4 Beech can be a problem. For example, Douglas Fir, you spend 3 cards, get an extra turn (I assume you draw 2 new cards from the deck), and get 5+ points. I will use [3,2,5] ([cost, new cards, points]) to describe this action. By playing a tree, it automatically reveals the first card from the deck. So, this means you have a chance to know what the next 3 cards are by playing Douglas Fir. It's the Same thing for Oak. Sycamore can be a 20+ points card. Don’t let your opponent get it easily when you see lots of trees. Beech is a [2,1,5] card, not bad. The thing is, don’t give others the 4th tree if they have 3 already. Only play more orange, yellow, and light green trees when you have the corresponding roe deer. Silver Fir is the key to the paw engine.
Penny bun (atop engine mushroom) and atop cards: This is my second favorite mushroom. Because the bird cards are great. Stop playing butterflies! Butterflies take up space, and the return is low. I think each card should give at least 10 points at the end. Otherwise, you should not play it. I have never seen people win with Butterfly in a 2p game. That is a fact. Squirrel is cute but not good. Birds: There are 4 Goshawks (3* bird). Usually, it’s not hard to get at least 2 of them. Don’t play them too early. Eurasian Jay, a [2,2,3] card. I usually keep one in hand in case I need an extra turn to grab a card from clearing. Owl, one of my favorite cards, [3,3,5], lots of new cards! Woodpecker and Chaffinch can be potentially 15+ points cards. Bullfinch is not as good as others. Birds can help you play the deer-wolf combo more smoothly and give 50+ points with 6-7 birds. This should be your second choice when playing together with deer-wolf.
Parasol mushroom (bottom engine mushroom) and bottom cards: Not as good as atop engine. Because many different kinds of cards need to go bottom. Usually, you don’t have enough space to play more. And the cards are more challenging to collect as a set, like Salamander. Also, there are only 3 tree ferns (6* amphibian). Very likely, you can only get one of them. When you compare a turtle with an owl, the turtle is [3,1,5], and an owl is [3,3,5]. And none of those cards gives an extra turn. The only cards I would like to play bottom are the strawberries and Moss in a deer-wolf system. I do see people win with the bottom engine, but it's not that easy.
Fly Agaric (paw engine mushroom) and side cards: This is the interesting part. I think the paw engine is the only one that can potentially compete with deer-wolf, but it needs more skills. The trick for the paw engine is “play a paw for free” cards, including European badger, Salamander, and Silver Fir. For example, you play a European badger and a Lynx for free (assume you have roe deer). This action is [3,0,12]. But when you have the paw mushroom. It becomes [3,2,12]. This is not a bad action, actually. The core card for the paw engine is Beech Marten. Because with lots of “play a paw for free,” you can occupy more space aside from the tree. The objective is to have 3-4 fully occupied trees with 3-4 Beech Marten, which gives you 60+ points. Beetle is a good choice to occupy both top and bottom in a single turn. However, the thing is, if you want to focus on paws, you usually won’t be able to play lots of trees. Also, there are sometimes spatial problems from Beech Marten and European Fat Dormouse. And you probably need another turn to play Gnat and different kinds of bats. You can see that the order and location you play the card matters a lot. By the way, the hare-fox combo is weak, just like Butterfly, taking lots of turns and only getting low points.
Let’s talk about some functional cards: Raccoon, Mole, and Bear. Actually, playing these cards at the right time can win you the game!!! New players usually ignore those, but it’s wrong.
Raccoon and Bear: Say you have 10 cards, by playing Raccoon [2,8,8], you get 8 new cards! Usually, there are 1-2 deer and a wolf there. Raccoon helps clear the cards you don’t want or don’t want others to take and also helps rush to the end faster. When you see another player has a very strong late game, for example, a 2* Chanterelle engine, your goal should be taking more cards from the deck, not clearing. When a player has a very strong engine, they will try their best to delay the end of the game by drawing cards from the clearing. In this case, Bear also works. Bear can be potentially [4,3,12] when you see 9 cards in clearing. However, Bear is not as good as Raccoon in most games.
Mole: The most powerful functional card. Prepare for a big turn in the middle game or late game can win you the game. Mole helps play extra turns, especially good when you have engine mushroom. Collect some 0-cost cards, like Birch, Berries, Toad, Squirrel, or even Hare and Butterfly. When you have the corresponding engine mushroom, you still can have 4-5 cards left for the next turn.
Other cards I haven’t mentioned are not good, like Boar..
2 engine mushrooms in one game is a little bit greedy, but it still works. Some small combos like, atop mushroom + bottom mushroom: Beetle, paw mushroom + atop mushroom: Squirrel/Squirrel+ European badger, paw mushroom + bottom mushroom: Salamander + Hedgehog… It's just funny to think about those.
Lastly, the game ends fast sometimes. The earliest one I see is when there are 33 cards left. Don’t wait for too late. Some other tips are like playing tree when the opponent has 10 cards; don’t play wolf as free paw; save some white and brown cards for extra turn trees; pay attention to color when you have roe deer..
These are what I found in the 2p game. I guess in a 3p+ game, the tempo and strategy can be totally different and there is no strategy far better than others.
But anyway, I would like to hear more from other great players! Enjoy the game!
Let’s start with the question: Why deer-wolf-tree combo is the best strategy in a 2p game?
I guess everyone agrees on this so far. First, in a 2p game, players are able to play more cards, which makes multiplier cards more valuable. Second, it’s effortless to operate because all the cards you need to play are trees, deer, and wolves. There is a total of 14 deer on 12 cards (5 roe deer, 5 red deer, 4 fallow deer), and 4 wolves. On average, you can expect to play 5-6 deer and 1-2 wolves at the end. Third, trees alone can give you 100+ points sometimes, and the trees provide more points from roe deer and red deer. The wolf and fallow deer also provide points within the combo. Last, you can draw more cards playing Wolf, which helps you end the game faster and surprise your opponent.
You can play deer-wolf-tree only or with an additional engine: top, bottom, or paw. If you really want to focus on certain engine without playing deer-wolf, make sure your opponent is not taking the free deer and wolf.
So, the question is how to get more deer and wolves. I’m not talking about luck here. I agree Forest Shuffle is not an abstract game and largely depends on luck. However, drawing more cards from the deck is the key, I mean not from the clearing. Imagine if you draw most cards from clearing, and of course, your opponent will get more valuable cards.
There are 4 ways to draw more cards from the deck: engine mushroom (tree, paw, atop, bottom), card effect and bonus, extra turn card, and Raccoon. Always take the bonus!
Engine mushroom: Playing 1-2 engine mushrooms in the early game is ideal. By investing 3 cards, including the mushroom, as long as you play 5+ cards of that kind, it’s worth it.
Chanterelle (tree engine mushroom) and trees: Chanterelle is one of the best cards. Just play lots of trees when you get this card early. I mean 20+ trees. Trees: I rate Douglas Fir, Beech, Sycamore, and Oak higher than the other 4. Because they either give extra turns, cards, or better points. It’s not very hard to get 8 different trees in this game, but sometimes 4 Beech can be a problem. For example, Douglas Fir, you spend 3 cards, get an extra turn (I assume you draw 2 new cards from the deck), and get 5+ points. I will use [3,2,5] ([cost, new cards, points]) to describe this action. By playing a tree, it automatically reveals the first card from the deck. So, this means you have a chance to know what the next 3 cards are by playing Douglas Fir. It's the Same thing for Oak. Sycamore can be a 20+ points card. Don’t let your opponent get it easily when you see lots of trees. Beech is a [2,1,5] card, not bad. The thing is, don’t give others the 4th tree if they have 3 already. Only play more orange, yellow, and light green trees when you have the corresponding roe deer. Silver Fir is the key to the paw engine.
Penny bun (atop engine mushroom) and atop cards: This is my second favorite mushroom. Because the bird cards are great. Stop playing butterflies! Butterflies take up space, and the return is low. I think each card should give at least 10 points at the end. Otherwise, you should not play it. I have never seen people win with Butterfly in a 2p game. That is a fact. Squirrel is cute but not good. Birds: There are 4 Goshawks (3* bird). Usually, it’s not hard to get at least 2 of them. Don’t play them too early. Eurasian Jay, a [2,2,3] card. I usually keep one in hand in case I need an extra turn to grab a card from clearing. Owl, one of my favorite cards, [3,3,5], lots of new cards! Woodpecker and Chaffinch can be potentially 15+ points cards. Bullfinch is not as good as others. Birds can help you play the deer-wolf combo more smoothly and give 50+ points with 6-7 birds. This should be your second choice when playing together with deer-wolf.
Parasol mushroom (bottom engine mushroom) and bottom cards: Not as good as atop engine. Because many different kinds of cards need to go bottom. Usually, you don’t have enough space to play more. And the cards are more challenging to collect as a set, like Salamander. Also, there are only 3 tree ferns (6* amphibian). Very likely, you can only get one of them. When you compare a turtle with an owl, the turtle is [3,1,5], and an owl is [3,3,5]. And none of those cards gives an extra turn. The only cards I would like to play bottom are the strawberries and Moss in a deer-wolf system. I do see people win with the bottom engine, but it's not that easy.
Fly Agaric (paw engine mushroom) and side cards: This is the interesting part. I think the paw engine is the only one that can potentially compete with deer-wolf, but it needs more skills. The trick for the paw engine is “play a paw for free” cards, including European badger, Salamander, and Silver Fir. For example, you play a European badger and a Lynx for free (assume you have roe deer). This action is [3,0,12]. But when you have the paw mushroom. It becomes [3,2,12]. This is not a bad action, actually. The core card for the paw engine is Beech Marten. Because with lots of “play a paw for free,” you can occupy more space aside from the tree. The objective is to have 3-4 fully occupied trees with 3-4 Beech Marten, which gives you 60+ points. Beetle is a good choice to occupy both top and bottom in a single turn. However, the thing is, if you want to focus on paws, you usually won’t be able to play lots of trees. Also, there are sometimes spatial problems from Beech Marten and European Fat Dormouse. And you probably need another turn to play Gnat and different kinds of bats. You can see that the order and location you play the card matters a lot. By the way, the hare-fox combo is weak, just like Butterfly, taking lots of turns and only getting low points.
Let’s talk about some functional cards: Raccoon, Mole, and Bear. Actually, playing these cards at the right time can win you the game!!! New players usually ignore those, but it’s wrong.
Raccoon and Bear: Say you have 10 cards, by playing Raccoon [2,8,8], you get 8 new cards! Usually, there are 1-2 deer and a wolf there. Raccoon helps clear the cards you don’t want or don’t want others to take and also helps rush to the end faster. When you see another player has a very strong late game, for example, a 2* Chanterelle engine, your goal should be taking more cards from the deck, not clearing. When a player has a very strong engine, they will try their best to delay the end of the game by drawing cards from the clearing. In this case, Bear also works. Bear can be potentially [4,3,12] when you see 9 cards in clearing. However, Bear is not as good as Raccoon in most games.
Mole: The most powerful functional card. Prepare for a big turn in the middle game or late game can win you the game. Mole helps play extra turns, especially good when you have engine mushroom. Collect some 0-cost cards, like Birch, Berries, Toad, Squirrel, or even Hare and Butterfly. When you have the corresponding engine mushroom, you still can have 4-5 cards left for the next turn.
Other cards I haven’t mentioned are not good, like Boar..
2 engine mushrooms in one game is a little bit greedy, but it still works. Some small combos like, atop mushroom + bottom mushroom: Beetle, paw mushroom + atop mushroom: Squirrel/Squirrel+ European badger, paw mushroom + bottom mushroom: Salamander + Hedgehog… It's just funny to think about those.
Lastly, the game ends fast sometimes. The earliest one I see is when there are 33 cards left. Don’t wait for too late. Some other tips are like playing tree when the opponent has 10 cards; don’t play wolf as free paw; save some white and brown cards for extra turn trees; pay attention to color when you have roe deer..
These are what I found in the 2p game. I guess in a 3p+ game, the tempo and strategy can be totally different and there is no strategy far better than others.
But anyway, I would like to hear more from other great players! Enjoy the game!
