Cascadia Digital is Now Available in Steam Early Access!

October 30, 2024

Cascadia Digital is now available on Steam Early Access!

The tabletop version of Cascadia, released by Flatout Games and designed by Randy Flynn, is widely acclaimed for its approachability, with elegant design that earned it the prestigious Spiel des Jahres award in 2022. Whether you’re learning the game yourself, being taught for the first time, playing solo, or enjoying it with loved ones, it’s a game that’s easy for anybody to pick up and play… and now it’s easier than ever, with a gorgeous new digital adaptation now available in Steam Early Access!

In preparation for the Early Access Release, we’ve been releasing preview articles covering Cascadia Digital, from its foundational gameplay to its special modes, such as Challenges and Daily Treks. Today, we’re be dropping one last article, focusing on multiplayer modes! Let’s take a look at the various ways you can play with others in Cascadia Digital, and how easy it is to jump right into an online game!

Cascadia is best when enjoyed with friends – and really, who doesn’t like a little nature-themed smack-talking? Unfortunately, getting people to the table is sometimes easier said than done. When you’ve got that Cascadia itch outside of game night, Online Games in Cascadia Digital allow you to play anytime, anywhere! Setting up a match is quick and easy, with a variety of options to tailor the game to your liking.

Play With Friends, Other Players, and AI Opponents

Online games allow you to play with friends, strangers, AI opponents, or a mix of all three.

When you create an online game in Cascadia Digital, you’ll first choose how many players will be participating, and who you’ll be playing against. Games support up to four players, with the following options for opponents:

Friends: If you want to play with friends, you can reserve a player slot for them, which will send them a direct invite to your game if they’re online. If they’re a bit busy, no worries! You can set a Lobby Password so that they can join in later, without random players jumping into your game.
Online Players: Do you enjoy stopping and chatting with other hikers on the trail? You may enjoy creating an open game by setting player slots to “Open.” This will put your game in the Lobby, and anyone who sees it will be able to join in!
AI Opponents: Cascadia Digital allows you to integrate AI opponents into your multiplayer games. You can add one, two, or none at all. Furthermore, you’re able to set their difficulty! This allows you to experience games up to 3 or 4 players even if you’re only playing against one human opponent.

Your Game, Your Rules

Cascadia offers variable scoring rules, which differ from game to game and keep every match feeling fresh. Let’s take a look at the scoring rules you’re able to choose from:

Regular Rules

Regular Rules represent the classic Cascadia experience – unique scoring rules for each type of animal, defined by their Wildlife Scoring Cards. If you’re playing with Regular Rules, there are two ways to pick your Wildlife Scoring Cards:

Standard: If you want your scoring cards to be a surprise, you can let the game app pick them for you! Not only that, but you can choose which sets of Wildlife Scoring Cards to be included in the randomization. Each animal has an “A,” “B,” “C,” and “D” card – if you only want “A” and “B” cards to be included in your randomization, you can choose to do so!

Custom: If you have a specific idea of which Wildlife Scoring Cards you want to play with, no problem! Click on any given animal to see their selection of cards and pick the one that suits your preferences.

Family and Intermediate Scoring

Family Scoring is a simpler scoring system where Wildlife Scoring Cards are not used, and animals are instead scored in groups of 1-3. Intermediate Scoring is similar, just with group sizes of 2-4 to make things slightly more challenging.

The tabletop version of Cascadia also has two alternate scoring systems: Family Scoring and Intermediate Scoring, which are also variants that are represented in your options for online games.

With Family and Intermediate Scoring rules, animals don’t have unique scoring rules. Instead, they’re all scored by group size. Both modes are similar, with the only difference being that the group sizes are smaller in Family Scoring, and larger in Intermediate Scoring. Additionally, in Family Scoring, you have the option to turn off the Habitat Majority Bonus!

Choose Between Live and Asynchronous Play

When you’re not gathered around a table, there’s always the possibility of life getting in the way between turns, and that’s why we’ve provided two different ways to play your online matches, which can be toggled on the Create Game screen.

Async Games: For players who have a lot going on, async play allows games to stretch on for long periods of time. Players have up to three days to take each turn, and once they have done so, the game will be “passed” to the next opponent, who will receive a notification that it’s their turn. If a player takes longer than three days to act, they will be replaced by an AI so that the game can continue.
Live Games: Live games assume that all players are “present,” and instead of three days, the turn timer is three minutes! Live games are meant for players who want to complete an entire match in one sitting. Players who exceed the turn timer will have their turns taken by an AI, and if this happens twice in a row, they will be permanently replaced by an AI.

Pass and Play allows up to four players to play on one single device, along with AI opponents (if desired).

Not every multiplayer game of Cascadia Digital needs to be played online, and that’s why we’ve included a Pass and Play mode! If you have friends or family in the same room, Pass and Play allows you to enjoy a multiplayer match with a single device. When a player takes their turn, the game “passes” to the next opponent, who can then take their turn on the same device, and so on.

Pass and Play games have the same options and settings as online games, with the exception of an Async vs Live toggle. A great option for those occasions where you don’t have a tabletop copy on hand, but still crave some Cascadia with friends or family!

Whether you’re challenging your friends online, meeting new players in open lobby games, or playing with loved ones in the same room, Cascadia Digital provides plenty of ways to share the trail with others.

Up to this point, we’ve been your guide through the Pacific Northwest as we’ve explored Cascadia Digital in our preview articles, but it’s time for you to branch out on your own! Cascadia Digital is available TODAY in Steam Early Access, and the wilderness is calling your name.

The Hiking Trail – Learn More About Cascadia Digital

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