Parks in itself was an incredible joy to play. I fell in love with the wooden pieces, illustrations, and the traveling/exchanging goods mechanic. When we tried Nightfall it totally amped up my love for Parks. The only reason we'd play the base game without Nightfall would mostly be for my senior parent who struggled with having to change goals mid-game. But overall we played parks (with and without expansion) so much since December 2021. You could say I'm a bit obsessed, Lol I love it so much. It's gotta be my all-time favorite thus far. Watched this because now I'm thinking of getting Wildlife. Thanks for the review!

This game feels and plays different than most in my collection. The theme, art, components and how it can play with both gamers and family makes Parks a permanent game in my collection, which means Wildlife will be a welcome addition since it is basically just more of what Parks is.

I don't mind the different art style on some of the cards, as those are the animal-centric cards that focus on wildlife specifically. They are functionally different in that those are the ones that take wildlife tokens to acquire. I think it's a nice way to differentiate them. It's still beautiful art.

I find on board games that there are really two types of expansions. One type just takes the same formula but adds more of it while trying to smooth out a few issues of the base game. The other type adds new strategy and features to the game. The latter is usually more difficult to pull off and tends to be boom or bust. For Parks, the Nightfall expansion is the latter but it pulls it off incredibly well. In fact I would argue for gamers it is practically essential as it makes the game far more interesting. It’s one of those expansions that you just immediately buy once you try the base game and are hungry for more. Wildlife on the other hand really doesn’t change anything. I suppose if you have hundreds of plays of Parks you will be hungry for more cards and that’s fine, but for 90% of people who buy this game I would say to just skip it entirely until/unless you reach that point where you’re dying for more. I also think the new artwork on the wildlife parks, while it is gorgeous, sort of violates what makes the Parks game so wonderful to begin with. Let’s face it if not for the incredible art this game really doesn’t stand out from the pack. The new art is pretty but just doesn’t feel the same. It loses that consistency and almost feels like you randomly tossed in a different game from the same publisher lol. That is, of course, merely my personal opinion and I know many will disagree. All in all, Zee seems to agree with me on this. Good review :)

The new art is old and was commissioned by the national parks several years ago around the time of the original poster series release

Love parks and the nightfall expansion. Really not a fan of the new artwork. I would get this expansion just for the extra stuff but might not include the new parks cards because they just aren’t as pleasing to look at

nice one, once again. Don't really like the new Artwork for the big cards, but the little additions are looking nice, not too much, not too less. And really like the Artwork from the Box I'll see once it came in retail, but i might go for it

Thank you again!

Thanks Zee. We have the base game and Nightfall, really enjoy them both. Not in a hurry to add more of the same. The changes that nightfall brought opened up the game.

you could play with a lot of the new or updated rules without the expansion I always used the Park/Gear trail site for the first season so you don't have to wait til the trail end to do those things (they may have picked up on that on BGG) The bison could be any marker (even the bear from their Trails game) Draw 2 canteens keep one so you don't end up with duplicates you might not want or maybe you do The stampede variant to cycle new gear in The wild love variant 1 wildlife counts for 2 of any on certain types of parks I don't care for the new artwork style But new trail tiles and gear cards are welcome so for $20 form my FLGS I might pick it up

Another top notch review Zee! Any thoughts on when you'll get the final Arkham Horror LCG stater character deck reviewed? Love your Arkham reviews.

Thanks, this was very helpful. I'm mixed this expansion in with my base + NF. Just need to table it more often.

Totally agree that Wildlife isn't as strong as Nightfall. It's nice but Nightfall is essential for me at this point.

I like the new art style but I don't like mixing it with the other.

The new art style is pretty.... but it isn't a national park. For example, The "Iconic Wildlife of Glacier National Park" features an eagle, a bear, a turtle, a wolf, a moose, a beaver, a salmon, etc. When I look at that, I go "Oh cool, I like wildlife" but that doesn't make me think about Glacier. The previous artwork was beautiful and when I saw it, it actually reminded me of the time that I visited that park specifically (I've been to 42 of the US National Parks so far!) The new artwork, with pictures of random animals, doesn't do that and while it is pretty, it just doesn't work within the theme of feeling like you are visiting a specific national park to me. Besides that, they included a lot of National Recreation Area and other sites like that. This is a disappointment to me, because it loses some of the purity of a game being dedicated specifically to the National Parks. I might buy this game.. but then only use the New River Gorge Park card and some of the canteen/trail sites/season cards

The gameplay of the new cards seems good and I would enjoy some more path variety. But I really don't like the new art style. It clashes so much with the original cards. So I don't think I could get this expansion. The original game is just so pretty, I would hate to ruin it.

How does this fit within the core box?

I know this is apples and oranges but I laughed at the juxtaposition of Zee questioning why the Wildlife rulebook consistently references Nightfall yet I think Zee said “Nightfall” well over a dozen times in this review. Nevertheless, thanks as always for the review!

The bison feels overpowered. I won't be playing with it at all. Saw some real lucky turns with the bison and I just feel it throws the game off and it just ruins it for me.

I liked Parks but not much replayability for me, so no longer in my collection. Sometimes you have to be ruthless in this hobby.

I don't get the recomendation to get this one first over Nightlife as this one got a 7 out of 10 and Nightlife got a 9 out of 10. Why would i get this first if Nightfall is way better? It boggles the mind.

Is it just me or is the photos just not worth it in this game?