Image Courtesy of zombiegod
This review continues my series of detailed reviews. I have tried to cover every aspect of the game and as such you may prefer to skip to the sections of most interest.
Summary
Game Type – Board Game
Play Time: 30-45 min
Number of Players: 2-6 (Best with 4+)
Mechanics – Action Point Allowance System, Dice Rolling, 'Push Your Luck', Memory
Difficulty – Pick Up and Play (Can be learned in under 30 minutes and understood with only 2-3 plays)
Components – Excellent
Release - 2009
Designer -
<PERSON> (Asteroyds, Rush n' Crush, The Adventurers: The Temple of Chac)
<PERSON> (Asteroyds, Rush n' Crush, The Adventurers: The Temple of Chac, The Timeline Series)
Overview
The Adventurers is essentially a 'Push Your Luck' Game that uses an Action Point Allowance System at its heart. It isn't heavy, in fact it's very light. But it's also about the fun and disasters that can befall players along the way.
The Theme
The front cover tells you all you need to know. A variety of eclectic characters can be seen running up some stairs. The runes on the walls pretty much scream 'temple' and the combination of Khaki outfits, <PERSON> hats, <PERSON> font for the title and the boulder in the background all point to the fact that this game borrows heavily from the Hollywood Blockbuster Indiana Jones. Yes folks, in The Adventurers you take on the role of a treasure or relic hunter. Question is, will you be the best?
Sounds like fun.
Components
There's no doubt that AEG have gone out of their way to try and make the game look as visually appealing as possible. In fact there is enough component-y goodness here to make most teens wet themselves in anticipation.
The Board - The game uses a fairly standard 4-segment sized board. Generally speaking it is fairly bland although the red and blue contrast of the Lava Room and the River add some welcome colour. But the board doesn't really need to shine all that much as it has plenty of 'bling' to go on top of it to allow the game catch the eye of any passersby.
But it does a serviceable job of representing a Temple. There is a long windy passage, several areas that obviously serve as rooms and a series of arrows and holding spots around the outer edge where cards or tiles are to be placed during set-up.
The final embellishment is a small flight of stairs that lead down from a grassy hillock. 470
These represent the entrance to the temple.
Image Courtesy of cookijr
Character Cards - These cards are slightly smaller than a standard card. One side contains the name of the character and an illustration of them. The character images are really brilliantly realised and along with the art contained in the rulebook they help to capture the imagination of anyone who sees them.
Each character is depicted in extreme detail and through the use of some familiar stereotypes from popular culture, they are almost instantly recognisable. The artwork and choice of names for each character also do a great job of representing most continents and cultures, which supports the theme of the game and gives it a worldly quality of sorts.
The reverse side is much plainer but is far more important. Here is listed a series of numbers which represent the current weight and carrying capacity of the characters. More on these later but it is important to note that each card's numbers are identical.
These cards deserve a special mention as they are very well designed. The illustration side serves to bring the theme and characters to life but in addition an icon in the bottom left represents a skill that a character has. The information side is essentially the driving mechanic behind the game and to help differentiate each set of numbers, different background shades are used to make one line stand out from the next. To incorporate all that onto a single card is pretty clever stuff.
It's also nice to see these cards produced in a quality matte finish.
Images Courtesy of AEGTodd
Treasure Cards - Then there are the treasure cards which feature a variety of artwork depending on where they are found within the Temple. They all range from value 1-6, whilst one final type features a 6-pip dice image. More on that later.
The backs of the cards all vary and this helps to identify which part of the Temple they belong to. This is helpful in the set-up phase of the game.
Card Fronts - Image Courtesy of AEGTodd
Card Backs - Image Courtesy of cookinjr
Wall Cards - The final set of cards are the Wall Cards, which are used in the aptly named Walls Room. 872