Board Game Arena

What are people's thoughts on playing Side A versus Side B?

I have extremely limited experience with Side B, but based on that, I vastly prefer Side A.

Side A seems to be more varied when it comes to tile placement options (especially with water) and even though it has less hexes it still feels more open.

I prefer Side B because it makes the dragonfly more viable, the turtle way less strong because people will be more likely to contest water, and also the map is bigger so more spaces to build stuff (which I enjoy). That said, I love both sides.

I slightly prefer side b, since I think spirits are more balanced on it, specifically dragonfly becomes one of the best options and elk and ibex are slightly more usable since the game usually lasts a turn longer compared to side a. The extra turn also means you see a few more tiles, which reduces the luck factor a little.
As for the difference in water scoring I think it makes water by itself a less interesting but makes some cards that have water a lot more interesting (peacocks, flamingos, kingfishers, penguins).
The shape of the map doesn’t really change how I play that much between sides.
Overall it’s not that big of a difference to me and I’m happy to play either.

Edit: I should note that this is for 2 players, at 4p I would rather play side a since the player count defeats the purpose of possible longer games since you run out of tiles

I prefer side B and 3p for the ultimate late game fantasy. I also think it is more balanced.

Definitely prefer Side A, but I am also quite inexperienced in Side B. A feels more balanced to me, I don't need to build my strategy around rivers to win, but B feels like rivers should be the primary strategy. B Massively overpowers the dragonfly, but I enjoy dragonfly even on Side A. I feel A has a bit more variety in construction than B in the limited games I've played. The game could end sooner with A, which to me is also the perfect length for harmonies.

Side A with Spirit Cards OFF & Side B with Spirit Cards ON are the most balance ways to play the game imo

nnces wrote: ↑30 March 2025, 16:38 Side A with Spirit Cards OFF & Side B with Spirit Cards ON are the most balance ways to play the game imo

What's your reasoning for considering Side B more balanced with Spirits ON? In general, I think that Spirits only introduce an additional random factor to the game and I find it hard to believe that more randomness equals more balance.

In a world where Butterfly doesn't exist, I could agree that Side B with Spirits ON is more balanced than Side A with Spirits ON. Sadly Butterfly is real and I think it's even more broken on Side B; it's pattern fits perfectly to B's water scoring, slightly longer games mean more Fields and I think there are usually more "empty" places between Animal patterns to hold random Fields.