Better Late Than Never: Finding the Joy in Cascadia Again
Admire the beauty of nature with a changing landscape of different habitats where animals roam in Cascadia.
I’m rather surprised how little I played Cascadia when it first arrived… And then I left it on my shelf for years! With so many positive comments about it and a theme right up my alley, it was definitely time to take another look at this one. I was excited about the streamlined gameplay, but honestly, it was the animals. It’s always the animals! Ha ha!
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
A combination of habitat tiles and wildlife tokens must be placed in order to complete various scoring goals. Bears, elk, foxes, hawks, and salmon join the landscape from the choices in tiles and tokens. With a beautiful map to admire in the end, gameplay is simply a wonderful experience!
First Play
August 1, 2021
Complexity
2
Latest Play
July 26, 2024
Expansions
1
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
8
Play Time
20 Minutes
High Score
101
Game Area
24" x 22"
Low Score
74
Lovely Introduction
There are some introductions and flavor text that stand out to me, and I had a wonderful time with this opening text! No fantasy here, yet a fantastic page of information.
I had a vague idea of this area, yet it was nice to see a map and understand what it incorporates. Definitely bigger than my old assumption, which was basically… Oregon!
In terms of introducing a game, I love these sorts of pages that set out a little history and the overall gameplay.
This is also easy to skip over, yet it eases into the list of components and rules. Very relaxing to match gameplay.
Pouring Out Tokens
My usual set of photos taken before starting didn’t even happen… I was too excited to play! And then, it turned into such a great time. I was completely focused.
The ability to place both habitat tiles and wildlife tokens means that there are lots of considerations, but I never felt like I was overwhelmed. Nor was I locked into a corner.
In my recent plays of Calico, the reliance on luck was one of my big issues. Here, building outward was possible.
Plus, there was a way to break up pairs or even clear out some unwanted choices. Plenty of ways to progress!
Adorable Animals
The scoring goals were also very fun to work on. Sometimes, a certain animal didn’t show up a lot. That just gave me a reason to focus on some others!
Effectively, I had a lot more control over how I laid out the area and filled it with wildlife. Very rarely did I make poor decisions or feel like I was faced with limited choices.
Instead, anything that went wrong seemed like it was due to me… Which was awesome! No blaming bad luck. Ha!
These scoring goals kept me interested in what I was doing, too, and I felt like I always had good options.
Clear Color Schemes
Another element that didn’t necessarily work as much for me personally in Calico was the color scheme. Too much was going on with the quilts. Beautiful, yet overly busy.
In this case, I could pick out the habitats pretty easily, and the wildlife tokens never confused me. So nice!
As is typical for me, I found myself making up little stories. Like how this area had a pair of mothers with cubs, who might meet up to eat salmon every now and then.
I didn’t maximize my score and probably could have made other decisions… That was the beauty of playing, though!
Shelf Surprises and Not Lamenting Lost Time
Time travel isn’t possible… Yet? Ha! Sometimes, I’ve gotten down on myself for not getting some solo games to my table more often. I probably missed out on a lot of fun when this one first came out, as it’s been sitting around for a couple of years. But another important life lesson is that I don’t need to feel sad about not playing years ago.
That time went to other endeavors, and I get to discover all the fun now! Better late than never, after all. And from all the experience I’ve gained from playing and evaluating other solo games, maybe I appreciate this one more than I would have even a year ago. So although I’m late to this wildlife party, I’m glad I have a chance to enjoy it now!
Feast or Famine
I was progressing through the scenarios pretty handily, until I experienced a pretty rough play. It was hard to get connected habitats going, or even place wildlife tokens.
Despite losing and having a pretty low score, I didn’t feel like this was a waste. I made some poor choices early on and should have shifted my focus a little bit more.
Besides, I figured that without any salmon, this was an example of a year with limited food for the wildlife.
Back to the drawing board! Yet I was excited, rather than deflated by this loss. Quite a different feeling.
A Sea of Scenarios
As with the other games in this trilogy, there are all sorts of scenarios to work through with different conditions.
After tackling the first few, I can’t wait to keep rolling through these challenges! The solo mode also works with a random assortment, yet I like having some goals.
Simply excellent! Having this act as a guide to moving up in difficulty levels is quite helpful, too, as I can also see using some of the ideas here to make custom scenarios.
But I don’t want to jump ahead… I’m still early on in my exploration of these scenarios and have a long way to go!
Session Overview
Play Number: 3-6
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Scenarios 1, 2, & 3
Outcome: 88, 101, 74, 89 (3 Wins & 1 Loss)
So neat! My final play ended up in a victory, courtesy of everyone except the foxes. The bears were most impressed with the selection of salmon, and I believe the elk herd expanded thanks to the aquatic buffet on offer. Ha! I still can’t believe I waited this long to play, but that’s how it goes with my collection sometimes. So thankful I brought this to my table and discovered something amazing!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
9
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
10
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
7
+ Pros (Positives)
- Gameplay moves along at a good pace with little downtime and enough decisions to make each round interesting.
- Since the available tiles and tokens can often be cleared or unlinked, bad choices are very rarely encountered.
- It might seem somewhat small, but the final area often has a lot to admire in terms of scoring and early decisions.
- All of the colors work nicely together, yet are distinct enough to tell apart at a glance without getting confused.
- Scenarios help guide a progression through challenges that get more and more difficult, while still being fun.
- The wooden wildlife tokens are awesome and add a flair of quality to the overall experience in looks and function.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Setup involves a bit of shuffling and counting with the habitat tiles, which adds a little bit of work before playing.
- A couple of animal scoring goals have some ambiguities, although these are often resolved with a little research.
- Some plays simply won’t have a lot of a certain type of wildlife token, but it can be hard to shift tactics.
- Following connected habitat tiles can be a little tricky at the end when tokens block most of the artwork.
Victory Conditions
Meet the Scenario Requirements
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Complete scenario 1.
Complete scenario 2.
Complete scenario 3.
Complete scenario 4.
Complete scenario 5.
Score at least 90 points.
Score at least 100 points.
Continue the Conversation
What do you think of Cascadia? Have you made it far with the scenarios, or is there one that’s stumped you? Many times, I see solo games on my shelves I haven’t played for years and think that I’ll give them a final hurrah before moving on. Yet there are many, such as this one, that are so much fun and simply cement their place in my collection!
I’m not surprised this game suit you. It’s a great puzzle with a theme that stands out just enough you can imagine trekking through random wilderness.
As for the shelf time… just figure yourself you only found out this game recently. Its shine hasn’t faded a bit since it went out two years ago. Whether you played it earlier or now is not relevant to me !
Great comments! I love thinking about my little map in the end and how that might translate into something in the real world. And you’re so right about the shelf time: This one sat around for a little bit, but that didn’t diminish any of the fun. Can’t wait to see what else is hiding out on my shelves!
This was my first read on your site. I really enjoyed the visual structure and storytelling.
Thank you very much for stopping by!