Foxes, Flowers, and Fierce Competition in Fall

Sink into a bed of fallen leaves and frolic with foxes while smelling the flowers in this cozy yet competitive puzzle game.

Fall is a two-player tile-laying game from Little Rocket Games, with a 30-minute play time.

Gameplay

Each round, the start player takes his turn, the other player takes two turns, and then the start player takes a second turn. The first player alternates each round. The game is played over a series of 12 rounds, with each round representing one week. Each week, there is one type of animal token that cannot be played.

There are four tiles that form the display each round, and a random token attached to each one. On a player's turn, he selects one of these combinations. A leaf token is placed immediately after it is claimed. Each leaf token will be one or two colors, out of three possible colors. It must be placed adjacent to a matching-colored tile or on top of a tile that has the same color. Tiles can only be stacked three high. A tile cannot be stacked on another tile that has a mushroom or a frog token. Any other tokens are discarded if a tile is going to be placed on them.

When a player claims a token, he may choose to place it or he can save it in his reserve. A player can have up to two tokens in his reserve at a time. If more would go in there, one has to be discarded. There are five types of tokens: mushrooms, frogs, foxes, and two types of birds. A player can place any tokens on his turn that are in his reserve. He does not have to place tokens on the tile he just placed but on other tiles, as well. However, the tile must show the icon of the token he wants to place. Each tile can only hold one token. When someone places a mushroom token, he also places one of his eight player pieces on it. At the end of the game, he will earn points for each player piece on the board, earning more points for pieces that are on stacked tiles.

Some leaf tile corners show one-third of a flower. There are three types of flowers. When three matching flower corners connect, they form a complete flower.

At the start of the game, both players are dealt one each of a fox, bird, and flower scoring card. They will keep them secret from their opponent. This tells each player how he, personally, will score for the game. For example, he might score points for some completed flowers and lose some for others. You might be trying to have more of one type of bird token on the tiles than the other. The fox cards determine how many points different-sized groups of adjacent foxes will be worth.

After 12 rounds, the players reveal their scoring goals, points are calculated, and the person with the highest point total wins the game.

Review

Fall is a lovely game with a mellow, peaceful theme, and the potential for close conflict between players. It’s entirely possible to figure out what the other player is working towards, and actively block them. For people who approach this cozy-looking game, this won’t be for everyone, but it leads to some great push-and-pull and plenty of player interaction, and an intriguing puzzle while you look for ways to secure your points.

The stacking rule is a great addition. When placing tiles and working towards your scoring goals, you need to consider which tiles can be stacked. Just because you’ve got a group of six foxes currently, doesn’t mean it will stay that way. Although it might, if it works towards your opponent’s goals as well.

Players also have to plan for the week. Since each week there’s a token type that can’t be played, players have to work around this. Especially near the end of the game. If you don’t play your hoopoes in time, for example, you won’t be able to play them at all.

Some of the iconography on the scoring cards is a little confusing. The fox cards are written in an especially non-intuitive way. The rulebook is also just a little clunky, but at its core, the rules are pretty straightforward and not too hard to figure out.

Overall, Fall is a fun two-player game that makes you think. It's very puzzly, but with enough information hidden and luck of the draw that you're always doing a little bit of guessing and trying to think through multiple scenarios. Lovely artwork and a cozy, pleasant theme are a nice cherry on top.

Pros: Nice theme, solid player interaction, puzzly mixed with a good amount of luck

Cons: Some iconography is confusing, rulebook could be a little tighter

Disclosure: we received a complimentary review copy of this game.