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Description
At the beginning of Explorers, you and each other explorer place four landscape tiles — grasslands, bodies of water, desert or mountains — and three different scoring tiles in your game frame. Then from your starting village, you go on an exploratory tour.
The exploration cards, each of which shows two landscapes, indicates which landscapes you are allowed to cross (off). On your turn, you reveal an exploration card, chooses one of the two types of terrain, then cross off three spaces ahead of your current location. Your fellow players must then decide whether to place only two crosses on the same landscape, or choose the other landscape and tick off three crosses. All of your crosses must be orthogonally adjacent, so you need to plan well to avoid being stuck due to "bad" landscape choices.
Over four rounds, you expand your territory, receiving a special action for each checked box with an object in it. You receive points for provisions and gems, with a map you can place crosses on any type of terrain, and lost temples can be explored with keys — but whoever reaches the temple first receives the most points for it...
Explorers contains a solo version as well as additional task tiles for experienced players, with more than a million possible game combinations.
Year Published
2021
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Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 4
This page: 4
Sentiment:
pos 3 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–4 of 4
Video BjR6Mc00of8
Allies Our Enemies game_review at 0:07
video_pk 61182 · mention_pk 153809
Click to watch at 0:07 · YouTube ↗
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Array
- Array
- Exploration, resource gathering, temples, and map-based progression.
- Array
- Map-based exploration across varied terrain (prairie, water, mountain, desert) with immediate drafting of a shared map each round.
- Array
- Array
- Array
- positive
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Explorers works for one to four players and you won't see a lot of difference at any count
- the variability here is through the roof with the box posting over 1 million combinations
- Phil Walker Harding is a master at doing a lot with a little which tends to make his games as affordable as they are approachable and this one is no different
- this is very likely to be a solid fit
- at 20 minutes it's easy to cram a few games into a session
- the pens work well and everything is nicely glossy to make it all writable
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video dAeVsfZa0A4
board games for one top_10_list at 1:45 sentiment: positive
video_pk 28414 · mention_pk 83382
Click to watch at 1:45 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- compact footprint and quick setup
- maps feel varied and replayable
- accessible for families
Cons
- solo mode lacks an AI opponent; you're limited by what you draw
Thematic elements
- Exploration and discovery
- A map of a newly discovered land; each session generates a different map.
- Array
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I love Wingspan
- the solo play is a beat your own score type of thing
- it's a puzzle you're building a honeycomb as a puzzle to function as an engine while also taking worker placement actions
- this is a euro game with your family that you can also play solo
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 5bn8NC2Ew_s
BTH to Death Previews game_preview at 0:10 sentiment: positive
video_pk 8242 · mention_pk 83330
Click to watch at 0:10 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Extremely high replay value with 500+ hero/race combinations and variable setup
- Epic, tense progression as the Dead King advances; strong thematic flavor
- Rich world with a lot of components and optional rules for quick play or advanced modes
- Artwork and presentation deliver a strong vibe, with some caveats about unfinished visuals
Cons
- Some artwork is unfinished or uneven in quality
- Complexity could be daunting for new players and requires space and setup time
Thematic elements
- Epic quest to stop an undead king and save cities from plague and destruction
- Fantasy world with cities, shrines, ruins, and a malevolent undead king pursuing the players across a hex-based map
- High-fantasy epic quest with evolving threats and boss-driven progression
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Character creation — Players create a hero by selecting a race and a role, each with racial modifiers, abilities, and food ratings.
- Circumstance and encounter resolution — Draw from a circumstance deck to resolve events, weather, or encounters; six-sided dice determine the specific action or event outcome.
- Combat System — Turn-based combat with action selection (Attack, Defend, Items, Mastery) and enemy actions; dice-driven resolution and boss mechanics.
- Dead King mechanic — The Dead King appears via a dice-driven schedule, actively targeting cities and gaining speed as it destroys them, culminating in a final boss confrontation.
- Dice rolling — Each player rolls three skill dice (Navigation, Exploration, Survival) against their corresponding stats to resolve actions; results influence wandering, exploration rewards, and survival outcomes.
- Market dynamics and loot — A black market that moves around the board; buying gear and looting rewards are tied to market availability and quest outcomes.
- Market Pricing/Manipulation — A black market that moves around the board; buying gear and looting rewards are tied to market availability and quest outcomes.
- Movement and map building — On a turn, players move up to four hexes; moving to edges reveals new tiles; cities, shrines, bosses, and other map features drive exploration.
- Optional rules — Quick-play variants, multi-roll play, and a Dead King deck enabling unique modes and asymmetrical play.
- Quests and power-ups — Quest markers guide objectives; completing quests grants Power-Up cards to improve stats and provide group benefits.
- Skill dice and checks — Each player rolls three skill dice (Navigation, Exploration, Survival) against their corresponding stats to resolve actions; results influence wandering, exploration rewards, and survival outcomes.
- Stats, gear, and resources — Characters have Health, Energy, Food, and equipment in a backpack; starting Gold is set by player count; gear upgrades are purchased in cities.
- Unique player powers — Quest markers guide objectives; completing quests grants Power-Up cards to improve stats and provide group benefits.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Explore It is an epic adventure where players are trying to stop the dead King from plaguing the remaining cities.
- The more players the less gold each player has.
- If you roll a one here each player regains one energy or removes an Affliction that affects the group.
- Defeat him and you'll win the game as a group or fail and be destined to join his Undead Army.
- There can be over 500 different hero race combinations and the initial setup of the game offers huge replay value.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video ZopE-qfVKFQ
The Broken Meeple review at 0:15 sentiment: positive
video_pk 4605 · mention_pk 13500
Click to watch at 0:15 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Exceptional component quality and production values
- Beautiful and colorful visual presentation
- Smooth and light gameplay experience
- Quick play time (60-90 minutes)
- Non-clunky mechanics
- Straightforward and simple to learn
- Good rulebook with pictorial examples and round summary
- Interesting twist on drafting and worker placement
- Thoughtful decision-making without brain-burning complexity
- Multiple viable strategies for winning
- Thick wooden tokens instead of plastic miniatures
- Colorblind-friendly card design with symbols
- Linen finished rulebook
- Good game for detouring from heavy complex games
Cons
- Player board has fake jewel layer that doesn't hold trading posts securely
- Trading posts slide around on player board
- Turn order compass mechanic is overly fiddly
- Compass mechanic is difficult to see what's what
- Purple token building trade post worker space is too powerful
- Rulebook layout could be slightly better
- Some rules can be hard to reference exactly
Thematic elements
- exploration
- lands
- mountain
- desert
- forest
- factions
- trading posts
Comparison games
- Waters Deep
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Jesus tap dancing Christ is this game well produced
- This is a colorful spectacle on the table
- I am starting to get sick and tired of everybody trying to do Miniatures in their games
- The drawer of explorers and why this game works is its Simplicity its pleasantness
- It's a very smooth experience
- There's enough depth of decision space without burning the brain cells
- It's a nice light shorter Euro which in a year where we seem to be in inded with extremely long complex 3our plus Euros it's a nice refreshing change of place
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–4 of 4