One day the Humans had fiddled with the Earth until it could take no more, and the Humans ended. Then the Voles created their civilization and fiddled with the smaller things of the Earth until the Voles ended as well. Now the tiny creatures of the forest compete to find the artifacts and knowledge left by the fallen empires so that they too can mess it all up in their turn. Each game of Vasty Wilds begins with a randomly placed network of Root cards. The players add cards to the board to expand the forest. Each card placement includes movement and other beneficial effects (Progress) for the player and detrimental effects (Misfortune) for her opponents. A player's opponents are in charge of placing her objectives in inconvenient places on the board. The player who collects all of her objectives first wins. While Vasty Wilds is easy to learn for younger players or beginners, successive plays will reveal more complex strategies for card placement and effect combinations.