The Way We Live: Making Homes/Creating Lifestyles
Stafford Cliff and Gilles de Chabaneix
Book
Lifestyle inspiration from around the world is presented in over 1000 images by photographer Gilles...
Triangle (2007)
Movie
Told in three 30-minute segments, three friends seek out the buried treasure of a mysterious...
Bohan Reviews (215 KP) rated Booksmart (2019) in Movies
Aug 16, 2019
Full Review:
https://www.bohanreviews.com/post/booksmart
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011)
Movie
Tintin and his friends discover directions to a sunken ship commanded by Capt. Haddock's ancestor...
RHS Colouring Diary
Book
A beautiful perpetual diary that combines full-colour artwork from the RHS's world-renowned Lindley...
The Black Lung Captain (A tale of the Ketty Jay)
Book
Deep in the heart of the Kurg rainforest lies a long-forgotten wreck. On board, behind a magically...
Aron's Absurd Armada Omnibus: v. 1
Book
On a whim, Aron Cornwall decides he wants to live a pirate's life of thrills, distant lands, and...
Leisure Catering Store Design
Book
Unlike a starred hotel or a luxury restaurant, the so-called leisure catering store is small in...
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Treasure Hunter in Tabletop Games
Jun 28, 2019
Obviously I am making light of the theme of this card drafting, set collection, hand management game from Queen Games, but it’s just so fun to imagine yourself as a genuine treasure hunter. DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES??
DISCLAIMER: There are several expansions to this game, but we are not reviewing them at this time. Should we review them in the future we will either update this review or post a link to the new material here. -T
To setup the game, shuffle the cards and the treasure tiles and place them in their respective resting spots. Place a treasure tile on the MIN and MAX sections of each terrain type on the main board. Assign three goblin tiles to their spots on the cave sections of the main board to be dealt with after your adventure round. Each player receives 15 starting gold to begin their adventure. Deal each player nine cards and you are ready to begin!
To start the game, look at the hand of cards that were dealt, choose one and pass the rest to the leftmost neighbor. This should be familiar if you have ever played any other card drafting game (like Sushi Go!, 7 Wonders, etc). Once you have your complete hand of nine cards you drafted, the hunt may begin. During you draft phase you will have already assessed the main board and decided how you would like your draft to go – do want the maximum red treasure? The minimum blue treasure? All the dogs?? Each terrain type will be scored in order from top down, so whomever has amassed the minimum number of blue values will receive the tile on the MIN section of the tundra, while they who gathered the most value in blue cards will receive the MAX tile. There are cards that can affect your values using a +/- mechanic so that you can hopefully come in the victor on your chosen field.
Once the main treasure hunt is complete and everyone has their treasure tiles, you must figuratively store your treasures in the cave. Predictably, goblins will visit your cave to try to steal your goods, so I hope you had drafted some guard dogs in the first phase of the game to protect your shinies. If not, you will be parting with some of your gold (which are ultimately VPs)! At the end of five rounds following this structure, and reversing draft direction, you flip over the main board to reveal the scoreboard where you can record your earnings (findings?) and determine victory for the greatest Treasure Hunter!
Components: this game comes with a good amount of components – just the way I like it. The main board, treasure tiles, money chits, and goblin tiles are all thick cardboard that are of great Queen Games quality. The cards are great quality too. I really like the double-sided game board that also serves as score board. Another great component collection from Queen Games!
Ok, so I really like this game a lot. I received this game from my wife, who has an uncanny ability to choose games for me that are not on my wish list, but that end up being simply wonderful (see Azul, Saboteur). I really enjoy card drafting games, and when you can go into a draft with a strategy that just is completely obliterated by someone else’s draft is unpredictable fun! So many times I have played this and just KNEW that my 2 of Red was going to win me the MIN tile. But then my opponent busts out a 3 of Red with a -2 card and snags it away from me. It can be frustrating, but it’s also just a testament to really good drafting and counter-strategy. Using the guard dogs to scare off goblins is cool, and the goblin tiles provide you with VPs too. I know it’s kinda kooky and silly, but I really enjoy this one. Richard Garfield has another hit on his hands for me, and I’m not the only one who recognizes it. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a sneaky 14 / 18.