Review: Wispwood

Introduction & Overview

A curious cat prowls through the woods, lured by flickering lights of all colors dancing among the trees. What could they be? Ah, the wisps of ancient lore! Each one glows with charm and mischief, possessing a personality all its own. Will you be able to guide them properly and make your forest shine the brightest?

This is the premise behind Wispwood, designed by Reed Ambrose (his debut title). First published in 2025 by CGE in an English edition, the artwork is handled by Štěpán Drašťák, known for the visual style of titles such as Kutná Hora: The City of Silver or Deal with the Devil.

It will be published in Spanish by Devir under the title “El Bosque de los Espíritus” (the game has some language dependency on pattern cards, as well as the rulebook). It accommodates 1 to 4 players, with a recommended minimum age of 10 and an approximate playing time of 30 to 45 minutes. The MSRP is €29.95. A review copy provided directly by CGE was used for this review.

Important: if you already know the game and/or are only interested in my opinion about it, you can go directly to the Opinion section. The Content and Mechanics sections are especially intended for those who do not know the game and prefer to get a general idea of how it works.

Go to Personal Opinion

Components

Inside a two-piece cardboard box (lid and bottom) measuring 25.3×18.4×5.5 cm (a rectangular format similar to the Lost Ruins of Arnak expansions), we find the following items:

• 5 Pond tiles (cardboard)
• 6 Cat tiles (cardboard)
• 4 Guide tiles (cardboard)
• 160 Spirit/Tree tiles (cardboard)
• 25 Scoring Criteria cards (5 of each type) (63×88 mm)
• 8 Firefly tokens (cardboard)
• Scorepad (paper)
• Rulebook

How to Play

Wispwood is set in an enchanted forest brimming with magical lights, where players expand their personal grid to attract different types of spirits. Over the course of three rounds on growing grid sizes (4×4, 5×5, and 6×6), participants take turns choosing between collecting these spirits or carrying out forest maintenance. On standard turns, the active player drafts a spirit from the central pond and picks one of the two adjacent geometric shapes to integrate it into their woods alongside tree tiles (assembling the polyomino). Alternatively, the tree turn allows adding one to three forest tiles while readying the cat—a special figure that can hide to trigger powerful abilities, such as refreshing pond options or freely selecting any available shape. At setup, five objective cards establish how each spirit type and tree cluster scores points. Scoring takes place at the end of each round; afterwards, tree tiles are removed while spirits stay behind, complicating future layout planning. After the third round, the player with the most points claims victory, with ties broken by whoever completed their grid the most times.

Key Concepts

Let us start with the core element of the game: the Spirit Tiles. These depict the woodland flora and inhabitants. Their front side displays colorful spirits across four distinct personalities: mischievous Jacks, witches fond of cats, sacred hearts, and social orbs. On the reverse side, all of them show a tree, which serves as structural filler to complete required polyomino shapes when expanding your forest.

These tiles are placed onto a personal player grid whose dimensions grow with each passing round (4×4, 5×5, and 6×6). To track these expanding boundaries, every player uses a Guide Tile as a visual aid.

Tiles are also drafted from the Pond Board. Assembled in the center of the table using five pieces, it features a core piece surrounded by four edge segments that can be arranged in any sequence. Its surface holds eight designated spaces for the spirit tiles available to players each turn. Furthermore, eight geometric shapes (polyominoes) run around the perimeter, dictating how trees and spirits must be assembled into your woods depending on the location of the spirit you decide to collect.

At the end of each round, players score points for their spirit and tree tiles according to the criteria specified on the Scoring Criteria Cards. Each game features five cards drawn at the start: one for each spirit type plus one for the trees. The only exception lies with the witches, whose cards do not define variable point schemes but rather layout patterns (the point values remain identical across all witch cards).

Finally, we have the Cat Tiles. Each player begins by choosing a cat, initially set atop a tree tile to mark the starting point of their forest. This tile is double-sided: one side shows the cat active and alert, while the other shows it tucked away in hiding. Hiding the cat grants an extra action during your turn: either discarding and restocking all pond spirits, or choosing any perimeter polyomino shape regardless of the drafted spirit’s position. Once spent, the cat remains inactive until revived via a tree turn for use in future rounds.

That is enough to get started.

Preparación de la Partida

1. Assemble the pond pieces in the center of the table; the four outer segments can fit together in any order.
2. Shuffle all tiles face-down and form random piles near the pond to establish the tree tile reserve.
3. Draw 8 tiles from the reserve and place them face-up at random onto the eight pond spaces to act as spirits.
4. Sort the objective cards into five separate decks (one for each spirit type and one for trees), drawing one card at random from each deck. Return the rest to the box.
5. Each player takes a tree tile along with a cat tile, placing the cat face-up (ready side) onto the tree.
6. Every participant receives a grid guide.
7. Randomly assign the first player token to someone.

We are ready to begin!

Game Flow

A game of Wispwood plays out over 3 rounds. In each round, players race to craft the most harmonious forest within a personal grid that expands step-by-step: from 4×4 in round one, to 5×5 in round two, and 6×6 in round three.

Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, turns alternate among players. On their turn, the active player performs the following steps in sequence:

1. Manage the Pond. If all spirits on offer share the same type, the player may discard them and deal 8 new random ones. Should the pond be completely empty, this discard action is mandatory. A player with a readied cat may flip it to its hidden side to clear all pond tiles even when multiple spirit types are present.
2. Take a Main Action. Choose between:
   • Draft a Spirit. Pick one spirit tile from the pond. Then, select one of the two polyomino shapes adjacent to its slot and draw tree tiles (kept face-down) equal to the shape’s size minus one. Using these pieces (the spirit and the drawn trees), build that polyomino—rotating or mirroring it as needed—and place it into your forest so that at least one tile connects orthogonally to previously placed tiles. The shape cannot exceed the borders of the current round’s grid. While taking this action, a player with an active cat may flip it to its hidden side to pick any polyomino around the board rather than being constrained to the two adjacent options.
   • Reforest. When unwilling or unable to draft a spirit, take 1, 2, or 3 tree tiles and add them individually to your woods adjacent to existing tiles (they do not need to touch one another). Additionally, if your cat was hidden, flip it back to its ready side, making its special abilities available for future turns.

After completing their action, play passes to the next player.

Round end triggers as soon as someone fills every space on their grid. Any remaining players between the instigator and the start player take one final turn to ensure an even count, followed by these steps:

• Scoring. Each player scores according to the active objective cards. If you fully filled your grid (whether or not you triggered the round end), claim the grid completion bonus (2, 4, or 6 points in rounds 1, 2, and 3, respectively).
• Move the Cat. Players may relocate their cat to any tree tile currently in their forest, preserving its current status.
• Cleanup. Clear all tree tiles from the forest (except the one holding the cat) and return them to the supply. Spirits remain in their exact spots for subsequent rounds.
• First Player. Pass the first player token clockwise and launch the next round on the expanded grid layout.

Game End

The match concludes after the third round. Players tally their scores across all three rounds, and the highest point total wins. In the event of a tie, victory goes to whoever completed their grid the most times during the game. If still tied, the win is shared.

Variants

Simple Variant. Tree scoring cards are omitted, leaving only 4 cards (one per spirit type). The game also wraps up after two rounds instead of three.

Solo Mode. You compete against an automated phantom player that always takes the first turn. During setup, swap one pond spirit for the phantom’s cat, which travels around picking up tiles. On the phantom’s turn, reveal a firefly token showing how far clockwise its cat looks; among visible options, it snatches whichever spirit yields the highest score according to a chosen difficulty chart. You take standard turns following the automa, with the exception that pond refills draw only seven tiles. The round ends when you fill your grid or when the round’s firefly pool runs dry. You calculate points normally, whereas the automa scores purely off its accumulated spirit collection (carried over across rounds) matching its reference table. Beat or match the phantom’s score to win.

Personal Opinion

Readers of this blog know full well how much I appreciate titles weaving together drafting, tile placement, and pattern building. Granted, it is a formula used almost to death, with fresh releases leaning into it practically every week.

Still, when a recipe works, iterating upon it makes complete sense. Designers simply face an uphill battle trying to tweak that familiar core enough to stand out in an overcrowded market.

Today we look at another entry into the genre, coming to us from Czech publisher CGE (with a Spanish edition slated from Devir). It also represents the debut work of its designer, who had no published credentials prior to this. Let us see how Wispwood fares on the table, after extending our thanks to CGE for providing the review copy that made this write-up possible.

In Wispwood, we explore a spirit-haunted woodland through the eyes of an innocent, inquisitive, and utterly charming feline. At the outset, our cat tile sits nestled on top of a forest tile showing a shadowy tree on its flip side.

The front sides of these tiles showcase one of four spirit types roaming the woods, gathered around a secluded pond. This central pond acts as the drafting market from which players pick additions for their growing domain.

That player area consists of a constrained grid starting at four spaces across, expanding by one space each round up to six by six, given that a regular game of Wispwood spans three rounds.

Each turn offers two primary paths, though drafting a spirit from the pond will dominate most of your play. Even so, you cannot simply lay that chosen tile down touching any previously placed piece.

Looking closely at the board (or recalling the mechanics section), every pond space sits flanked by two polyomino silhouettes ranging from two to four squares. Here lies the primary twist of Wispwood: what you are placing are actually polyominoes, except they have yet to be assembled.

Selecting a tile obligates you to pick one of the two bordering shapes and draw forest tiles to flesh it out. The drafted spirit fills one square of that shape, while the remaining spaces are filled by the drawn face-down forest tiles.

Fitting these together quickly turns into a tight puzzle because personal boards do not offer much breathing room. Successfully filling the board using polyominoes demands forward planning, alongside pool selections that match your spatial requirements; you cannot take a piece that does not fit legally into your layout, whether due to overshooting the perimeter or overlapping placed tiles.

Draft options can easily stall out because the market does not replenish after every turn. Only when every tile at the pond matches a single spirit type may a player wipe and refill the pool at the start of their turn (something that triggers automatically if the pond is empty).

Rather than taking a pond tile, a player can opt to reforest, dropping one to three face-down tree tiles directly onto board spaces. These need not connect with one another, making it an ideal option for patching awkward gaps.

Reforesting also reactivates your cat, which has not yet received its due praise beyond being adorable. Whenever your cat is ready, you can flip it over (tucking it snugly into a tree stump and pushing cuteness past reasonable limits) to trigger one of two perks: discarding and restocking the pond, or choosing any polyomino shape around the pond rather than just the adjacent two.

Scoring remains to be broken down. Much like Cascadia (here is its tocho-review), every spirit type scores via dedicated pattern cards, even if scoring styles feel familiar. Jack-o’-lanterns score according to relative positioning amongst themselves, orbs care about proximity to diverse spirit types, hearts focus on neighboring trees, and witches award set rewards tied to specific placement patterns relative to your cat. Tree clumps score via their own objective card as well, explaining why heart spirits offer comparatively fewer points than the other three varieties.

Rounds conclude as soon as someone caps their grid. Play continues until turns are balanced out, followed by scoring. Players may then reposition their cat onto any tree tile before sweeping away every visible tree, leaving the spirits intact on a grid that gains an extra row and column for the next round. Three rounds in, highest score wins.

With the setup and rules laid out, let us talk about how it feels to play. First off—and to no one’s surprise—this is a genuinely engaging game thanks to the clever wrinkle of dynamic, unformed polyominoes. Every turn presents a double choice where it is never immediately clear which component matters more.

Naturally, maximizing spirit points is a priority. Dabbling haphazardly across every category gets you nowhere. Chasing witches tends to be the safest bet, since their orientation does not matter so long as you fulfill their positional relationship relative to your cat. Jacks come next, showering you in points if you hit their upper thresholds, followed by orbs and hearts, whose yields depend heavily on board surroundings. This dynamic echoes Cascadia even further, where certain wildlife categories feel inherently punchier, naturally creating an unspoken drafting hierarchy.

At the same time, squandering actions on reforestation hurts your tempo. Points rarely come out of a reforest turn unless you desperately need tree placement to trigger tree or heart scoring conditions. Choosing polyominoes carefully to prevent leaving isolated gaps becomes critical.

The round structure serves as another great design touch. Three rounds might feel a bit long on paper, but the escalating difficulty from retaining previous spirits makes the puzzle satisfyingly crunchy; slip up on your spatial discipline, and you will find yourself wasting moves patching up holes.

Where does it fall slightly flat? Precisely in that runtime balance. To become an evergreen staple, titles in this weight class need an exquisite balance between depth, complexity, and playing time. A game of Wispwood can easily drag beyond what you might anticipate from the box.

A three-round structure can also create slight turn imbalances outside of three-player counts. At two players, someone acts as first player twice; at four, one participant never sees the first-player advantage. Perhaps the design originally mirrored round counts to player counts—giving a four-player game a massive 7×7 board—though that might have overstayed its welcome entirely.

Furthermore, despite having several cards per category, they do not seem to dramatically reshape the experience between sessions. Other titles manage a consistent feel across scoring variations, but here, the pure physical puzzle of arranging polyominoes overshadows the minor scoring differences.

Ultimately, the mechanical tax required by the modular polyomino concept might just run a tad high. While thoroughly enjoyable, Wispwood struggles to fully distinguish itself from the titans of the genre. Given how long it takes, you could just as easily table Cascadia, Azul, or my beloved Miyabi (here is its tocho-review). None of this detracts from the fact that it remains a solid design.

Turning to production values, the cardboard components boast great thickness, solid punch quality, and clean die-cutting. Cards offer decent core snap, a smooth finish, and good elasticity (sleeving is hardly necessary since they see very little shuffling or hand play). The rulebook is laid out well and leaves no ambiguity.

Visually, the presentation leans a bit too dark. While the thematic intent depicts glowing spirits within a murky forest, the resulting table presence looks somewhat muted and fails to pop. The box cover, at least, is quite lovely.

And let’s wrap this up. Wispwood delivers an entertaining spin on familiar tropes through its clever use of customizable polyomino tiles. Balancing spirit scoring goals against tight spatial planning creates an engaging tactical puzzle where efficient layouts are crucial to avoiding lost turns. Even if its playtime stretches longer than ideal, assembling shapes across an expanding board provides a satisfying payoff. It may not dethrone the modern classics of the genre, but it comfortably hits its marks. For all these reasons, I give it a…