Designed by: Frédéric Henry,Gulliaume Blossier
The Adventurers is like the opening sequence from Raiders of the Lost Ark – every player is running for their lives through a hidden temple, pursued by a rolling boulder. As they exit, they’re grabbing treasure, but carrying more treasure slows you down, and carrying less means you might escape the boulder, but lose the game to someone who risked carrying that little bit more.
Each player takes on a character, and as the game starts the boulder begins to roll – slowly at first. There are various places to grab treasure on the way out, some involve a little bit of memory and some involve a little bit of chance (getting certain numbers on the dice). Each character has a special ability that can help in some way – one is faster, one is stronger, one is a better swimmer and so on.
As you scamper past boiling lava, cross rickety bridges and negotiate waterfalls the boulder is speeding up – and your character is most likely slowing down, laden with treasure. Because everyone is trying to out-score each other on the treasure front, the game usually engineers a tight finish. Who will escape the boulder? And of those who do, who has the most treasure? That will define the winner.
It’s a great theme for kids – as long as they don’t mind seeing their character potentially flattened by an enormous plastic rock.
It's the game that's out to get you, not the other players, so if you are beaten to certain bits of treasure there is almost always some to be found elsewhere.
Although it's not a short game, The Adventurers moves fast. There is very little pondering time.
Not much. If you're way out ahead, get some more treasure. If the boulder is upon you, dump some and run!
Perhaps not a game the grown-ups will be demanding after the kids have gone to bed, but fun for all ages with an exciting theme.
2-6
Players
8+
Years
90-120
Mins
Sam says
The Adventurers takes a great idea and makes it, to my mind, slightly too complicated and slightly too long - as well as rather fiddly to set up. But in spite of my po-faced indifference I should add that my kids really like it, so whilst I'd prefer a game of Incan Gold there are definitely merits to this more thematic and often tense game.