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Game Info
Year
2006
Collection
Mechanic profile
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Vibe profile
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Description
User review
Set up:
The game contains twelve map tiles. Each map tile is made of one hexagon surrounded by six hexagons. Each tile will have a mixture of any or all of five types of terrain: grasslands, farmlands, mountains, woods, and hills. Each player gets a Player Aid card, selects a color of people tokens and places the era cube of the matching color on The Era Starting Box on the Progress Column part of the game board. A starting player is selected. Some tiles are placed contiguously on the game board (the number of tiles depends on the number of players) one at a time in turn order. Each player, in turn, places three of their people tokens on the game board contiguously. The game is now ready to begin.
Game play:
Players should note which terrain will be worth Progress Points at the end of the era. Progress Points are the number of hexes occupied of the scoring terrain by one’s token plus the number of city tiles plus the value of all eligible Idea Cards. The player or players with the most Progress Points will advance to the new era and get an advantage over the other players.
In turn, a player may:
- Move people
- Have babies (increase the number of people tokens on the game board)
- Have a fight (initiate the diceless combat system against another player)
- Have an idea (draw chance cards)
- Build a city (replace people tokens with a city tile)
After all the players have used all of their turns the era has ended. If this not the first round then all the players’ Era Cubes are advanced to the level of the leader(s). Progress Points are then compared and the leader(s) advance to take advantage of one’s newest ability.
The game is over after ten eras. Victory Points are the total of number of non-mountain hexagons occupied by one’s tokens plus the values of one’s cities plus three points for advancing to the final era. The player with most Victory Points is the winner.
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 5
This page: 5
Sentiment:
pos 4 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 1
Showing 1–5 of 5
Video uGTdKYF1stA
Top List at 0:28 sentiment: negative
video_pk 69202 · mention_pk 165610
Click to watch at 0:28 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
negative
Pros
- Cool concept
- Idea of working the tight rope of drawing cards to keep hand topped up
- Thinning the deck to make it more likely the next person draws an indigestion card
Cons
- Clunky flaws
- Game goes off the rails and becomes too chaotic/silly in a bad way
- Huge incentive to draw many cards just to top up hand
- Rules could be fixed by stopping top decking after drawing an indigestion card
- Drawing multiple indigestion cards only counts as one loss for the round
- Messy and untidy, could have used more refinement
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- hand management — Players manage their hands, balancing the need to draw cards to stay in the round with the risk of drawing 'indigestion cards'.
- Push Your Luck — Described as a "pretty strange hybrid push your luck shedding card game."
- set collection — Players collect 'indigestion cards', and the winner is the player with the fewest of these.
- shedding — The core mechanic involves shedding cards by matching the last played card, with the goal of staying in the round as long as possible rather than getting rid of cards first.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This is where I take a look at the last five new to me board games that I've played and I rank and review them in order of preference
- I think this game does have some pretty clunky flaws and that is because there's sometimes such a huge incentive just to draw that many cards simply to top your hand up
- in practice this is very themeless it's definitely a spreadsheet style of game
- all in all I think this game is is solid as you'd expect albeit maybe a little bit forgettable
- and this one feels more like a a traditional Euro
- it is very tight and compact pretty quick as well you're looking at around 45 minutes to play this one
- it does become quite a crunchy game especially considering how few turns you get you know this is a very fast game
- it's actually a a more refined version of all of them
- definitely one of the hits from 2024
- the main fun of the game lies at least for me is in the in the card play so this is definitely one of those multi-use card games
- the game is rather long so each time I play this one it's taken around 3 hours to play
- for me the main issue is that I simply wouldn't play it I think
- objectively a fantastic design got love the card play
References (from this video)
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Video X8S-WjbTEb8
Top 10 List at 2:29 sentiment: positive
video_pk 67850 · mention_pk 164116
Click to watch at 2:29 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Cute kittens were a deciding factor for purchase
- Entertaining
- Fun dexterity elements (flicking, throwing)
Cons
- Game is about losing points
Thematic elements
- Eating contest
- Taiwanese snack bar
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Push Your Luck — Players are challenged to eat more than they can imagine as competitors continue to challenge them to push themselves further, until one player has collected three negative points.
- take that — Competitors continue to challenge them to push themselves further.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- my name is at the start it's fine is it hello i'm matthew and joining me to count down the 10 games our viewers are playing this month is paula hi everyone i'm here too uh because we're in my house right now i'm at your house also i am real jet-lagged so who knows how this is gonna go
- fun flippin right like game the special abilities feel great a fun puzzle to solve each time and solo is quick to play it's great i love you when every card feels super good yeah a game where you're like everyone else has way better powers than me but everyone else is like oh everyone else is weird yeah yeah yeah i love it it's fun i like it it does kind of feel like a flipping right but it's not it's a it's a flipping place cubes yeah it's a flipping cube we've coined it it's a coin game
- got it as a late birthday present the gifter was originally going to buy a different game but she was swayed by the cute kittens i would be too and that's why i had to interrupt you so but what we were talking about is being a teppanyaki chef over our hot hibachi grill and it sure does look entertaining but could you be one throw the egg grab the pepper and find out in hibachi players are japanese teppanyaki chefs who must use their hibachi grill to please hungry customers by throwing disks which are actually poker chips onto the board where the chips land determines which ingredients the chefs can buy or sell and which special actions they might be able to take the first chef to complete three orders from customers not just ones they made up out of their brain wins in that it's obvious like i win nobody wants everyone i did it they just came in for water they did it viewer jonathan l recently fired up this game stating hauling poke chips across the board to complete recipes and getting to annoy your friends by kicking their chips around what not to like my brother really enjoyed this game well the game that this was really based on yes this sounds really fun i like it's obviously a dexterity game it is but also the way you go about it is very very fun it's like flicking throwing and flick i think it'd be bad at it i just need to get some gums i wish what did they look like did the pieces feel like slices of the onion volcano oh exactly like that of course that's exactly how i was going to describe it before you started saying the deluxe version of this game should have actual edible bits that you're throwing on the board i feel like you think that you want that but you don't want that i want it no don't tell me what i don't want okay it comes with an egg
- this game is more phenomenal it creates the most faithfully immersive board game experience for a franchise that i never stopped loving since i was a kid the sheer number of expansions allow for so much gameplay variety creating unique combat puzzles for each playthrough depending on the combination of rangers and their fighting styles that you're playing with also the miniatures are so cool i think i had the last jason toy that was in the country my mom had to drive to a port to get it from a guy who had it in a box oh wow oh it was huge never let me forget it
- deduction and suspense deduction and suspense carefully observe strange clues strange and ominous patterns it's actually quite distracting when you do that now think about it distracting in the things going on in the apartments across the way there's parties knives a saw bickering laughing music and a mysterious trunk do you detect a murder or is the secret private world of
- Knocking it out of the park at number two is Barron park.
- The first game is the guild of merchant explorers in which cities will grow in reach as players traverse the map to increase their network of connections and build routes toward the goal of achieving their personal secret objectives.
- Parks are created by combining polyamidos with players scoring for animal house animal areas completed construction and more.
- We were just taught this at a game night with friends we had such a great time and it's one of the best games we've played recently and autumn p adds just charming not all the babies are bears oh the game sorry cares like charmin is what i thought just charming because they have a bear mascot that's true
- Near and Far in which players explore different maps in a search for the last ruin recruiting adventurers hunting for treasure and competing to be the most storied traveler they must collect food and equipment at town for long journeys to mysterious locales making sure not i do the pointing that's my thing i have the mug and the pointing i'm so sorry long journeys mysterious locales making sure not to forget enough weapons to fight off bandits living statues and rusty robots statues exactly you've got to watch out for the living statues sometimes travelers run into something unique in a mini adventure is read from a book of stories it's giving the player a choice of how to react creating a new and memorable tale each game
- We just started playing this one and are so impressed with the different modes of play campaign character arcade is like a choose your own adventure book inside the choose your own avenger book
- I like the characters in storytelling
- Maybe my favorite red raven game maybe my favorite game ev my favorite game ever
References (from this video)
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Video emRysP2Xem0
Tantrum House Review at 0:04 sentiment: positive
video_pk 62728 · mention_pk 155427
Click to watch at 0:04 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Immersive theme and cute elephant artwork
- Tight cooperative puzzle with meaningful decisions
- Interesting spatial footprint mechanic
- Multiple difficulty modes and solo/campaign options
Cons
- Steep learning curve for new players
- Lions can end game abruptly on bad draws
- Pace can feel slow early if not set up quickly
Thematic elements
- Survival, teamwork, resource management
- Savannah, guiding a herd of elephants across a dangerous landscape
- Dynamic, living herd system with matriarch-led journey
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card economy and end conditions — Deck is finite; players must manage cards to illuminate landmarks or risk running out.
- Card placement to build savannah — Players expand the map by placing terrain cards to unlock resources and progress toward landmarks.
- Elephant placement pattern — You must match footprint patterns and card orientation when placing elephants, creating a spatial puzzle.
- Hidden information and communication — Players can't see others' hands; communicate without full visibility, fostering table talk and teamwork.
- limited communication — Players can't see others' hands; communicate without full visibility, fostering table talk and teamwork.
- Lions threat mechanic — Lion cards move toward the nearest elephants; they eat elephants and can end the game if not managed.
- Matriarch movement and reset — Revealing the matriarch moves the herd and resets certain resources, driving strategic placement.
- Resource management — Balance limited energy, elephants, and landscape resources; trees and waters affect actions.
- Terrain and tree interactions — Trees provide energy; eating trees is limited to one type per matriarch cycle; terrain differences affect movement.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Not just about getting from point A to point B. It's all about survival and efficiency and teamwork.
- There is a really interesting spatial puzzle here.
- This is not an easy game.
- The game is enjoyable. It does feel very immersive.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video -C43FDPgjDM
kovray Playthrough at 0:18 sentiment: positive
video_pk 35046 · mention_pk 104569
Click to watch at 0:18 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Accessible entry point for new players with a clear cooperative objective
- Strong thematic cohesion: matriarch-led elephants navigating a dangerous savannah
- Tight synergy between card actions, elephant placement, and landmark collection
- Multiple scenarios and a campaign-like pathway via introductory mode and optional variants
- Visually appealing components and a satisfying sense of progression when landmarks are visited
Cons
- Rule complexity can spike during advanced maneuvers (double matriarchs, terrain interactions)
- Late-game pressure from the lion deck can lead to dramatic, high-stakes losses
- Potential for suboptimal early decisions to cascade through the rest of the game
- Component count and orientation rules may create a steeper learning curve for casual players
Thematic elements
- Animal herding and survival under cooperative constraint, where a matriarch leads a herd through an increasingly perilous landscape, balancing energy, resting elephants, and landmark objectives against predators and deck-driven events.
- Savannah biome depicted as a stylized game map, with elephants and lions moving between purple-labeled landmarks across a tiled grid. The setting emphasizes a journey across open grasslands, water sources, rocky terrain, and forested pockets, all guiding a matriarch-led elephant herd through a sequence of safe havens and contested zones.
- Narrative-driven co-op with modular map layouts, where the elephant herd advances toward two final goals while tourying through a sequence of landmarks; the elephants’ fortunes are tightly coupled to the matriarch’s movement and the deck’s random encounters with lions.
Comparison games
- Aqua
- Hutan
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card-driven action placement — On a player's turn, a card from hand is chosen and placed on an available space to trigger its action. Cards can be rotated and placed adjacent to the matriarch or existing elephants; some cards also interact with terrain and landmarks and may be rotated to optimize the action.
- Elephant placement and orientation rules — Placement requires following an exact orientation relative to the seated players. Diagonal connections count for placement, and there are constraints about where elephants can be placed in relation to the matriarch and existing elephants.
- Energy and rest economy — Elephants can be rested to regain energy, and the matriarch’s actions often involve paying energy to reposition and reset certain board elements. Energy management sits at the heart of planning moves, as exhaustion or depletion leads to losses.
- Landmarks and victory conditions — Progress is measured by visiting six landmarks and then reaching the two final destination spaces. Visiting landmarks typically requires covering specific spaces on the board, and some landmarks are only accessible after certain conditions are met.
- limited communication — Players can discuss their hands and intentions but cannot reveal exact cards. This creates tension and strategic dialogue while preserving fog of decision-making.
- Lions as deck-driven antagonists — Lions appear from the deck as encounters that gradually push toward elephants. When lions engage with elephants, elephants may be discarded or sent back to exhaustion; lions’ movement is toward the closest elephants, with tie-breaking rules.
- Matriarch movement and multi-matriarch penalties — The matriarch card(s) move the matriarch figure and trigger a sequence of effects, including returning elephants to exhaustion, paying energy, and potentially resetting the board. Holding two matriarchs introduces a heavy energy penalty and altered sequence.
- Shared information and communication — Players can discuss their hands and intentions but cannot reveal exact cards. This creates tension and strategic dialogue while preserving fog of decision-making.
- Terrain effects and two-step placements — Certain terrain cards force players to place two elephants, or to ignore rough terrain only if a matriarch is involved. Terrain shapes influence possible pathways and the efficiency of landmark visitation.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- we'll be taking the roles of elephants.
- The matriarch slowly make its way throughout the savannah, avoiding the lions, hoping to visit all the landmarks
- Lions will slowly be coming out through the deck and then moving towards the elephants.
- The elephants have traversed the savannah.
- This is the introductory mode. There's many different scenarios of different map layouts you can play.
- We are also using all five resource markers that'll make it a little bit easier for us and five of these cards as well.
- The first cooperative game.
- The matrix elephant will slowly progress through the map, and we'll wander our way over all the way to the very end in hopes of winning.
- Energy sneaks up on you; it's actually quite handy to have it around.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video eceY4_PD_Nc
Adam in Wales - Board Game Design Top List at 4:17 sentiment: positive
video_pk 11320 · mention_pk 115237
Click to watch at 4:17 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Beautiful mini-game packaging
- Simple, tense decision-making with escalating risk
Cons
- Can be perceived as light or lightweight by some players
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Push Your Luck — Players draw and place cards with the goal of building a set; risk increases as more cards are played.
- push-your-luck — Players draw and place cards with the goal of building a set; risk increases as more cards are played.
- set building and risk management — Players match on-table cards; accumulating points while avoiding negative draws.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Lovely production nice artwork it's been around for years now
- it's a push your luck game and it's quite simple but tense
- it's a game of chicken and the dungeon gets bigger and scarier
- it's a neat little decision
- it's a classic trick taking game
References (from this video)
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