“Earth? Hah! More like Dirt Deluxe.”
So the humans made a big ol’ box stuffed with 364 cards about trees, mushrooms, deserts, jungles, and all the boring green stuff goblins usually trample through on the way to shinier loot. They call it a “nature-based engine-builder.” Bah! I call it a sprawling forest of fiddly plant cards that makes my moss allergies flare up.
What You Do
Each turn, you pick an action—planting, composting, watering, growing. Everybody else gets a smaller version of that action too. You’re slapping down flora and fauna in a neat little 4×4 grid tableau, triggering powers, composting cards for points, and watching your ecosystem explode with combos. Basically, you’re building a goblin greenhouse… only less likely to collapse in fire.
What Makes Me Grumble
- Too many blasted cards! 364? That’s not a deck, that’s a forest. Takes forever to learn what’s good.
- Analysis paralysis swamp. Some goblins sit there stroking their chin-warts for ten minutes over one turn.
- Theme too peaceful. No battles, no raids—just trees cuddling ferns. Where’s the backstabbing? Where’s the glorious chaos?
- Card salad scoring. Points for compost, points for sprouts, points for islands, points for achievements… Feels like every leaf sneezed out a score token.
- Solitaire vibes. Other goblins may sit across the table, but they’re off in their own little gardens. Interaction? Almost none.
Fine, Fine, It’s Not All Fungus
- Beautiful art. Even a crusty goblin admits the illustrations are lush and shiny.
- Combo delight. When your tableau starts firing off chain reactions, it feels like a goblin trap working perfectly.
- Everyone plays every turn. Thanks to follow actions, no goblin’s left drooling in boredom.
- Replay value. So many cards, setups, and strategies that every game feels fresh—like chewing a new kind of bark.
Grumpy Goblin Verdict
Pros:
- Gorgeous, varied cards.
- Smooth “everyone acts” system keeps it lively.
- Immense replayability.
- Satisfying engine combos.
Cons:
- Card overload—hard to learn, harder to master.
- Theme too tranquil for goblin taste.
- Almost no interaction.
- Can bog down with slow thinkers.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 compost heaps.
A big, lush puzzle box—brilliant for green-thumb humans, but goblins prefer games with more smashing and fewer sprouts.
Krizbella