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Let’s face it, I adore this game, Everdell is truly my most favourite magical gaming world to escape to. So when I thought about wording this, at first all I could put was: 'everdell cards: best to least best'; I can’t bring myself to say ‘best to w…. w….. worst’. Then, when faced with the hefty stack (cards from the base game and the Newleaf expansion), ‘top 5’ and ‘top 3’ fitted much better. And it allows me to skirt around classing any beloved cards as anything even close to ‘worst’!
FYI, this is a reflection of the top cards I love to play the most. It is a true reflection of my preferences: for me, this is how cosy beautiful each card will look and feel in my expanding woodland city, not just what will earn most points (and I pinky promise this isn’t just an excuse to not win every game). FYI again, I have separated Newleaf cards from the base game for the purpose of this post, so it is of interest to readers who have yet had the pleasure of playing Newleaf.
To start off, top 5 Everdell base game cards:
#5: Farm: On my first few games of Everdell, this was my go-to card. It feels very versatile, producing a berry when played and at the start of both spring and autumn, whilst being relatively ‘’cheap’’; costing just 2 twigs and a resin. Plus, either a loved-up, berry-laden husband or wife (harvester/gatherer) can occupy the farm for free, and the beauty of this mice pair is that they share a space, and, with the wife’s prosperity points, score a total of 7 points at the end of the game.
#4: Inn: Another versatile common construction, costing the same as the farm. When occupied by a worker, the Inn enables play of a meadow critter or construction for 3 fewer resources, making ‘’expensive’’ cards much more achievable, helping players to avoid spending turn after turn on collecting resources for just 1 card. Plus, it is rich in Everdell charm, boasting a snowy tree trunk with cute, cottage-style windows, revealing a cosy, warmly-lit safe rest place for critters in town, not forgetting the adorable little badger sign by the entrance.
#3: Architect: A buck-toothed, hard-working unique critter, whose purple uniform matches the maximum prosperity points on offer at the end of the game for unused resin/pebble resources. With the 2 base points already scored on the card, this card can score an impressive 8 points if utilised to its’ full potential.
#2: King: Another purple-clothed unique critter, but this time a regal one who has earned a rest on a wood carved throne, where he puts his paws up. Earning a generous 4 base points, plus an extra 1 prosperity point for each basic event achieved, and 2 for each special event achieved.
#1: Drumroll….
DOCTOR! : No, there isn’t an emergency, I don’t need a walking, breathing doctor. But I DO need to tell you why the Doctor is (arguably) the best Everdell base game card. A studious hedgehog (unique critter), writing all-needed prescriptions with a feathered quill to heal the precious, loveable critters of Everdell (beautifully detailed examples of prescriptions are included in the instructions!). Offering 4 base points, plus producing up to 3 additional points at the start of both spring and autumn for each berry that can be sacrificed in return for 1 point.
Next, top 3 Everdell Newleaf cards:
I must admit, based on aesthetics alone, the ‘Tea House’ common construction would make it here: a beautiful bee temple with a sunny yellow entrance. However, the benefits of playing this card are limited, earning just 1 point, plus a card and a resource at the sacrifice of a card in hand (to another player).
#3: Freight car: Fitting the train theme of the Newleaf expansion, this unique construction can be occupied by ANY UNIQUE CRITTERS free of charge! For example, the King, earning numerous points and saving players the hassle of saving up 6 berries or waiting to be lucky and draw the Castle from the base game to play him. Not forgetting its’ ‘never-ending porridge pot’-style ability to keep producing resources: when activated, the fright care produces 2 resources from a selection of resources pre- placed onto the card: 2 pebbles, berries, logs or resin.
#2: Library: Another unique construction, this time one housing tens of books to educate and entertain the critters in the city, featuring ‘the poet’ butterfly, fluttering around. To players’ relief, whilst it requires 3 different types of resources, it only requires just 1 of resin and pebbles, and 2 logs. It earns players 3 base points, plus an additional maximum 5 prosperity points (1 for each colour/type card played in the city).
#1: Baker: A bumbling, smiley bee, carrying a freshly- baked treat. Costing just 3 berries (a resource that is fairly easy to collect, only slightly depending on the mystery forest locations that get drawn at game set up), this unique critter scores 2 base points plus a maximum 6 prosperity points (a full 2 points for each berry left over, to a maximum of 3).
To finish, a few ‘mini bests’ (ps. I included the Bellfaire expansion here!):
Best Basic location: ‘Flower Festival’ (from Bellfaire) Yes, it only scores 4 points. But it is an adorable ring of baskets brimming with flowers in red, purple, yellow, blue and green, representing the criteria of at least one card of each colour/type: 1 production, 1 prosperity etc. And aiming for this event sets a starting goal of a city that is an ‘all-rounder’ from the get go, offering good card interactions and rewards as the game develops through the seasons. The flower festival takes away the initial common urge to focus on just the production cards (with the motive of having them activated over the season changes).
Best (and worst) Newleaf Visitor Cards:
Best - ‘Wimble Wuffle’: a smiley mole fashioning a waistcoat and top hat, proudly carrying berries, whose stamp collection includes ‘Acorn Valley: Everblossom’ and ‘Quorka Island: Starfall’. Not only are these dinky decorative details lovely to look at, it is also a great one to have, because the criteria of at least 3 berries leftover is extremely achievable, nicely earning 6 points.
Worst- ‘Phill Gurgle’. Yes, this little creature looks adorable at the top of a cluster of rocks, and aesthetically matches the (arguably) best (beautiful lilac) worker counters and offers a very generous 10 points. But, this card specifies no more than 2 production cards in the city. Whilst over-focusing on production cards seems to limit gameplay and card selection opportunities, a maximum of a mere 2 production cards seems extremely restrictive and odd.
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