Evergreen Wilds

Great one page journaling game that should be part of any solo player's selection. Endlessly replayable and great design. It's a no brainer.

What could be more exciting than playing a forest ranger who has to go out and deal with various types of forest ranger situations? Picking up trash, fixing fences, and repairing broken trail signs. What about rescuing missing campers, helping trapped hikers, dealing with poachers, or even confronting an aggravated camper who drunkenly fought a trail marker and won? That’s a fine right there, mister.

Evergreen Wilds is a unique journey down a path few of us get the chance to experience, and quite possibly fewer of us thought to experience in the first place. It’s a solid game with simple mechanics that don’t get in the way of your imagination. There is really enough here to have a lot of fun roleplaying different types of experiences you’d never normally get to have. I do, however, suggest some familiarity with other mechanics, even simple ones, such as combat and yes or no questions, to drive and make sense of the narrative that develops naturally through gameplay. Additional dice may be needed for these mechanics, but all you need for the game is a d66 (2 six-sided dice) and a deck of cards, and suddenly you’re a park ranger.

Did I mention that there’s a simple but effective weather system built into the game?

I should also mention that the game can easily be integrated into other genres. I arrived on a snowy evening to an empty ranger station instead of being greeted by my superior. After some investigation, it turned out the forest was full of unknown humanoid creatures. I could hear them howling from various points in the forest, as if coordinating some sort of sweep of the area.

Don’t miss out—this is a really fun game to play solitaire.