Show off a beautiful, colorful plume of feathers to attract the attention of an unpredictable peahen in Enchanted Plumes.

I know I just played this one very recently, yet I couldn’t stop myself from taking the box off the shelf again the other day! Enchanted Plumes is a solo game I often overlook, even though it’s a fun little puzzle. The highest scoring tier and a true victory have eluded me so far, so I settled in to see what I might be able to do with these fantastic feathers!

Drawn Back to the Same Game: A Good Thing

With so many games on my shelves, often unplayed or barely touched, there is sometimes the tendency for me to think that I should be cycling through as many as possible. Yet that’s absolutely not the case! I’m someone who enjoys the cozy aspects of board games, and often, that means I’ll play the same game a lot and relatively regularly.

Our hobby is vast and immense, which can be overwhelming, but the nice thing about board games is that they can wait. They won’t go bad on the shelf. I might miss out on the initial hype, yet that’s still a fun experience that’s waiting for me when I’m ready. A lot of what has been said about books in lovely quotes can also apply to board games:

Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers. – Charles W. Eliot

If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all. – Oscar Wilde

Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I’ll have a long beard by the time I read them. – Arnold Lobel

Books and doors are the same thing. You open them, and you go through into another world. – Jeanette Winterson

I love the way that each book, any book, is its own journey. You open it, and off you go. You are changed in some way, large or small, by having traveled with those characters. – Sharon Creech

So enjoy your games, the full shelves that seem to beckon, the journeys yet to come, and the predictable moments that are like visiting an old friend. There is no particular way to go about board games, as should be the case!

Reusability

Achievement & Enjoyment

9

Variability

Distinctness & Randomness

6

+ Pros (Positives)

• The feathers are absolutely beautiful and form what looks like a plume with the way the play area is built out.
• Although the peahen’s appearance can be frustrating, that level of uncertainty adds a little fun to the end game.
• There isn’t a way to do poorly since incomplete plumes miss out on victory points, but don’t incur penalties.
• Gameplay moves along quickly with interesting choices amidst the cards and decisions about how risky to play.
• A fair amount of variety exists with the strategies of creating multiple small plumes or a single, gigantic plume.
• Learning the solo mode is straightforward and involves simple rules about removing cards from the train.

– Cons (Negatives)

• There is a bit of luck involved with the order of the cards that can lead to some situations where a color is scarce.
• Some of the feather colors look similar and can be hard to tell apart from afar when their patterns are covered.
• It’s a very minor issue, but the placement of the numbers and outer ribbons feels a little too busy to easily read.
• Aspects of the rules can be a little wordy when gameplay is relatively simple with quick turns and decisions.

Goals and Milestones

Continue the Conversation

Have you played Enchanted Plumes recently? Are there any other unofficial solo variants that have surprised you recently? I’m having a wonderful time exploring this one some more, and I can see myself enjoying it for a long time to come. My solo focus at the moment is mostly about cozy and relaxing games, which this one is certainly a part of!