Bears, Elk, and Cascadia: A Farewell to a Great Game
Arrange tiles to create homes for different animals and work on completing various challenges in the bright world of Cascadia.
I’ve been trying to work in some regular solo games into some sort of rotation, which doesn’t always work well, but back to Cascadia! My next solo scenario looked to be rather difficult, yet I was excited to see what I might be able to work out with the different scoring conditions. The only concern was if I felt like I had seen everything already… Only one way to find out!
Game Overview
Game Name: Cascadia
Publication Year: 2021
Designer: Randy Flynn
Artist: Beth Sobel
Publishers: Alderac Entertainment Group & Flatout Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
With a scoring card for each type of animal, different types of solo scenarios offer ever-increasing challenges. The rules are clear with interesting choices around adding tiles and tokens to a small area. It all moves quite quickly, often with a bit of tension at the end to get the perfect final animal!
First Play
August 1, 2021
Complexity
2
Latest Play
June 15, 2026
Expansions
1
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
28
Play Time
15 Minutes
High Score
101
Game Area
24" x 22"
Low Score
73
A First Close Attempt
On the 10th solo scenario, I could see a fair bit of difficulty around meeting the conditions. My first attempt wasn’t all that bad, although I didn’t optimize as much as I could have.
Part of me took a step back to consider if gameplay had gotten a little too optimized for my tastes.
I enjoy randomness, and this one has been lovely for years! Yet with these last few scenarios, it felt like I needed to have the perfect tiles and tokens, and get lucky in the process.
Counting up the different sorts of regions also had me keeping track of a lot of elements. It was a lot of counting.
Fun Solo Scenarios
Despite my hesitation during this session, I do want to acknowledge how much fun I had with 2/3 of the scenarios. The increasing difficulty level was almost imperceptive.
It was fun to see how the animals had their own sort of focus, but changed with each scoring card. Very neat!
The first few scenarios seemed fairly easy, but there was a point when I realized there was a lot more involved.
Adjusting my strategies, learning how to best utilize each scoring card, and seeing the various combinations was excellent! I learned a lot and had plenty of great plays.
All in the Details
As I continued to play many times to try to meet the solo scenario requirements, I enjoyed the components quite a bit.
The token draw bag had a nice pattern and was large enough to comfortably pick out a token. I found myself holding onto it the whole time… Maybe for some luck? Ha!
It took me a little time to get used to the scoring conditions, especially the concept of a salmon run. I scored that incorrectly a few times, but finally figured it out… A line!
Art is fairly sparse, yet the cards create a nice line of animals to admire. I love the foxes, yet usually steer clear of them.
Bears and Elk… Oh, My!
My scores were pretty close to the requirement, but I shifted over to focus on a lot of bears and elk this time. Still not quite good enough, though. The tiles did not cooperate!
I found myself getting frustrated with the tiles more than once. Creating connected groups wasn’t an issue, but when I needed areas of 7 tiles, it was hard to end up with 6 tiles.
Ultimately, I felt like I had seen the best of the game already and wouldn’t get much more of out it. Lots of fun, though!
Interestingly, this means I’m only left with Verdant from the trilogy and didn’t love it initially. Something to try out soon!
Recognizing the Time to Part Ways with a Game
Sometimes, I’ve thought that any game I’ve enjoyed over the years has to be part of my collection forever. Although it holds true in many cases, there are those I realize I can part with. This is just such an example in as positive a sense as possible!
It isn’t that I strongly dislike the game, but feel like I’ve gotten everything out of it I think I will. There’s a question of picking up an expansion to try to see if that might help, yet I’m also happy to move on. My shelves house a lot of games that need some attention. There are enough small issues with this one that make me OK to move on with no regrets.
Taking into account everything in my collection, it’s easy to see why I don’t play the same game a lot. I’m trying to get back to a point where that’s even vaguely possible, so paring down when I can isn’t a negative. This copy will end up finding a new home where I’m sure it will bring that same enjoyment to others. Just an opportunity to share the fun of this hobby!
Session Overview
Play Number: 21-28
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Scenario 10
Outcome: 90, 94, 95, 93, 88, 91, 91, 99 (1 Win & 7 Losses)
Finally, I managed to make it all come together for a victory! This was a nice way to reach what looked like the end. Yet I played almost 30 times and enjoyed the game in many senses. It’s a very clean design that doesn’t require too much to get into. Glad I made it this far with all of the solo scenarios! Nice to see how many years the game stuck with me before it’s ready to move onto a new home in the future.
%
20 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
4
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
6
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
4
+ Pros (Positives)
- The play time is very quick with fast turns and many interesting decisions about how to build up the region.
- Solo scenarios start out pretty easily, but the difficulty slowly increases so that there is a nice challenge to figure out.
- Animal tokens are very bright and easy to distinguish with the artwork, even from a far distance.
- All of the components are high quality, from the custom token draw bag to the thick wooden tokens.
- Not a lot of art is present, yet the scoring cards provide beautiful images of the different animals in the game.
- Most plays involve a fairly compact play area, particularly since there aren’t a ton of tiles that are added on.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Gameplay can feel a bit repetitive over time with the same sort of choices and decisions to make each play.
- There is some degree of luck involved with getting the right tiles and tokens, which can be a little stressful.
- Keeping track of the different areas and animals can involve a lot of constant counting and re-counting.
- It’s a minor issue, but the edges of the various terrains end in sharp lines and don’t create a cohesive map.
Victory Conditions
Meet the Scenario Requirements
- Overall Goal Progress 71%
Goals and Milestones
Score at least 90 points.
Score at least 100 points.
Complete every scenario. (10/15)
Continue the Conversation
What is your favorite part of Cascadia? Did you complete all of the solo scenarios, or are you still working on some of them? Ideally I would have made it through all of them, but this felt like the right time to stop. There’s a lot to enjoy with this one, and I still think it’s one to recommend looking into if it looks interesting. Onward I go, though, with some great memories!
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