Arborea

Send villagers on pilgrimage, heal the land and fill your ecosystem with animals through clever timing.

Designer: Dani Garcia
Published by: Alley Cat Games
Editions by: Maldito Games, Giochi Uniti, Lifestyle Boardgames Ltd, Skellig Games, Pixie Games

Welcome to Arborea. You are a Patron Spirit, guiding your villagers to heal the landscape by sending them on pilgrimages and growing your own ecosystem. It is a worker placement Euro where timing and planning ahead matter most: you place workers on Action Tracks, and when a track advances it carries all its workers along, so the further it moves, the better the rewards when you activate them. Use those rewards to feed the Shared Resource Track, make offerings to wise Sages for future gifts, or attract animals to the land. You overlay terrain cards to build habitats and place animals on them, and different seasons each game open new paths. One to five players, about two hours, from age 14. Released in 2023.

Workers ride Action Tracks that advance togetherOffer to the Sages for future giftsOverlay terrain cards and place animals

Who it's for

You like a meaty worker placement Euro with an unusual timing twist and a healing-the-land theme.

Not for you if…

You want something quick or with lots of direct interaction. The pace is deliberate, and the planning is long.

Vibe's take

Thoughtful and a bit puzzly, with a delicious dilemma of when to cash in your workers. Wait for the track to move further for a bigger payout, or take a smaller reward now. It rewards planning ahead.