Redwood
RULES
- Goal
- Use movement and shooting templates to photograph wildlife and build the most beautiful panorama
- Flow
- On your turn, choose movement and shooting templates to move your photographer, then place any animal, flower, or tree tokens caught in frame onto your panorama card
- Win
- After 5 rounds, whoever scores highest by tallying animals, flowers, and goal bonuses wins
- Twist
- Photographed animals flee and move to a different spot on the board
RULES VIDEO
A novel spatial-reasoning and physical photography board game where players become wildlife photographers, assembling and moving a distinctive curved 'movement template' and a fan-shaped 'field-of-view (camera lens) template' to perfectly frame animals and plants and complete the most beautiful natural panorama.
※Skip it with someone weak at eyeballing distances or calculating three-dimensional angles in their head, who suffers intense analysis paralysis or stress choosing a template each turn. Also skip it with someone sensitive to fine physical drift of components or figures on the table (a shaky hand, an accidental bump) and who prefers a fully controlled Euro game decided purely within tightly calculated rules.
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Scores by situation
New faces+−
♡♡☆☆☆ [Ordinary/conversation-killer] You have to eyeball and choose your own movement ruler and field-of-view board, so a high degree of focus and quiet settles in to avoid mistakes. The rules themselves aren't hard, but components must be handled carefully, and players get absorbed in measuring their own angle of view, so a quiet, awkward mood can persist in a group of strangers — not recommended.
Close friends+−
♡♡☆☆☆ [Falls short of a sure bet] Completely different in flavor from a party game full of rowdy banter, sabotage, and gleeful jeering. There's a small joy in friends groaning over missing their target animal by a millimeter, but it's fundamentally an individual-puzzle experience of carefully lining up templates on your turn, so don't expect the dopamine explosion of a close-friends gathering.
Strategy+−
♡♡♡♡☆ [Secondary strategy] The 'estimation' of eyeballing components and the number-crunching of calculating spatial efficiency are elegantly woven in, appealing to Euro gamers. It works great as a warm-up between main strategy games, or as a high-quality secondary bridge game that satisfies with its gorgeous physical elements and 3D figures.
Couple+−
♡♡♡☆☆ [Quiet reading room] With 2 players, competition for templates and staring contests over animal tokens on the map loosen up a bit, but the healing charm of sitting peacefully across from each other and filling in your own beautiful landscape (panorama) comes through well. There's a calm, cozy fun of filling a photo album like decorating your own territory, without the rowdiness of a bigger group.
Duel+−
♡♡☆☆☆ [Downtime hell] Not suited for a high-concept 2-player duel pressuring your opponent purely through skill and logical builds. Physical measurement decided by a single millimeter has a huge impact on the outcome, so it leans more toward enjoying the gimmick of the physical components themselves rather than a tightly controlled, precise duel between sharp minds.
Gateway+−
♡☆☆☆☆ [Tier 1 (not recommended)] The unique physical action of using a ruler to measure distance and frame a shot is the core of the game, so its direction is too foreign a stepping stone for an eager beginner trying to understand the sophisticated resource-cycling mechanics or action-optimization systems unique to modern board games.
Frequently asked questions
How many players does Redwood need?
1–4 players, and it is at its best with 3. It also works as a two-player game.
How long does a game of Redwood take?
About 45–60 minutes per game, plus roughly 10 minutes to teach the rules.
Is Redwood hard to learn?
It sits at 3 out of 5 on rules weight. The balance is 10 luck / 60 skill / 30 read, so the stronger player usually wins.
Who is Redwood good for?
It fits Strategy especially well. One caveat: Skip it with someone weak at eyeballing distances or calculating three-dimensional angles in their head, who suffers intense analysis paralysis or stress choosing a template each turn. Also skip it with someone sensitive to fine physical drift of components or figures on the table (a shaky hand, an accidental bump) and who prefers a fully controlled Euro game decided purely within tightly calculated rules.
How do you win Redwood?
After 5 rounds, whoever scores highest by tallying animals, flowers, and goal bonuses wins The goal is Use movement and shooting templates to photograph wildlife and build the most beautiful panorama
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