Cascadia, the serene tile-laying game that charmed its way to a Spiel des Jahres win, is heading into the mountains, and this time the map has a third dimension. Cascadia: Alpine Lakes is a new standalone game from designer Randy Flynn and Flatout Games that lets you stack tiles into layered peaks, and it is on its way to shops later this year.
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Start organising for freeIf you missed the original, Cascadia is a relaxed puzzle for 1 to 4 players where you draft hexagonal habitat tiles and wildlife tokens to build a tidy Pacific Northwest ecosystem. It won the 2022 Spiel des Jahres, Germany's game of the year, beating Scout and Top Ten, and became a go-to recommendation for new players and families. Beth Sobel's soft, naturalistic art is a big part of the charm, and she returns here.
Alpine Lakes keeps the gentle drafting but adds real height. Tiles now come as double hexagons, and you can stack pairs on top of existing ones to raise the terrain, with a rule that stops you building sheer cliffs more than one level above their neighbours. Lakes and wildlife then score more the higher up the mountain they sit, so you are no longer just arranging a flat landscape but sculpting one. It plays 1 to 4, runs about 30 to 45 minutes and, like the original, teaches in a couple of minutes.
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Set up your group for freeBeing a standalone box, you do not need the first game to dive in, which makes it an easy pick for a group looking for a calm, thinky opener before the heavier stuff comes out. Crowdfunding backers got first crack, but the wider retail release is what most UK players will be waiting for. If your shelf could use a prettier brain-teaser, this one is worth a look.
Sources: Zatu | GamesRadar | Flatout Games
