The Ludarium Academy · Full course · Free

Four Seasons, Fifteen Spaces

An unofficial Everdell course

Learn Everdell, teach it in ten minutes, and build a woodland city that keeps paying you back, from your first twig in winter to your last card in autumn.

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Everdell setup for four players: the Ever Tree at the top of the board with waiting workers on its spring, summer, and autumn branches, 4 special Events on its lower branches, and the deck in its trunk; 4 basic Events on the river; resource piles and 8 basic locations along the path; the Meadow of 8 face-up cards between 4 Forest cards; the autumn trail, discard pile, and Haven along the bottom; point and occupied tokens beside the board; and each player with 2 workers and a starting hand of 5, 6, 7, or 8 cards.Free printable teach sheetSetup, a turn, scoring, and three tips on one page.

Five levels, 18 lessons

Start with lesson one

  1. Level 0 · Learn to play

    Sprout

    After this level: Set up, teach, and finish a game of Everdell, and read any card at a glance, without opening the rulebook.

    1. 01How to Play Everdell
    2. 02How to Teach Everdell
    3. 03How to Read an Everdell Card

  2. Level 1 · Beginner

    Forager

    After this level: Open with green cards, make every worker pay for a card you can name, and claim basic Events before anyone else.

    1. 04Your First Three Games of Everdell
    2. 05Everdell Openings: Winter and Spring
    3. 06Everdell Worker Placement: Make Every Worker Pay
    4. 07Everdell Events: How to Claim Them First

  3. Level 2 · Intermediate

    Carpenter

    After this level: Make summer pay with combos and discounts, fill all 15 spaces on purpose, and count your score before autumn ends.

    1. 08The Everdell Midgame: Summer, Discounts, and the Meadow
    2. 09Everdell Card Combos: Pairs, Chains, and Payoffs
    3. 10Everdell Endgame and Scoring Math
    4. 11Everdell Player Counts, Variants, and Expansions

  4. Level 3 · Advanced

    Steward

    After this level: Pick a scoring path from your opening, judge what each city space is worth, time every season change, and win the two-player game.

    1. 12Everdell Strategy Paths: Choosing How You Will Score
    2. 13Everdell Card Evaluation: What a City Space Is Worth
    3. 14Timing the Seasons in Everdell: When to Prepare
    4. 15Two-Player Everdell Strategy: Winning the Duel

  5. Level 4 · Tournament ready

    Elder

    After this level: Play a four-player base game inside two hours, score it cleanly with a checker, and train for the WBC Everdell event.

    1. 16Competitive Everdell: Tournaments and Online Play
    2. 17Four-Player Everdell: Strategy for Tournament Tables
    3. 18A Practice Plan for Tournament Everdell

Every lesson is free to read here, any time. Sign up and they also arrive by email, one at a time, so the course keeps you learning between game nights.

Who it is for

  • New players who want the rules clear before the first worker leaves home.
  • Hosts who teach Everdell to family, friends, or a new group.
  • Players who finish autumn with a half-built city and want to know why.
  • Anyone curious about solo play, expansions, and tournaments.
Players
1 to 4
Play time
40 to 80 minutes
Ages
Ages 10 and up
Rules as of
Everdell Rules of Play (Starling Games, © 2018 to 2021 Tabletop Tycoon, with Harvester and Gatherer), the rulebook linked from the publisher's Standard Edition (3rd edition) page, checked against The Gilded Book and The Archive from the Complete Collection

Questions

How many cards can you have in your city in Everdell?

Fifteen. Each Critter or Construction takes one space. Events do not count toward the limit, the Wanderer takes no space, and a Harvester and Gatherer can share one space.

When can you prepare for season in Everdell?

Only when all of your workers are deployed. You bring them all back, gain the new workers and bonus for the next season, and your turn ends. Players do not have to prepare at the same time.

How do you play a Critter for free in Everdell?

Each Critter names a Construction in its top left corner. If that Construction is in your city, you may play the Critter without paying its berries. Put an occupied token on the Construction; each Construction can do this only once.

What is the hand limit in Everdell?

Eight cards, and you can never hold more. If you would draw past eight, you stop at eight. If you must give cards to an opponent, choose one with room in their hand, and discard any that nobody can take.

How do you break a tie in Everdell?

The player who achieved the most Events wins. If players are still tied, the one with the most leftover resources wins.

Teach sheet · PDF · Rules as described in the Everdell Rules of Play (Starling Games, © 2018 to 2021 Tabletop Tycoon, with Harvester and Gatherer), the rulebook linked from the publisher's Standard Edition (3rd edition) page, checked against The Gilded Book and The Archive from the Complete Collection; official rules.

Unofficial. Not affiliated with Starling Games or Tabletop Tycoon. Everdell is a trademark of Tabletop Tycoon, Inc.