In Four Forests, players each take on the role of one of the Guardians of the Enchanted Forests. Prepare your forest for the arrival of various mythical creatures by planting vegetation that has specific appeal to each creature. Ensure that the creatures attracted to your forests are considered the most prestigious by secretly casting votes.

In more detail, Four Forests is played across four rounds. Each round, each player draws four plant cards, then takes four actions simultaneously:

Cultivate: Place one plant card from your hand into your habitat.
Harvest/Burn: Place one plant card from your hand face down next to one of the four creatures in play to upvote or downvote their appeal.
Pollinate: Pass a plant card to the player on your left, while receiving one from the player on your right.
Prune: Discard a plant card from your hand.

Your hand size increases by one plant card each round, and at the end of four rounds, you score cards in your hand and habitat. Reveal the cards in front of each creature to determine its prestige; if a vote card was played upside down, it counts as a downvote, lowering the value.

Score points for each plant card in your habitat and hand based on which creatures they appeal to. Whoever has the most points wins.