My Rainforest

The Game

My Rainforest is a light card game from Malaysian publisher Specky Studio. Every card in the game is a plant or an animal from the Malaysian rainforest. You build your own tableau of cards, and that is your rainforest. It will eventually have 9 cards. The cards score points in several ways, mostly depending on what are the card types next to them. 

The core mechanism is like 7 Wonders. Everyone starts with a hand of cards. You pick one and pass the rest to the player on your left. The card you have picked must then be added to your rainforest. 

Cards you place in your rainforest must be organised in a beehive pattern. A card can have at most 6 adjacent cards. 

How a card scores points is specified in the top left corner. This Sumatran Rhinoceros scores 8 points if there are two green cards next to it. If there are four, it scores 16 points. Green cards are plants. The rhino is a herbivore. 

The water buffalo (rightmost card) scores 15 points if it has three green cards next to it. However if there is any red card (carnivore), you lose 3 points for each red card. 

Four player game in progress

There is an advanced variant - the national parks. At the start of the game you draw two national park cards. A card specifies a specific pattern which if you manage to adhere to with your rainforest, you will score bonus points. The card also specifies one animal or plant card. If you have that in your rainforest, you will also score bonus points. These national parks are all real places in Malaysia. 

I managed to create a rainforest that matches exactly one of my national park cards. Yay! I also had the specific plant which could be found at that national park. It is satisfying to be able to achieve both. 

The Play

My strategy is simple. Early on I try to pick the highest scoring cards. Then for the rest of the game I do my best to fulfil their conditions. So far this has been effective. I probably should pay more attention to the player on my left. If there are certain cards which he wants, I should consider taking those cards myself to deny him. But I'm a bit lazy and I tend to focus on just my own rainforest. It's up to you how you want to play. If you prefer a more relaxed and zen mode, just enjoy building your own little rainforest. If you are the more competitive type, yes, feel free to be nasty to your left neighbour. I'm not sure it will always help you win, but if you enjoy making another person lose, knock yourself out. 

The game is simple and smooth. It is a peaceful experience, and the great artwork adds to the enjoyment. 

The Thoughts

I like what Specky Studio is doing. Their games are well crafted products with great art direction and design. I like the additional information on the cards, e.g. the endangered status of animals and their sizes compared to humans. These are not directly related to gameplay, but they add to the play experience. This is a simple game that non-gamers and casual gamers can pick up easily. For gamers, you probably want to play with the national parks to make it more interesting. 

Specky Studio makes games with an educational purpose. My Rainforest is different from most of the so called educational games out there. It is much better. Most educational games I see are rather weak. Yes, they fulfil the purpose of being a teaching tool, but as games, most are lame. My Rainforest is not just a good educational game, it is simply a decent game in its own right.