Dreadful Meadows Board Game Review

While I would have preferred to email this game in a few months when it was time for Halloween, I didn’t think I could sit on this package from Arkus for so long. So we got into the Halloween mood and got this table. With all the candy we are growing, do we even need to Trick or Treat? Let’s take a look!

In Dreadful Meadows, players are building a patch in front of them and will grow candies to fulfill recipes. They will have three to start the game, and will have three sprites of their colour to use to gain candies. Each player also starts with a Dreadful Tree (wild candy) and another patch, but will need to expand their patches, place down sprites to grow candies, and use those candies to fulfill the recipes and score points.

There is obviously more to it than that, but that’s the basic turn-to-turn gameplay elements you will be tracking. And I love that so much. Themed games in our house generally only get played during those specific seasons. For instance, we are only playing Boop the Halls at Christmas, and after this review cycle, will probably only take out Dreadful Meadows during the Halloween season. The thing is, that’s not a slight on this game at all. I generally only get to play games once or twice after we finish a review cycle because of the sheer number of games I have to work through – with Dreadful Meadows, we will be playing this one multiple times, every year. To have an easy ruleset to either remember or relearn is a huge plus, and I assume went into some of the design and development of this game.

To that end, turns are very basic – there are four options you can take, and you will take one per turn. This includes (1) buying a new patch for your garden; (2) place a sprite into your garden on a patch; (3) pull your sprites back, true worker placement style but also get a bonus based on where the sprite came from; and (4) build a harvester.

The turns are simple as well. Buying a patch is as easy as paying candy to buy more patches. Placing a sprite is as easy as placing a sprite, and generating candy on all adjacent patches. Pulling back sprites is simple as well, just follow the guide on your player aid and take actions based on where your sprites came from. This could get you more recipe cards, generate more candy, etc. And building a harvester is as simple as building a harvester, which will allow you to get more candy in the future as you place sprites next to them.

While simplistic, there is a ton of strategy to think about as you play. Do you play your sprites to generate as much candy as possible, or do you play them out onto patches that give you great bonuses when you retrieve them. Further, where is the best spot to place your harvesters? How do you chain those well and get as much candy as possible?

This game is brilliant for me in two ways – the simplicity of the teacher and getting it tabled, but the decent amount of depth in the gameplay.

Sure, each game definitely feels like the last, and while I would love for more variability, I’m not sure you are going to get that from this box. But as a game we plan to play a few times yearly during the Halloween season, I’m not sure the repetitive nature of the gameplay is really going to bother us a whole ton. If you want a lighter game rules wise to fill in the cracks on game night, or really do want a themed experience for Halloween, I cannot recommend this one enough! You can grab your own copy of Dreadful Meadows on the Arkus store, and use code GAMESREVIEWS15 to save on your next order!