Beavers building cute little towns

You have probably heard that beavers can build dams to make protected “lodges” for themselves to live in, but did you know they can also build towns? Well, at least in Timber Town they do! 😄 This is a cozy tile-laying duel game for 2 players with a fun twist on tile drafting!

If you're familiar with tile-laying games, you'll quickly get the hang of Timber Town. 👉 Players take square building tiles 🏠 and place them onto their personal 4x4 grids, aiming to create layouts that score well. The game ends once your grid is filled with buildings. Some buildings score well in big contiguous groups, some you’ll want to place alone, some you’ll want to surround with different types. There are all kinds of constraints, and these are determined by cards for each game, so you’ll have variability. 😉

There are two main constraints adding to the challenge: ☝️
 1️⃣ Roads on adjacent tiles must match up perfectly.
 2️⃣ Tiles must be placed in the same column from which you drafted them.

This second rule is the main twist of the game, dubbed “river drafting”. 🧐 Basically, buildings are drawn and put on river tiles that slide to the side each round. New rounds bring new buildings in the front column, and unchosen tiles flow downstream. Occasionally you can reserve a building with your Raft ⛵, so you can grab it later when it arrives in the ideal column.

During the game you can also obtain Crane, Dam or additional Raft tokens that help you out. They can either be used to make roads between tiles where the art otherwise wouldn’t match up, or for their ability. Cranes 🏗️ let you place buildings in any column, and Dams 🧱 let you pick two tiles in the same turn. 

You are also in a bit of a hurry, as the first player who builds their final 16th building gets bonus points (and a cute architect beaver meeple 😊) for finishing. However, luckily the game does let the other player finish their town. 

💬 Even though you might have seen similar games already, Timber Town is really fun! The spatial puzzle itself is engaging and I like the focus on the 2p aspect with the drafting. The cozy beaver theme and colorful art makes it an awesome package! 🥰