Fantastic Trails

About this board game

Fantastic Trails is a forest-themed writing game for 1–4 players, played in about 30 minutes. Help ants create valuable trails across forest floor cards while collecting honeydew and completing useful tasks.

To begin, each player selects two of four random forest floor cards and places them in front of themselves. The number and pattern decks are shuffled separately. On each turn, reveal one card from each deck, then write the indicated number in spaces showing the indicated pattern.

Both decks include special cards that change your options. A joker lets you choose either the number or the pattern, while an anteater stops writing for everyone that turn and requires new cards to be revealed. You also begin with four worker ants, which can adjust a number’s value or allow you to write in any pattern.

• Complete forest floor card tasks, such as surrounding a space or filling a line or section.
• Earn bonuses including worker ants, honeydew, and the ability to mark specific spaces.
• Use revealed numbers and patterns to develop your cards throughout the game.

When the number and pattern decks are empty, score points equal to your honeydew and receive a new forest floor card. This happens again at the end of the second round; after the third round, score honeydew for the final time before scoring a trail on each card.

To create a trail, mark a continuous line through adjacent spaces. The numbers along the line must stay the same or increase by one from the previous number, and the trail scores points equal to the number of spaces it covers. In Fantastic Trails, careful placement and timely use of your workers can turn a modest route into a valuable one.