Close-up of the druid meeples and their accessories.
What’s in the box?
Overview of the board.
How to play
In Oak, you are the leader of a druidic order. You toil deep in the forest from dawn till dusk to seek the wisdom of the mighty Oak. Your job is to task your druids with actions that grow your knowledge of the mysterious world around you and in doing so bring honor to the Oak.
You start the game with a hand of 3 starting moot cards. Each card corresponds to one of the temples on the board. Each temple has 3 spaces. The card has 1 action for each space. You will play your moot card, send a druid to the temple space that matches the action you wish to take, pay the resources required, and take the action.
Each card also corresponds to one of the 3 branches of the Oak. You will play a card to commit a druid to the climb and in doing so you will be rewarded with VP and special rewards along the way.
You may upgrade your starting hand with more advanced moot cards. They will offer more complex or cheaper actions at the temple spaces.
Along the way, you will meet creatures of the Otherworld, who will come alongside you and assist you in your quest.
Wishing to please the Oak you will build sacred places of shrines and menhirs. Both will take time and resources but can grant VP and sanctuary for tired druids. Creatures and sacred places require spaces around your player board, but you have some control over how much space is available.
You will find artifacts. These sacred objects grant VP and special action spaces available only to you but often for a price. While limited in the number of uses they possess, more artifacts can replace those that have been spent.
As you gather wisdom, some of your druids will upgrade from a regular druid into an elder. These elder druids can perform restricted actions and come with unique benefits of their kind.
Potions are randomly distributed each game, adding variability to play. They require ingredients gathered from the forest, and though they are challenging to complete, they offer immediate bonuses to your order.
Following the course of the sun is important for all druidic orders. Be aware of its position in the sky and set up the location of your druids in the Oak to reap rewards each Solstice Festival.
Dusk is when you will reset for the next round. Having enough spaces for all your active druids is important or they will need to seek shelter under the Oak. Still valuable to your order, but not as available for action.
After 5 rounds of play, all orders will be evaluated by the Oak, and the order that has brought the most honor to the mighty tree, gathered the most VP, will be deemed the worthiest to receive the ancient wisdom of the Oak.
