How to Read an Everdell Card

Everdell has 128 Critter and Construction cards, and new players often feel they must learn them all. They don’t. Every card is laid out the same way, so once you know where to look, any card in the Meadow reads in a few seconds. This lesson walks around a card the way the rulebook labels it, then covers the one rule about what happens, in order, when a card is played.

The top left: what it costs

The cost sits in the top left corner.

• Constructions list resources, mostly twigs, resin, and pebbles. Pay exactly what is shown into the general supply.
• Critters list berries. Above the berries, most Critters also name a Construction, with the word “or” between them. That is the free Critter link: if the named Construction is already in your city, you may play the Critter without paying the berries.

When you use that link, put an occupied token on the Construction. Each Construction can bring in its Critter for free only once, and the token stays even if the Critter later leaves your city.

The rulebook’s own example is the Judge, a Critter whose corner names the Courthouse. Build a Courthouse and the Judge moves in free.

The left edge: color and type

A round icon on the left gives the card’s type, and the card’s color matches it. This is the most useful thing to read first, because it tells you when the card does anything.

A quick rule of thumb: green and blue want to come early, because they keep working. Purple can come late, because it only scores at the end. Tan is a one-time burst. Red is a new worker space that belongs to you.

The name line: Common or Unique

Under the name, a short line says “Common” or “Unique,” followed by “Construction” or “Critter.”

• You may have several copies of a Common card in your city. Three Farms is legal.
• You may have only one copy of each Unique card. A second Castle cannot come in, even if you could afford it.

This line also matters for scoring. Some purple cards count Common or Unique cards of one kind, so the same line you read for legality is the one you read for points later.

The gold circle: points

The number in the gold circle, at the right end of the name banner, is the card’s base points, scored at the end of the game. Base points are the smallest part of most winning scores. In the rulebook’s scoring example, printed card points made 22 of a 62-point total. So read the number, but never stop there.

The middle: the card text

The text box says what the card does. Read it with the color in mind. A green card’s text happens three times if you play it in winter. A tan card’s text happens once. A red card’s text is what any worker placed on it receives.

Small symbols stand in for twigs, resin, pebbles, berries, cards, and point tokens, and the rulebook’s legend uses four verbs: gain from the supply, pay to the supply, draw from the deck, and reveal for everyone to see. A red card with an Open sign can be visited by opponents, and you gain a point token from the supply each time one does.

The small number: cards in the deck

Each card also prints how many copies of it are in the deck, in a small marker beside the type icon on the rulebook’s diagram. This tells you whether a card you want is likely to turn up again. A card with many copies will come around; a card with one copy you see in the Meadow might be your only chance.

The bottom: the Critter a Construction hosts

Constructions show, along the bottom, the Critter they let in for free. It is the same link as the Critter’s top left corner, read from the other side. When you look at a Construction in the Meadow, glance at the bottom: if that Critter is already in your hand, the building is worth more to you than its points say.

What happens when you play a card

The rulebook gives a fixed order. Most turns you will never need it, but it settles arguments:

1. Use a card-playing ability, like the Judge’s resource swap or a discount card.
2. Pay the cost, or use an occupied token for a free Critter.
3. If the card came from the Meadow, refill the Meadow.
4. Put the card in your city.
5. Resolve the new card’s own effect.
6. Resolve triggered effects from cards already in your city, like the Courthouse’s resource.

Step 6 coming after step 5 is why a Courthouse does not pay you for itself: it is not in play yet when it would trigger.

A five-second read

For any card, in order: cost, color, Common or Unique, points, link. That is enough to decide whether a card is worth a closer look. For a broader sense of how a card city works, our explainer on tableau games shows the idea Everdell is built on.