Write a review

Elfenland, December 31, 2009
By Briana R

Welcome to the land of the Elves! In this strategy board game for 2-6 players ages 10 and older, you’ll travel to different Elfen cities using exciting modes of transport such as dragons, unicorns, elfcycles, and troll carts. But watch out – other players may try to block your path, and you only get four chances to reach the far corners of the board!

In this game, each player receives a colored Elf boot and begins in Elvenhold, the stronghold of the Elves. The goal of the game is to visit as many of the other Elven cities as possible before the end of four rounds, picking up the markers of your color as you go. Each city is connected by different types of terrain: grassland, forest, desert, mountains, lakes, and streams. These terrains can only be crossed by specific modes of transport. The desert, for instance, can only be crossed by unicorns, dragons, and troll carts, whereas almost all of the transports can cross the grasslands and forests.

What makes this game tricky, though, isn’t the variety of terrains or methods of transportation. Once a path is selected to be used by, for example, an elfencycle, all of the players are required to use elfencycles to cross that path during that particular round. At the beginning of each round, there is a special “tile selection” phase where each player chooses tiles – each depicting a mode of transport – to match their cards, which also depict modes of transport. There is then a special “tile playing” phase where each player places their chosen tiles across the paths they want to use during that round. These special phases determine where you’ll be able to play during the round, so it’s important to plan out your round in advance! But don’t worry – if you don’t figure it out during round one, you’ll get three more chances to pick up your colored markers and complete your grand tour of Elfenland! The player who visits the most cities by the end of the game wins.

Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No

---