I agree
with the previous 2 reviews of this game regarding its value
as a family game and an adult strategy game -- as well as
the attractiveness of the game board and bits. I purchased
this game recently and played it a few times over the past
week with a group comprised of adults, teenagers, and
children. We loved it!
The rules
were easy to grasp and we never had to refer back to them
during the course of the game. I won't go into the rules in
depth, but briefly, you have 2 canoes that you maneuver up-
and down-river while you try to get gems that are stashed on
the sides of the river bank back to shore. A player must
choose carefully which paddle cards to play in order to
avoid going over the falls (which, by the way, is great fun
to watch) and maximize opportunities for picking up and/or
stealing gems. A player who pays close attention to the
paddle cards that other players are playing (and have not
played yet), as well as the gems they are trying to get will
have a greater chance of winning.
And,
speaking of winning, this game has the novelty of allowing
for more than one winner. The rules state that even after a
person brings all of the required gems back to shore on his/her
turn, the other players can still play the remainder of the
round. If any of these players can also get the needed gems
to the shore by the end of their turn, they tie for a win!
This game
may not be as "brain-burning" as The Princes of Florence or
Tigris & Euphrates, but I think the game is still rich in
strategy and tactics and rewards the most alert players. I
think it is well deserving of the German Game of the Year
2005 and Mensa's Best Mind Game. This game is becoming one
of my favorites.
