Parks
Game: Parks Genre: Strategic Worker Placement and Resource Management
Age: Game suggests 10+. Might not be entertaining enough for some ten year old’s though.
Number of players: 1-5
Time: 40 Min +
Difficulty: Not to hard to learn, easy after a round or two. Reading: None, unless you want to read the facts about the parks.
About the Game:
Take control of two hikers that are going to explore trails in our National Parks. Over the course of four rounds (season) you will guide your two hikers along a changing, linear trail to collect resources (Sun, Water, Trees, Mountains). These resources are then used to visit (or buy) a national park which is worth points at the end of the game, buy gear that will allow you certain perks, take photos of your adventure for end game points, or fill your canteen to receive more resources. Each player also has a secret objective (kind of like destination tickets in Ticket to Ride) that wards them points at the end of the game. The points awarded by photo tokens, National Park cards, and each player’s objective all give you points at the end of the game. The hiker with the most points at the end wins.
Replay Value:
I enjoyed this one enough that I could play it on a regular basis, but maybe play it back to back,
My Thoughts:
I enjoy games in which you place “workers” or “tokens” and collect resources. If you have played a game with those mechanics (Everdell, Lords of Waterdeep, etc.) you will be able to pick this one up easily and play it, but what sets it apart is the beautiful artwork and national parks aesthetic. If you love nature or have a goal to visit our national parks the artwork will be right up your alley.
Once everyone understands the rules and if people are engaged it can move a bit faster (in my opinion) than some games of it’s type. Turns move fairly quickly and a “season” or round doesn’t last too long. If you don’t have to explain the rules this would be fairly easy to set up and play without consuming a whole evening.
I really like this one, although it isn’t one I would probably play back to back or multiple times in a weekend.
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