Black Forest

2024 · City Building

Black Forest

Players manage a small glass-making domain in a forested region, recruiting specialists by traveling between villages to gain their abilities. Specialists enable resource collection, placement of landscape tiles such as ponds and fields, and construction of buildings from four distinct types. Two resource wheels on each player tableau track resources and production levels, and players must balance building choices, landscape placement, and firing glass production to expand their domain. Worker placement drives turn order and actions, and a broad assortment of buildings with varied effects supports multiple strategic paths to score points and develop the estate.

Players
1–4 best 3
Playing time
60–120 min
Age
14+
Complexity
3.2 / 5
8.1 on Ludoyafrom $57.95EconomicMedievalWorker PlacementAutomatic Resource GrowthOnce-Per-Game Abilities

About the game

Photos from Ludoya tables

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  • Black Forest on the table, photo by Dani Gómez
  • Black Forest on the table, photo by Dani Gómez

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On Ludoya's tables

Full stats in Ludoya
95
Plays logged
135
Players
1h 58m
Average play
40
In collections
18
On wishlists

8.1/10

from 16 Ludoya reviews

  • Jerry Gagliano9.0

    Played a few times and it's in my collection. It is abit on the lighter side but still manages you giving you a wide ranges of choices. You also have to think abit in advance for the next action you will take. Lots buildings to choose from and during the game all tradermarket place are reshuffled so there is always some ramdoness. The wheel mechanics is good as you have to be careful to moving the wheel which can make you loose resources. This game is great as it's not hard to learn and quick turns

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Rules questions

Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.

Do I have to move my pawn on my turn, or can I stay and just take actions?

On a standard turn you must move your pawn (Movement is step 2 of a standard turn); if you cannot move you must go Begging instead, and only on your first turn may you place your pawn in any empty space instead of moving. (p.6, p.8)

If gaining resources empties the dark-marked spaces on a wheel, do I have to produce immediately?

Yes — whenever both marked spaces on a wheel are empty you must immediately turn that dial clockwise and produce (you must produce until at least one marked space is no longer empty) and you cannot decline to produce. (p.4)

Can I split charcoal or provisions between my two wheels when I gain or spend them?

Charcoal: when gaining it you must place the gain on a single wheel (you cannot split the gain), but when spending charcoal you may split the cost between both wheels; provisions can be split between both markers when gaining or spending. (p.4)

Can I use a conversion (blue) Building while I'm visiting Tradespeople — even between the two I visit?

Conversion Buildings are 'anytime' actions so you may use them before or after your action, and you may use them between visiting the first and the second Tradesperson, but you cannot use anytime actions during a Tradesperson visit itself. (p.9, p.10)

If I move into a village that already has other pawns, do I have to pay those players anything?

Yes — when you move into a village that contains other players' pawns you must pay each of those players 1 basic resource of your choice (they may decline it, but you still must spend it); in 2‑player games the neutral pawn can also cost you a resource. (p.6)

What exactly triggers the end of the game and who gets the final turns?

The end is triggered at the end of the turn in which one or both provision markers on your Cooking wheel reach or pass the end‑of‑game symbol (you must announce it), and then every player, including the player who triggered it, takes one final turn before scoring. (p.10)

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Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.