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Eclipse: New Dawn for the Galaxy
- 2–6 players
- 60–180 min
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- 2011
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- BGG #2,130
- BGG rating
- 7.0
Walnut Grove
2011
Rules assistance for Walnut Grove
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 1–4 players
- 30–60 min
- 10+
- Complexity 2.5/5
For 1 player
Rules assistant for Walnut Grove
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Walnut Grove is a board game released in 2011 for 1–4 players, 30–60 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Touko Tahkokallio and Paul Laane and its main mechanics are Tile Placement, Worker Placement, and Rondel.
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About the game
Walnut Grove borrows ideas from jigsaw puzzles and worker placement games, as players add tiles to their farm, and perform actions in the city. Each player manages their farm over 8 years, expanding their plots each spring, harvesting each summer, doing business in the city each fall, and hunkering down each winter. Each worker must be fed, and provided with heat. Walnut Grove could be described as drawing inspiration from Carcassonne (tile laying) and Agricola (running a farm). The goal of the game is to build and run own farm, to score points at the end of the game. Players can improve their farm during the game by adding new land tiles to it, hiring more workers, building improvements, etc The game play is divided into eight years, and each year is divided into Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter phases. During Spring, players add 1 or 2 land tiles to their farm. During Summer, players position their workers in their fields to gather resources. When Autumn comes, all players get to visit the city. Finally, during the Winter phase, players need to feed their workers and heat their homes. When placing tiles, their sides do not need to match. But you generally want them to, because each land area will produce resources based on its size, when you send a worker there. In the city you can hire more workers, sell goods to gain coins, build improvements, and so on. Each player may do only one action in the city each year. The city is a kind of rondel that is divided into halves; each time you cross the midline you have to pay a coin. Therefore it is wise to move as slowly as possible on the rondel, but then again, you have consider what actions you want to take! This part of the game is worker placement with a single worker, since you can only move to a vacant space. Spring, Summer and Winter phases can be done simultaneously, providing fast game play. This is a very tight game, with limited actions and scarce resources. Solo rules are included.
Categories
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- Heidelberger Spieleverlag
- Lookout Games
Questions and answers
Walnut Grove supports 1–4 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 Walnut Grove is 30–60 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 Walnut Grove for ages 10 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.
Walnut Grove has a complexity rating of 2.5 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-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.
Walnut Grove belongs to these categories: American West and Farming. Its main mechanics are Tile Placement, Worker Placement, and Rondel. 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 Walnut Grove are: Touko Tahkokallio and Paul Laane. 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 Walnut Grove 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.