Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor
Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
The hilly landscape of Dartmoor offers diverse habitats for plants and animals. While dragonflies and other insects bustle along the stream, ponies and sheep graze in the open heathland. You can also discover many a creature in the air and in the undergrowth.
Create a unique moorish landscape for flora and fauna. Collect points by considering their preferences: Some animals like to be around their fellow species, while others want to be left alone or live in a specific habitat.
Components
180 cards:
- 56 cards split top and bottom
- 45 cards split left and right
- 27 terrains (moors)
- 5 caves
- 3 winter cards
- 44 trees and shrubs
- 1 scorepad
- 1 game board (the "clearing")
Setup
If you already know Forest Shuffle, you don't have to read the entire rulebook, but only the text passages marked with this symbol NEW.
- Place the clearing (i.e., the game board) in the center of the play area, within reach of all players.
- NEW Set the 3 winter cards and the caves aside. Shuffle the remaining cards and return a certain number of them to the game box, unseen, based on the player count:
- with 2 players => 45 cards
- with 3 players => 30 cards
- with 4 players => 15 cards
- with 5 players => none — you play with all cards
- Divide the remaining cards into three face-down piles of similar size.
- Shuffle two winter cards into one of the piles and put the third winter card on top of that pile.
- Place the other two piles on top of the one containing the winter cards to form a draw pile, and place it on the left side of the clearing.
- Everyone: draw 6 cards into your hand.
- NEW Shuffle the 5 caves and put one for each player into the clearing. The remaining cards are returned to the game box if you play with less than 5 players.
- The player who last visited a moor starts the game.
The Caves
NEW The caves are distributed before the game starts.
In reverse turn order, take one cave from the clearing each and place it face up in front of you.
Then carry out the effect of this cave (on the right half of the card), also in reverse turn order. The effect of cave no. 4 is only dealt with at the end of the game. Then the game starts.
Example: You chose cave no. 3 and draw 3 additional cards from the stack. Then you have to discard 3 of your now 9 hand cards and place them face up into the clearing.
Game Flow
Beginning with the start player, everyone takes turns in clockwise order. On your turn, you must carry out exactly one of two possible actions:
A) Draw Two Cards
For each card, you may choose to take it from the stack or the clearing.
OR
B) Play a Card and Check the Clearing
Pay the card's cost, place it in your forest, and perform its effect and bonus, if any. Then check if the clearing needs to be emptied.
A) Draw Two Cards
When taking this action, draw two cards, one at a time, and add them to your hand. For each card you draw with this action, you have the choice of either taking a face-down card from the top of the stack or a face-up card from the clearing (which may still be empty at the start of the game).
Important: Your maximum hand size is 10 cards. If you have 9 cards in your hand, you may only draw one card. If you're already at hand limit, you can't choose this action.
Winter Cards
The lower third of the stack contains 3 winter cards. When you draw the first or second winter card, you place it face up next to the clearing and immediately draw a replacement card from the stack. When the third winter card is drawn, the game ends immediately.
B) Play a Card and Check the Clearing
There are three types of cards:
-
Each tree and shrub card features exactly one type, around which you can place animals and plants. Trees and shrubs are the basis of your forest.
-
NEW Terrains are put into your forest horizontally and only provide slots for animals and plants on top and on the bottom. Terrains have a habitat symbol – in this game it is the habitat moor. Furthermore all card backs show a universal moor. They are like terrains and also provide slots for animals and plants on top and on the bottom.
NEW Important: Universal moors, however, cannot be played just like that but only through effects or bonuses (see page 6).
-
All other cards are split in two: either horizontally, featuring one forest dweller on the top and another on the bottom, or vertically, featuring one each on the left and right.
All cards are laid out as follows: cost, illustration, type symbol, effect (on some cards), name, point value, card color with tree symbol, number of this species that exist in the game, bonus (on some cards).
Playing a Card
To play a card from your hand, you must first pay its cost by placing that many (other) cards from your hand face up into the clearing. When playing a split card, choose one half to play and pay only its cost.
Normally, it does not matter which cards you discard as payment. Some species, however, provide a bonus if you pay with specific cards (see "Bonus" on page 6).
Then, place the card face up in front of yourself. Your collection of played cards is called your forest.
Note: split cards must always be placed next to a tree, shrub or terrain.
Trees, Shrubs and Terrains
Trees and shrubs provide card slots for split cards on each of their four sides: top, bottom, left, and right.
NEW Terrains also provide four card slots: two on top and two on the bottom. You cannot place any cards on the left or right.
As long as there is no card played to a card slot, it is considered empty; a tree, shrub, or terrain is considered fully occupied if there is one card in each of its four card slots.
Whenever you play a tree (i.e. a card with the tree symbol), you must also draw the top card from the stack and place it face up in the clearing. A symbol on the clearing reminds you of this rule during the game.
Note: This may cause a winter card to be revealed. If it does, proceed as described on page 3.
Example:
- You wish to play a Black Alder.
- To pay for it, you place two cards from your hand face up in the clearing.
- Because you played a tree, you now also place the top card of the stack face up into the clearing.
Animals and Plants
The split cards feature various inhabitants of the forest: animals or plants.
When playing a split card, you must place it in an empty slot on the corresponding side of a tree, shrub, or terrain in your forest. If you wish to play an inhabitant on top of a card, it must be placed on top of a tree, shrub, or terrain; to do so, slide the unused bottom half of the card under the tree, shrub, or terrain. The same rules apply to inhabitants on the right, left, or bottom halves of cards.
Note: Only the inhabitant that is still visible after the card has been placed counts as being in your forest. The hidden half is not relevant for the remainder of the game or for scoring.
Example: You have just added this Buzzard to your forest by sliding the bottom half of the card under the Goat Willow.
Important: Split cards can only be played if one of your suitable cards (tree, shrub, or terrain) has an empty card slot available on the corresponding side.
Effect and Bonus
After you paid for the card (and, if necessary, placed a card in the clearing) you now use its effect (if available) and then its bonus (if available).
Card effects and bonuses are explained with either icons or short descriptions. You can find an overview of all symbols on the last page of this rulebook. If you would like a more detailed explanation, consult the digital appendix (see QR code).
Effects
There are two types of effects:
- Most cards provide an instant effect that you use once. Some of them allow you to put cards in your cave.
- Some cards, however, provide a permanent effect which you can use for the rest of the game from now on. They have an effect when certain cards are placed in your forest. Each time you place such a card in your forest, you use the effect immediately.
Example: You have just played a Tor. From now on, whenever you play a bird, you draw the top card from the stack.
Bonuses
Some species have a colored arrow featuring the binoculars symbol, providing a bonus if you pay for the card with matching cards: To activate the bonus, all cards that you discard as payment must have the same card color (i.e. show the same tree symbol) as the card being played. When paying with split cards, it does not matter which half of the card shows the matching tree symbol.
Example: You play a Common Lizard into your forest.
- To activate the bonus, you pay with a Nuthatch and a Crab Apple. Both cards have the same color (therefore, both show a Crab Apple symbol) as the Common Lizard.
- If you paid with a Goat Willow instead of a Crab Apple, you would not activate the bonus.
Special case:
NEW In the rare case that you could do neither action (A or B), reveal your hand. Discard 2 of your cards and draw 2 new cards from the stack. This ends your turn.
Checking the Clearing
At the end of your turn, if there are 10 or more cards in the clearing, the clearing will be emptied. Remove all cards from the clearing and place them onto a separate discard pile.
Then your turn ends, and the next player clockwise takes their turn unless an effect or bonus allows you to take another turn.
End of Game
When the 3rd winter card is revealed, the game ends immediately and you proceed to scoring. You may not finish your turn.
Total the points of all visible cards in your forest, and add the number of cards in your cave, if any. This is your score.
If you are unsure how a specific card scores, consult the digital appendix (see QR code on page 5).
The player with the highest score wins. In case of a tie, enjoy a shared victory.
Scoring Example
This display of cards scores a total of 127.
Top
- Emerald Damselfly
- Keeled Skimmer
- Small Red Damselfly
- Southern Damselfly
- Wheatear 5
- Buzzard 4
(Emerald Damselfly, Keeled Skimmer, Small Red Damselfly, and Southern Damselfly together score 15, based on the number of different dragonflies played.)
Bottom
- Beaver 10
- Heather 5
- Blue Ground Beetle 5
- Water Soldiers 8
- Bog Asphodel 3
Left/Right
- Common Pheasant 3
- Wood Mouse 2
- Shrew 1
- Roe Deer 15
- Dartmoor Black Rabbit 4
- Dartmoor Badger 12
Cave 10
Moors
- Valley Mire 10
- Wet Woodland 6
Trees
- Crab Apple 8
- Moor Birch 1
Overview
Type Symbol
- Amphibian
- Tree
- Bat
- Insect
- Dragonfly
- Mouse
- Cloven-hoofed animal
- Plant
- Pawed animal
- Shrub
- Bird
Habitat Symbol
- Moor
Tree Symbols
- Crab Apple
- Ash
- Sessile Oak
- Black Alder
- Moor Birch
- Goat Willow
Effects and Bonuses
1 (from the clearing): Draw one card from the top of the stack or from the clearing.*
1 × [type symbol]: Draw as many cards from the top of the stack as there are cards in your forest showing the indicated type symbol (e.g. bat). (Observe the hand size limit.)
Repeat arrow: Take another full turn after this one, choosing between actions A and B, as normal.
[plant symbol] (from the clearing): NEW Put a card showing the indicated type symbol (e.g. plant) from your hand resp. from the clearing into your forest. You don't need to pay for it, but you may not use its effect or bonus. If there is no card with the indicated type symbol in the clearing, you cannot use this effect.
[? -> moor card]: NEW Put any one card from your hand face down into your forest as a universal moor. You don't need to pay for it.
* Note: This may cause you to reveal a winter card. If it does, proceed as described on page 3.
Credits
Designer: Kosch
Illustrations: Toni Llobet, Judit Piella
Graphik design: Klemens Franz | atelier198
R&D: Maren Holderbaum
Translation: Sonja Hüttinger
Kosch thanks Andi Haberl for providing information on the moor landscape; he also thanks the "Klex" testing group in Greifswald and his friends Lars, Leder, Carlos, Daniel, Max, and Corinna as well as his sisters Tanja, Natascha, and Katharina. Special thanks to the moors. Protect the moors—they are so incredibly important!
Manufactured by: © 2025 Lookout GmbH, Elsheimer Straße 23, 55270 Schwabenheim, Germany. www.lookout-games.de