The Quest for El Dorado

MoMohaszstar7,9

It's probably the novelty factor, but I really do enjoy this one. I'm currently trimming down my collection, and I'm almost tempted to sell Flamme Rouge or even Clank! (which I love but rarely hits the table) after playing this a few times. The theme is very palatable (one could argue rather boring) and it comes through the mechanisms just enough. The gameplay is much more streamlined than something like Clank, which makes this a great family game. A session takes somewhere between 30-60 mins, which is a nice length for a race game, and the games tend to be pretty close unless someone makes mistakes regularly. While there are not a huge amount of different cards, the game seems to have quite a lot of depth when it comes to building your deck, the layout of the map matters a lot. Works really well with 2 because managing 2 pawns is fun, and you still only do it with one deck. I imagine it would be a bit different with more, maybe less decisions but a bit more important deckbuilding aspect.

MeMestremutenstar6,0

Rating: 3/5 Production value: 3/4 Is the game in my collection/Love to have?: 0/1

EvEvanstar4,6

This game is a deckbuilder where more or less each card allows you to either buy a new card from the display, or play the card for movement points to be used on the central board's matching terrain. It's a straight up race to get to the finish line. We played with the advanced rules which added a few minorly interesting elements, such as each hex as one cave space where if you stop next to it, you get a bonus ability tile. It's a little bit of a mean game, because you can't move through other players pieces so you can get some fail turns due to people standing in your way, which is rough when you have a perfect hand of cards to move you ahead. The game is light, pretty quick, and it's got some replayability to it since the cards are often different, and the board can change every session. The overall experience of the game is enjoyable but I wouldn't say there's a lot of magic to it. I would play this again if someone really wanted to, but I don't know that I'd suggest it myself. So much of the strategy of the game is deciding when to spend a card for movement and when to invest in your engine. If that decision choice is enough for you and you are hurting for more simple deck building or more racing games, then this is a good option for you. If not, it's skippable. ★ Art, Iconography and components functional ★ Clever or interesting mechanisms ★ Reasonably low downtime between turns with mildly AP players ★ Multiple plays stay interesting ★ Low or mitigatable luck elements ★☆☆☆☆ Raw enjoyment