There are 11 Sequoia trees growing tall in the forest, displaying marvelous colors of pink, green, blue, and grey. Whoever can grow the most trees in their color in each forest has the best chance of winning the game, but because no one knows how valuable each forest is, there may be surprises when the game is scored. It works like this:
Setup: The 11 forest cards numbered 2-11 are put in a circle on the table. The 1st and 2nd place tokens, which have different point values, are randomly mixed face-down and assigned to each of the forest cards. Each player gets 20 tree tokens and 5 dice of their color.
Play: Everyone rolls their dice at the same time, keeping the results secret. Then, each player chooses four of their dice to create pairs with (leaving one die out). If anyone rolls the same number on all their dice, they yell “Sequoia!” They can then turn each die to any number they wish and create their pairs afterwards.
Once they add up their dice pairs, they place tree tokens on the forest cards that match those values. For example, if their two dice pairs add up to 11 and 6, they can place tree tokens on forest cards 11 and 6. After 10 turns, when everyone’s trees have all been placed in the forest, scoring starts.
Scoring: Check each forest to see which player has the most tree tokens on each forest card. The player who has the most tree tokens takes the 1st place scoring token and the player who has the second most takes the 2nd place token.
Ties: If there is a tie for 1st place, remove all tree tokens from the players not tied for 1st place. Remaining players will go to the tiebreaker phase for that forest card's 1st and 2nd place scoring token.
If there is a tie for 2nd place, give the 1st place scoring token to the 1st place player, then remove all tokens except for those tied for 2nd place. Those players will go to the tiebreaker phase for that forest card's second-place token.
Tiebreakers: For each forest card, players roll their dice and choose one pair to place on up to two different forest cards where they have a tie. Proceed through a scoring step again to award point tokens to the winner of each of the tied forest cards. If ties remain, repeat this tiebreaker step until all point tokens are awarded.
Final Scoring: Each player flips over their point tokens to reveal their values and adds the total points. The player with the most points wins!
This nice, quick, and easy game plays in 10 minutes. Although it is mostly luck-based, Sequoia has enough strategy with dice and forest card choices to introduce basic strategic planning for younger people while still being fun for an older group of 2-5 players! It is colorful, has nice components, fits a very small box, and the instructions are clear. - - Marsha