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Ravensburger The Quest for El Dorado Strategy Board Games for Adults and Kids Age 10 Years Up - 2 to 4 Players

£22.495£44.99Clearance
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When a player reaches one of the 3 finishing spaces at El Dorado, this triggers the final round of the game. Each player left in that round will now play their final turn. That's not the whole secret to Wingspan's success, though. The components, from the lush bird art to the smooth resin eggs, are fantastic. There's even a cardboard dice tower in the shape of a bird-feeder, and the thoroughly pleasant theme of building an aviary has very wide appeal. That, together with its relative simplicity for such a deep game, makes it great for family play with older kids. The suggested 10+ age on the box is maybe a bit optimistic, though – as ever, it will depend on the kid, but we certainly wouldn’t call this a starter game for kids that age. The Quest for El Dorado was in contention for the Spiel des Jahres family game of the year in 2017 for a reason. While it didn’t win the award ( Kingdomino did), we’re sure it was a tough decision because it’s a great game for families. As you play, this loop draws you into the game, tighter and tighter. You'll be planning turns in advance, thinking about playing that bird to gain this food which in turn lets you play another bird and so on. It's so satisfying watching your little avian empire grow and thrive, and the strategy is in fine-tuning the system so it gives you exactly the resources you need exactly when you need them.

El Dorado Game | Board Games | Zatu Games UK The Quest for El Dorado Game | Board Games | Zatu Games UK

When playing cards, a player first plays cards used for movement. Each hex space on the board shows the type requirement to move onto it (machete, paddle, or coin) as well as the amount (“power”). The power value on the card must be equal or higher than the power on the hex.Wingspan perfected a simple formula that helped it soar over the competition. Players are building a nature reserve for different species of bird cards from their hand. Attracting a bird means spending food and eggs, and you get more food, eggs and cards the more birds are already in your habitat. It's a neat, devilish, circular puzzle that few other games have managed better. The simple mechanics and flow of the game will draw in players of all ages. And the reference boards for each player outline the steps of a player’s turn so easily that anyone can join in the fun. The market starts with the six pre-determined cards in it, each in a pile of three. Once this pile is empty, the next player to buy a card may fill the gap by buying any of the other cards. This lets you shape your tactics, but also makes the card you have chosen available to your opponents. This simple mechanic creates some difficult decisions! Despite this, all these cards have their uses, so it is easy for younger players to get in on the action and not lose out. The Rest of El Dorado? And in that way it’s kind of like a puzzle to figure out how to get across the board in the smoothest path. Cooperative vs competitive– some games have everyone working together towards a common goal, while others are all about beating the opposition. Both are tons of fun, but some people like to work together more than they like a competitive atmosphere, so it’s just about reading the room.

El Dorado Games | Board Game Publisher | BoardGameGeek El Dorado Games | Board Game Publisher | BoardGameGeek

War games with a shouty infantry man on the cover can make a game seem like it's going to be very dry, but don't let Undaunted pass you by, because it's a brilliant battler built around one core truth: you can't win every fight. What this means in practice is that each medium needs to guess a correct combination of person, location and weapon (very Cluedo) from a selection in the middle of the table. But the ghost can't talk or gesture at all to guide them. So, if you play a round where the location is a submarine, someone might ask "Did you see anything nice out of the window this morning?", hoping the spy will say "Yes, a beautiful sunrise" and you'll all accuse them. But maybe the spy says "Well, in the job I have here, I don't really go anywhere near windows in the mornings". A totally generic statement that could apply to all kinds of thing, and that might throw them off your scent.Even seemingly easy wins can be tight decisions: there are only five cards in the middle of the table to take from at any time, and if three greens come out, you might think that’s a great bonus for you… but those three will be replaced with something as soon as you take them, and what if it’s something more valuable that you leave open to the other player? The basic rules are pretty simple: every turn, a player is randomly matched with another player (an ‘encounter’), and the two must either fight (using numbered cards from their hands) or negotiate. They can invite other players to ally with them in the fight, in exchange for rewards. The idea is to be the first to have five colonies on other players’ planets, either by winning battles or negotiating well. It’s a very easy set of rules to learn. The problem? If your tree is behind someone else's, the sun won't reach it, so you'll get less light points that turn. The bigger the tree, the longer the shadow it casts. But the good news is that the sun moves partially around the board every turn, so suddenly your shaded trees are in the sun, and others are in the dark. When the sun has gone all the way around the board three times, the game ends – 18 rounds in total.

El Dorado | Strategy Games | Ravensburger El Dorado | Strategy Games | Ravensburger

For example, a Machete card with power of 2 can be used to move onto a hex with 1 machete and then move again onto a space with 1 machete. But two cards with a power of 1 each may not be combined to move onto a hex showing 2 machetes. This high powered card will let me cross many jungle spaces in a row! Each player starts with the exact same eight cards which they shuffle together and draw four for their starting hand. These cards are all of one strength and relate to the hexes on the modular board. El Dorado straddles the line between an approachable family game and an enjoyable game night game with ease. It is simple enough for younger players but with enough options to keep hardened gamers involved! But how many matching cards should you collect before trading? Whoever trades a colour first gets higher-value tokens. But if you trade a larger number of cards in one go, you get special bonus tokens with big points of their own, on top of the regular tokens. So, can you afford to spend one more turn collecting another couple of cards and going for the big payout? Or will your opponent nip in first and leave you with just the leftovers? Now some people might gripe at the size of the cards. They could be bigger but it doesn’t bother me. Art is subjective, but for me the artwork is fine albeit perhaps a little dated. The cards do the job, with clear iconography but I understand some might want something a little more exciting to look at. The Indiana Jones meeples are fun though.Some grey spaces on the board allow players to discard cards of any type to move onto them. And red Base Camp spaces allow players to remove cards from the game. Once collected, a player may use a cave token any time during their current or future turns. Once played, the cave token is removed from the game. The cave tokens grant extra options on a turn.

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