Matthew BaileyI’m really enjoying the nighttime aesthetic at the moment that seems to be quite prominent in game art, and Wispwood is a fantastic example of that — a new game coming this winter from CGE, the same people who brought out Little Alchemist, a regularly recommended middleweight family game around here. Wispwood looks set to continue that legacy.
The general idea is that you’re a cat drawn to the light in the forest, and you’re trying to make your own patch of woodland the brightest by attracting magical wisps.
On your turn, you’re going to pick a little wisp tile and choose a shape to pop into your personal grid — think of it like your own little magical forest, slowly growing turn by turn.
Now, these wisps don’t want to be just anywhere. Each one has a particular place it wants to be. They’re a bit fussy like that. Even the trees are a bit picky, so you’re trying to keep them all happy. You’ll score points for how well you’ve matched their wishes during three scoring rounds.
But — and this is where it gets clever — between rounds, your forest changes. Some bits fade away, others grow back differently, but your wisps stick around. So everything you place has a knock-on effect for later rounds. It’s proper satisfying when it all starts to click into place.
It reminds me of lots of tile-laying games but also has some round-to-round elements that feel a bit like Minecraft: Builders & Biomes.
There’s also a decent amount of variety in the changing requirements, which is really nice to see.
I’m really looking forward to Wispwood, and over the last few years, I’ve felt that CGE have really nailed the balance in their
middleweight family games.
Plus, the artwork is lovely.
