Prepare for Season is one of your three turn choices in the Everdell base game. You take it on your own turn after placing every worker you currently have. Your opponents do not change seasons with you. This guide follows the base-game rulebook linked below; expansion modules can add their own effects.
When may you change season?
Once all your current workers are deployed, you may Prepare for Season on a later turn. You may play cards instead if you have a useful play available; spending your last worker does not force an immediate season change. When you choose to prepare, return all your deployed workers, collect the new worker or workers from the Ever Tree, and take the benefit for the season you are entering. It is one turn action, so you do not also place a worker on that turn.
Example: You have placed your two starting workers in winter. On your next turn you can play a card from your hand or the Meadow if you can pay for it, or prepare for spring. Preparing returns both deployed workers and adds your spring worker, giving you three workers to place in spring.
What does each season give you?
| Entering | New workers | Other benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Spring | 1 | Activate every green Production card currently in your city. |
| Summer | 1 | You may draw up to 2 cards from the face-up Meadow. There is no general Production activation. |
| Autumn | 2 | Activate every green Production card currently in your city. |
In the base game this grows your available worker population from two in winter to three in spring, four in summer, and six in autumn. The new workers join the workers you retrieved; you do not leave the old ones on the board.
The summer Meadow draw
When preparing for summer, you may take zero, one, or two of the face-up Meadow cards into your hand. Everdell’s hand limit is eight. If you already hold seven cards, you can take only one; at eight, you cannot take any. The rulebook says to draw all chosen Meadow cards before replenishing the display, so you cannot take a replacement card that appears during this draw. The draw is optional, but check the Meadow before passing it up: it can provide a card you can afford or a Critter that pairs with a Construction already in your city.
When do green Production cards activate?
A green Production card activates once immediately when played, whether you play it in winter, spring, summer, or autumn. Your spring and autumn Prepare for Season actions then activate the green cards currently in your city. Preparing for summer does not activate them again.
Timing example: If you play a green card in winter, resolve its printed effect then. If it is still in your city when you enter spring, resolve it again, and again upon entering autumn. A green card first played during summer resolves on play and can resolve again in autumn, but gains no extra summer activation. This is why playing useful Production cards before your spring change can be valuable, as long as the card play is worth the turn and cost.
Can players be in different seasons?
Yes. You may enter summer while another player is still in spring. Each player changes seasons when they take their own Prepare for Season action. Keep track of your own new workers and benefits; another player’s change does not trigger yours.
What happens after autumn?
Autumn is the last Prepare for Season action. After you enter it, continue taking legal worker-placement or card-play turns. When you cannot or do not wish to act, pass; players who have not passed keep playing. There is no additional winter Production trigger in this base-game sequence.
Related Everdell guides
Rules source
Everdell base-game rulebook (PDF, pp. 9–13), including the Prepare for Season sequence, summer Meadow draw, Production timing, hand limit, and passing. Checked October 2026.