Parks is a fantastic board game that may be your next Ticket to Ride or Catan.
This game is simplistic for new gamers but has the visual punch and great gameplay that makes it a well-rounded game for most players.
About the Game:
- Designer: Henry Audubon
- Artist: Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series
- Publisher: Keymaster Games
- 1-5 Players
- 40-70 minutes
What’s in the Box:
- 48 unique illustrations featuring 45 US National Parks from over 35 artists
- 102 Wood resource tokens include 12 unique wildlife tokens representing some of the most iconic animals that can be seen in the National Parks today
- 1 box organizer and 2 removable resource trays with lids to make table storage and clean up easy – designed by Game Trayz
- 24 unique chipboard photo tokens and 1 camera token reflecting significant moments in your hikers’ journey
- Hike the trail solo or with up to 4 of your friends in under 70 mins.
Game Summary:
Parks is a fantastic game, from Keymaster games the creator of Campy Creatures, Caper, Space Park, and Control. The game is stunning visually and celebrates the US National Parks created in partnership with the Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series.
In the game, players will take on the role of a couple of hikers as they trek through different trails across four seasons of the year.
While on the trail, these hikers will take actions and collect memories (the version of the game of resources) of the places they visit.
Collecting these different memories in sets will allow you to trade them in to visit a National Park at the end of each hike and earn victory points. As the game progresses, you will also get the opportunity to do this during the trek.
You will also have the opportunity throughout the game to take photos to earn even more victory points. Each trail represents one season of the year, and the game ends after the trail is complete, with the game beginning tight as the trail is only six tiles long.
However, each season adds a new tile making the final season 10 tiles long, allowing for more options adding an extra tile for a four-player game.
The trails, represented by tiles, get shuffled between each season and laid out anew for the next round.
Resources are tough to get and what you will spend most of your game doing, especially when someone is at the place you’re trying to reach.
This is where campfires will allow you to share a space and time with other hikers; however, it is capped to once per round (unless you have some gear to help).
Canteens and Gear can also improve your access to resources through the game, but it’s a balance.
Final Thoughts:
This is a fantastic game that falls in the lightweight family-friendly game category.
Its simplicity may turn some seasoned board game players off, but it is well rounded and meets a broad demographic of people just looking for a great game to play.
It’s also got one of the best inserts I have seen stock in a very long time. If you are the type of person who loves introducing people to board games, this is a requirement for your collection. If you like playing with your circles and have an established board game palette, you need to try it and then make up your mind.