Quick Look:
| Info: |
| Designer: N/A Artist: Kelly Murphy Publisher: Peaceable Kingdom Year Published: 2012 No. of Players: 1-4 Ages: 5+ Playing Time: 20 Minutes Find more info on BoardGameGeek.com |
Have you ever raced an Ogre to his treasure? If not continue reading as the information provided may prove useful some day.
In Race to the Treasure players will work together to build paths, collect keys (3 to be exact), and make a b-line straight (or crooked) to the Ogre’s treasure. Beware though as the Ogre will also be heading to his treasure and he doesn’t like sharing! If the players make it there first they win, however if the Ogre arrives ahead of them he wins and he may have to eat someone.
To set up Race to the Treasure players will place the board in the center of play, shuffle all of the Path tiles and place them face down in a draw pile (or in a draw bag). Players then roll the two d6 dice four times to place the Key tokens on the corresponding spots on the board. Finally the Ogre Snack token is placed in the same manner.
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| Set up. |
On a players turn she will draw a Path tile and see what it is. If the tile is a path she will place it on the board (in the blue area), if it is an Ogre tile she will place it on the Ogre path (red area). Paths must connect to previous paths by lining up the path images on the tile. Note that you are trying to collect three keys before getting to the Ogre’s treasure so place the paths accordingly.
If players fear that the Ogre is going to beat them they can try and collect the Ogre Snake token in order to remove one Ogre tile from the Ogre path (red area).
Play continues as players draw and place tiles until one of two things happens: 1) Enough Ogre tiles have been placed so that he reaches his treasure in which case the players loose. Or 2) Players have placed tiles in such a way as to collect three keys and create a continuous path from the start square to the Ogre’s treasure space in which case the players win!
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| The players squeak out a win! |
Review:
As you can see from above Race to the Treasure is a very simple game that is aimed towards a younger audience. In fact I had my four year-old playing this one and he had no problems with it at all. It plays quickly and generally doesn’t take more than 20 minutes which works out well for kids who tend to stray, SQUIRREL!
The mechanics are straight forward and easy for younger players to remember and perform, draw a tile and place a tile. The trick for them is laying the paths in the spot that most benefits them as a team. This is a good learning exercise for kids in which they can experience working together.
The artwork is very cute and does a good job for it’s target audience. My boys enjoyed it a lot and were excited when we first opened the shipping box. The components are also well made with a solid board, sturdy tokens, and good dice. An interesting fact here; Peaceable Kingdoms is an eco-friendly company and as such so are their game components. The paper is FSC, the ink is soy based, and plastics are corned based. Just looking at the game makes me hungry.
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| What is in the box. |
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| Components. |
As mentioned above Race to the Treasure is a good introductory cooperative game for kids allowing them the opportunity to work together and come up with the best plans to beat the Orge. Unfortunately for our family we found it a little too easy since my kids have a lot of gaming experience. That being said it was nice having my four year-old more involved as he usually just plays with us for a few minutes before finding something else to do.
Parents looking for good ways to introduce their kids to gaming will want to pick this one up. You can buy it on Amazon by clicking the link below.
Here is a quick play through.
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Check out Race to the Treasure and Peaceable Kingdom on:
About the Author:
My name is Dane Trimble I am the Advertising Manager for a national magazine by day and a husband, father of four, and board gamer by night (and mornings). I have a passion for board games as I believe board games help bring families closer together while providing kids a unique way to learn many diverse skills. And they are down right fun!!!
