I honestly thought Habitats was a brand new release. The artwork is gorgeous, the table presence is beautiful, and everything about the production feels modern. My only complaint? I desperately want the little wooden jeeps to have wheels that actually turn.
As we were learning the rules, I kept thinking, This feels a lot like Nova Luna. I was convinced Habitats had taken inspiration from Nova Luna or Sagani. Then someone pointed out that it was actually the other way around. Habitats is the original. A ten year old classic.
Once I knew that, the similarities made a lot more sense. You're building a puzzle out of tiles, trying to create the best wildlife preserve while planning several turns ahead. But Habitats has one twist that gives it its own identity. The real puzzle isn't deciding where a tile belongs. It's figuring out how you're going to get there.
Components
Habitats has fantastic table presence. The animal artwork is vibrant, the habitat tiles are chunky and have clear iconography. By the end of the game everyone's preserve looks completely different. The two components that stood out most to me were the draw bag and the little wooden jeeps:
- The draw bag: isn't just for setup. Every turn it refills the market
- The Wooden Jeeps: are the reason the entire game works. Your position determines which tiles you can reach
How It Plays
Habitats takes place over three years, with scoring at the end of each one. Every turn follows the same sequence:
- Take a habitat tile from the front or sides of your jeep
- Drive your jeep into the empty space and face away from where you came from
- Draw a new tile from the bag to refill the market
- Place the tile into your wildlife preserve adjacent to an existing tile
The rules are simple, but the decisions are deceiving. Since your jeep determines which tiles you can reach next, every move becomes a balancing act between grabbing something useful now and positioning yourself for the turns ahead.
I found myself taking tiles that weren't necessarily my first choice because I knew they would put my jeep in a better position for the next turn. Sometimes the tile I wanted was right there, but I couldn't get to it yet. So I had to decide whether it was worth spending a turn positioning myself for it or grabbing something else before another player did. That movement is what makes Habitats feel different from other tile placement games I've played.
Scoring also asks you to think about your preserve in different ways:
- Animals only score if they're adjacent to the terrain they need
- Watchtowers score based on the animals and flowers they can see
- Tourist photographs reward either large connected habitats or multiple separate habitats, depending on the card
You're constantly weighing short term points against building something that will pay off later. The player with the most points at the end of the third year wins.
What I Liked
The jeep movement is easily my favorite part of Habitats. I've played plenty of tile placement games where the challenge is figuring out where something belongs. Habitats adds another layer because you have to figure out how you're going to reach that tile in the first place. It sounds like a small change, but it makes a big difference.
I really like the balance between luck and strategy. New tiles are coming out of the bag, so you can't plan ahead too much. Sometimes the game simply refuses to give you what you want. But good positioning means you have more options when luck strikes. I appreciate that Habitats manages to be approachable without feeling like it is only for families. There's enough going on to keep me thinking.
Pros
- Bag drafting
- Gorgeous art
- Chunky pieces
- Easy to learn and play
- Language independent
- Luck and strategy balanced
- Jeep movement provides structure
- Family friendly and plays well at every count
Considerations
- The market refill is bag-based, so you have to hope the luck is in your favor
- Semi-Solitaire: Habitats is more about building your own thing than direct conflict
- Moving from one side of the market to the other takes time; you have to plan accordingly!
Bottom Line
Habitats takes familiar tile placement ideas and adds one really clever twist. You can't simply grab the best tile whenever you want. You have to navigate the market to reach it, which turns your movement into part of the puzzle. If you like Sagani, Nova Luna, or other spatial puzzle games but want something a little meatier, I think Habitats is absolutely worth checking out. It's easy to learn, has gorgeous production, gives you plenty to think about, and somehow feels like a game that could have been released yesterday. Except it wasn't. It's ten years old, and after playing it, my biggest question is: why did it take me so long to find this game? I think I want my own copy.
If you like Habitats, try:
For a lighter game - Nova Luna: abstract tile placement game that's much easier. Match colors and symbols to complete goals. Warning: every tile you add can help or hurt the goals around it.
For something similar, yet different - Twinkle Twinkle: draft, place tiles, and build constellations. I like the added twist that the tile you take determines your turn order for next round.
For something heavier - Cascadia : build the Pacific Northwest landscape and try to fit wildlife into it to score goals. You'll spend a lot more time staring at your options trying to convince yourself that the move you want is actually possible. Spoiler: sometimes it isn't.
