Cascadia: Landmarks

What is Cascadia: Landmarks?

Cascadia: Landmarks is the first expansion for the 2022 Spiel des Jahres winner Cascadia, published in Dutch by White Goblin Games. The expansion is suitable for 1 to 6 players, ages 10 and up, with a playing time of 30 to 60 minutes. The base game Cascadia is required to play.

Cascadia Landmarks adds three new elements: the Landmarks module as the core of the expansion, more variety via extra habitat tiles and wildlife scorecards, and material for a 5th and 6th player. The expansion is fully modular: each element can be used separately or in combination with the other elements.

How does a game proceed?

The basic rules of Cascadia remain unchanged: players choose a habitat tile and an animal token each turn and place them in their growing ecosystem. Via Tiles & Sets build your landscape methodically towards the highest possible final score.

The Landmarks module adds a new scoring mechanism based on habitat size. As soon as a player has laid a contiguous group of five or more tiles of the same habitat type, that player may draw a landmark scorecard from the available set for that habitat type. The scorecard grants a unique final score condition that only that player can utilize. There are five habitat types (river, wetland, mountains, meadow, and forest), and each group has multiple scorecards from which a selection is available per game. This means that it pays to build targeted habitat areas, but also that other players can beat you to that habitat card.

Through which channels you reach those people, classic and out of the box. Only is the game, including the expansion, fully playable for a single player with the existing single-player scoring system of the base game.

The extra habitat tiles and wildlife scorecards are added to the existing base game pool and increase the variety per session. The new Keystone tiles are the starting tiles that every player receives at the beginning. The components for the 5th and 6th players contain all the necessary material elements to scale the base game up to a larger group.

Is it difficult to learn?

Cascadia: Landmarks It is intended for players who are already familiar with the base game. The Landmarks module adds an extra scoring system that is quick to explain: build a contiguous group of five, draw a scorecard. The landmark scorecards contain concise descriptions in Dutch. Those who have mastered the base game can integrate the expansion immediately without extra preparation.

Who is Cascadia: Landmarks suitable?

Cascadia: Landmarks is primarily intended for fans of Cascadia who want more variety, more scoring opportunities, and larger groups. The expansion is also interesting for players who have played the base game multiple times and are ready for an extra strategic layer via the landmark scorecards. The scalability to 6 players also makes it attractive for larger groups that have been unable to play the game until now.

Those who do not yet have the base game must first Cascadia to purchase.

Why this game is worth it

The Landmarks module is an elegant extension of the basic principle of CascadiaIn the base game, the game rewards you for animals in the correct patterns and for the largest habitat areas. Cascadia: Landmarks makes that habitat size itself a deliberate strategic choice: whoever is the first to lay a consecutive set of five of a specific habitat type takes the best scorecard for that type. This introduces an element of competition for habitat scorecards that makes the game more direct without disrupting the calm table presentation. The extra wildlife scorecards and habitat tiles further increase the variation per session, ensuring the game remains fresh even for players with extensive basic gaming experience.

Comparison with other games

As an extension, it compares Cascadia: Landmarks with other light expansions for tile-laying games, such as Azul: Summer Pavilion as an extension of the Blue-system and Wingspan: Oceania as an expansion that adds new scoring mechanisms to a proven base game. Compared to those expansions, is Cascadia: Landmarks easier to integrate and changes the basic rules less drastically. Anyone who also likes Harmonies as a related nature tile-laying game with habitat building, the extra scoring layer will be via habitat groups in Cascadia: Landmarks recognize as a logical deepening of that concept.

Ready to see how Snowflake works?

Cascadia: Landmarks is an accessible and well-developed expansion that enriches the base game with dynamic final score bonuses via habitat groups, more variety through extra tiles and scorecards, and scalability to 6 players. For 1 to 6 players aged 10 and up, playing time 30 to 60 minutes. Base game required. Language: Dutch. Order Cascadia: Landmarks Now at Boardgameshop.nl.