In Forest Shuffle, players compete to collect the most valuable trees, then attract species to these trees, thereby creating an ecologically balanced habitat for flora and fauna. To start, each player has six cards in hand, where the cards either show a specific tree type or two forest dwellers (animals, plants, fungi, etc.), with the latter cards split in half, either vertically or horizontally, with a dweller in each half of the card. On a turn, you either draw two cards - either face down from the deck or face up from the clearing - and add them to your hand, or play a card from your hand by paying the cost and then putting it into play. Each tree and dweller shows a cost, and to pay this cost, you must place cards from your hand face up in the clearing. If you play a tree, you flip the top card of the deck face up in the clearing and then place the tree in front of you. If you play a dweller, you only pay the cost of the dweller you choose and then slide this card under a tree that has an empty side matching the dweller you want to play. (A tree can have cards played on all four sides of it: top, bottom, left, and right.) Alternatively, you can play a card face down as a tree sprout. This card costs nothing and can have dwellers played on it, but it has no species, while each tree is one of eight species. After you have played a card, you can use the effect of that card (draw cards, place additional cards, take another turn, etc.) or gain the bonus you received if you paid for that card with cards of the same color - or both, if relevant, with the effect occurring before the bonus. If at the end of your turn there are more than nine cards in the clearing, all these cards are placed in the box and removed from the game. During setup, three winter cards were placed in the bottom third of the deck. When the third winter card is drawn, the game ends immediately, and players then count their points based on the trees and dwellers in their forest. The one who scores the most points wins. Forest Shuffle is the first in a series of Lookout games under the Lookout Greenline label, produced on FSC-certified paper and completely avoiding plastic.
