Description

Deep in the hidden wilds of the New Zealand bush, an engineered wilderness is flourishing. After years of intensive, secret research, edible species from Aotearoa and all over the world finally flourish year-round in the Valley, a forager's paradise in a climate-controlled biodome.

You are a Cottager, leading your team of Gatherers to forage for harvest goods, learn your craft from local Artisans, and craft the best recipes to sell to your customers. Move around the modular hex tile Valley, choosing from actions to harvest, make recipes, visit Artisans, complete Goals, and get those sales. Choose recipes from a river of cards that include good and bad event cards - play the standard game or add the Spice cards for increased complexity - but take care, as every card drawn can precipitate Nightfall, the end of the day, where the board resets, the overnight growth cycle restocks the resource tiles, and all Gatherers return to the Cottage with their laden baskets.

The game ends when the Recipe cards run out and the final Night falls. After you have added your Goal points to your recipe card values, the player with the highest score is the winner.

The Valley is very flexible - with 2 to 6 players, and gameplay from 20 minutes to several hours, you can play a quick game by ending the game on the first or second Nightfall card, or play with up to 6 rounds, each ending in a Night. You can also control the complexity by adding in Spicy Recipes, Event cards, Goals, and by using your Cottager abilities.

The Valley is set in New Zealand, so it also features recipe ingredients and cultural terms which only apply in Aotearoa. While these are covered briefly in the Glossary, we encourage you to jump down that rabbithole and learn more about this beautiful country!