Mayan Temples, Seven Wonders and a Cornucopia

It may be supposed to be summer, but there’s not been a lot of sunshine over the West Coast of Scotland in recent weeks. Not to worry, it’s an opportunity to catch-up on indoor pastimes while we wait for the water gun season.

The purchase of a few second-hand card games and boardgames has helped to fill the hours and to keep kids on early school holidays entertained.

Tikal

First up is the boardgame Tikal, which has been around for several years and already merits a ‘classic’ label. The game is suited to groups of 2-4 players of age 10+. Play involves discovering temple ruins, digging up treasure, taking control of key temples and grabbing other players’ temples when you get the chance.

Tikal may sound as though it offers a fairly basic treasure hunt format, but the gameplay is more subtle than that. Players need to make the best use of the options open to them and seize opportunities as they arise. This combination of strategy and timing gives the game a lot of replay value. As does the overall look and feel of the game, which boasts high production values – at a very reasonable price.

Tikal

Tikal’s designers released a follow-up title in 2010. It’s a sequel, with a new game based around a similar premise to the original. Tikal 2 has received several positive reviews, but it’s a bit more expensive and wasn’t among our second-hand purchases.

Tikal 2

7 Wonders

It’s often easier to quickly start a card game than to set out a full-blown boardgame. Players of deck-building card games like Dominion and Race for the Galaxy will enjoy the fast, varied gameplay, which runs well with anything from 3-7 players of about 12+. In keeping with the Dominion formula some cards have an immediate impact, while others offer cumulative benefits.

7 Wonders plays ‘worldbuilder’ to Dominion’s ‘feudal’, so players are trying to ‘civilise’ through economic, scientific and military achievements. As with most deck-builders it’s a wise investment to spend a little extra on sets of card sleeves. Potential buyers may also wish to consider the expansion options, as Dominion has an extended ‘upgrade path’, while 7 Wonders is unlikely to generate as many add-ons.

7 Wonders

Deck-builder Dominion remains a longstanding favourite that’s been recommended in several earlier posts. We dread to think what a complete set of full price Dominion titles costs, but it’s still likely to be a lot less than buying into an ‘over the counter’ Collectible Card Game (CCG).

Dominion: Cornucopia is the fifth add-on to Dominion and it follows the now standard approach of adding a couple of new mechanics to the rules and distributing new cards. As usual, there’s a stack of different Kingdom cards inside the pack, along with a handful of novel unique cards.

The theme is all things autumnal; and harvesting and harvest festivals feature heavily among the agricultural entertainments. That may not sound great, but the cards and the theme fit right in alongside the rest of Dominion.

Cornucopia’s mechanics are not particularly complicated, but it takes a few attempts to see how best to use the new options. Happily, one of the effects of these adjustments is to make the cards from Dominion: Alchemy more useful than before – a welcome bonus!