Tuesday, February 15, 2022

#85: The Quest for El Dorado (Mark's Top 100 2022)


The Quest for El Dorado

  • rank: 146
  • rating: 7.6
  • published: 2017
Print Status
  • in print
Why It's On The List
  • Reiner Knizia turns his adept design talent to deck-building... and makes a racing game that manages to stay tense throughout, offer a variety of interesting (and clever) tactical decisions, and be enjoyable with both gamers and non-gamers.
Tips & Tricks:
    • Add the caves into the game after your first play - they offer some difficult choices as well as helping deal with overcrowding at choke points.
    • Players often undervalue the usefulness of gold... both for movement through villages and for purchasing higher valued cards that make a big difference in the end game.
    • Learn to look at the board to figure out the "rhythm" of when you'll need various kinds of cards - sections of the board may have a preponderance of one type of terrain and/or high numbered terrain (3s & 4s) that force you to take a different route. Planning ahead will make a difference!
    Extras
    • The Heroes & Hexes expansion is excellent... highly recommended.
    • The Golden Temples expansion is actually a stand-alone game that can be combined with the base game and Heroes & Hexes to make some truly crazy maps.
    • There is an excellent set of maps available on BGG.
    • This is the first of seven (7!) Reiner Knizia games on my top 100 list.
    • Weirdly enough, I graduated from El Dorado High School.

    1 comment:

    1. I have huge holes in my Reiner Knizia games that I have played. So, I will not try and guess your other Knizias. I actively dislike some of his popular tittles. For example, I rate Tigris & Euphrates a 4 on BGG. I found the game frustrating and I could never get my mind around what I should do. But having said that here are my favorite of his games:

      1. Medici - Best auction game ever made - Yea I know another unpopular opinion
      2. The Quest for El Dorado and all of the expansions.
      3. Ra - A great auction game
      4. Korsar (Loot) The best team game I own.
      5. Ra: The Dice Game
      6. Through the Desert
      7. Lost Cities - Great 2 player game
      8. My City

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