- BGG rating
- 7.4
Northwest: Campfire & Solo Expansion
- 1–4 players
- 15–45 min
- 2026
- BGG rank
- BGG #9,068
- BGG rating
- 7.3
Northwest
2025
Rules assistance for Northwest
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–4 players
- 20–45 min
- 7+
- Complexity 1.8/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for Northwest
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Northwest is a board game released in 2025 for 2–4 players, 20–45 minutes per game, and ages 7 and up. It was designed by Rick Hou and its main mechanics are Set Collection, Tile Placement, and Square Grid.
Expansions
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About the game
Northwest a 2-to-4-player tableau-building game with unique point salad scoring and shared movement mechanics. It can be taught in 3 minutes or less and has the right balance of luck and strategy to make it accessible to anyone. Each turn, the player drafts a memento cube from the main exploration board by moving the shared exploration token onto the cube and adding it to their tableau. The previously captured memento cube sets the next player's available move: Bees/Honey: next player must move in the L-Shape similar to the Knights from the Chess. Mushrooms: next player must move into a space in any of the 8 surrounding spaces. Ferns: next player must move into 1 of 4 orthogonal spaces. Maples: next player must move into 1 of 4 diagonal spaces. Bigfoot: next player may move into any space in the same column or row. In Northwest, your journey is represented by a 4x4 tableau in which you will track memento cubes drafted from the exploration board. Each memento cube scores victory points (VPs) in a unique way. The game ends when a player cannot make a legal move in the exploration board or all players have their personal tableau filled. The player with the most VP wins! Can you spot bees, mushrooms, foliage, or the ever-elusive Bigfoot? Your next adventure in the Northwest awaits. —description from the designer.
Categories
Designers
Publishers
- Brickhouse Games
Questions and answers
Northwest supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Northwest is 20–45 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Northwest for ages 7 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Northwest has a complexity rating of 1.8 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Northwest belongs to these categories: Abstract Strategy. Its main mechanics are Set Collection, Tile Placement, and Square Grid. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Northwest are: Rick Hou. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Northwest as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.