Wednesday, June 06, 2012

#47: Expedition (Mark's 100 - 2012)

Expedition

Mark's Ranking
  • 2012: 47th
  • 2010: 19th
  • 2005: 8th
  • appeared on all three lists
  • rank: 662
  • rating: 6.94
Print Status
  • out of print
Why It's On The List
  • I love the expedition mechanic at the heart of the game. There's nothing quite like it... (well, this isn't altogether true - but look in the Extras for more on that.)
Tips & Tricks:
    • Hadn't thought about this until now, but the last three games on my top 100 list (Rum & Pirates, Around the World in 80 Days & Expedition) all share a similar mechanic - a relatively scarce currency that aids you in game play and must be managed carefully.
    • Watch the number of arrows left in each expedition - other players can run them out to keep you from certain sections of the board.
    • There are a variety of options in how loops work - we like the "place anywhere on the loop" one - but you should give them all a try.
    • While the game will work with 2-6 players, it's best with 2-3.
    Extras
    • The designer (Wolfgang Kramer) actually revised his classic Ravensburger game (Wildlife Adventure) which became Expedition - and then he gave it a big tweak and turned it into a children's game (Schatzsucher). Sadly, I haven't played either of  them..
    • There were some rules changes for National Geographic Expedition edition - I only played once but I didn't like them. Frustratingly, I don't remember what I didn't like!
    • Here's what I wrote about Expedition for The One Hundred

    2 comments:

    Garry said...

    Ooh. I was only looking at Wildlife Adventure last weekend and wondering whether to dig it out to play again. I'll have to do so now.

    Garry said...

    And we've just played it (3 player). Excellent as I remember. I forgot the importance of saving enough travel cards for the end of the game, once the routes get constricted.