Weird City Games: Canopy - Card Game

Product Information

The game is played over three "seasons" or rounds and the round ends when the draw pile is emptied. This triggers a scoring round where points are awarded for various plants gathered in that round, natural disasters such as fire and disease may be triggered. Points are awarded for trees that have had a canopy placed on them. There are other bonus points for the player with the tallest trees. All wildlife and uncompleted trees remain for the next round, but all flora cards are discarded. Wildlife cards are scored at the end of the game.

Despite the shortcomings I’ve mentioned, Canopy is not a bad game. I had a lot of fun playing, particularly against my daughter. She loved the rainforest theme and we both loved that she could play with no problems. In addition to the plant and animal cards, there are a number of supplemental cards that add a ton of personality to the game. One example is with the weather cards. Finding a balance of sun and rain will earn you additional points each season. There is also a tree-building mini-game taking place each season. Players will race to build the tallest, most fruitful trees topping them each off with a canopy. Players earn points each round and at the end of the game for the tallest and largest tree forest. When you don’t feel like setting up 7 Wonders: Duel or you play against someone with less gaming experience, Canopy is a great choice. Easy to play, excellent for new gamers or kids Nurture an entire ecosystem of flora and fauna in Canopy, a two-player board game from Tim Eisner - the maker of fairy-tale building game The Grimm Forest.

As well as designing Canopy and The Grimm Forest, Eisner has also co-created the party spin-off game The Grimm Masquerade and Wonderland’s War - a dark take on the world of Alice in Wonderland. The quality of components is fine, although the cards could use a lamination. As this is primarily a card game, the wear and tear on them are high. You could go for sleeves, but that would negate the whole eco-friendly aspect.

However, players will have to be cautious as there are cards that can cause a number of disasters to spring up in their rainforest. From raging fires, terrible diseases and unrelenting drought, these cards reduce the scoring potential of a player’s tableau - so must be taken at the player’s own risk. There are also paper bags to store tokens, although I found that a plastic bag, that I had lying around, works better after all. But still, 10 points for the effort. It’s simple in the way that you can’t make a wrong move – you can legally take any pile and add it to your area. This makes it great to play against kids – our 5yo loved it.

Despite it’s simple mechanics, Canopy sails with its theme and rich production. You’re immediately drawn into your own, private rainforest. Not only are you drawn in, but you instantly own it.