Keymaster Games Trails Deluxe Resources

Loved these. I know it’s only superficial, but I really feel like it elevates the enjoyment when playing the game. I recommend them to anyone that has the Trails game or is planning on purchasing it. I’d just buy the resources at the same time. They’re far cooler than the little cubes you get with the game.

Fun, quick game! Bought several and gave as gifts.

Compact game and materials makes it perfect for travel. The beautiful graphics and game pieces makes for great conversations during play. Easy to learn and teach others. The relative short playing time makes this game a good choice for those with shorter attention spans.

Summary: Trails is a game by Keymaster Games for 2-4 players, ages 10+, and it plays in around 40 minutes. (Please see the enclosed pictures and video.) All in all, this is relatively easy to learn, family friendly, and quick to play. One caveat, this is actually a strategy game. It seems like a game of chance, but after the first time you play, the advantage will go to those that can see the connections between the badges and can keep track of how many there are of each type. We added a house rule concerning the effect of the bear that significantly increased fun for the group. The goal of the game is to collect as many points as possible by scoring badges and pictures. Each turn you move either one or two tiles (you choose) towards the trail end and then back to the trail head. Each tile lets you do something like collect acorns or rocks, take a picture, or exchange resources. Multiple players can occupy the same tile. When any player reaches the trail end, they trigger the sun track effect. The first few are on the trail end marker, and then the sun moves back towards the trail head, one tile at a time. As the sun reaches the tile, it is filled over to its night side, and its effects are enhanced. The player who triggered the sun move gets to take advantage of the new effect. There are two other mechanics. One is the canteen. Each player starts with a full canteen, and they can use the canteen (emptying it) to move all the way to the end of the track or onto any intervening spot. The canteen only refills when you get back to the trail head. You will likely get multiple round trips on the board as there are a minimum of eight sun moves, and these are only triggered when someone lands on the trail end. The final mechanic is the bear. If you land on a tile with the bear, you roll the special dice and send the bear to the corresponding tile. Then, you get to use the tile's effect. Some of the badges have synergistic effects that will not be obvious until you play a few times, and the pictures might not be worth many points, but the number of birds on them matters. The player with the most birds in their photos gets a special boost at the end. On to the Dr Games’ Criteria … GO/NO GO Criterion • Complexity: (GO) It is not complex, but there is more to the interactions between the panels than there seems. It takes a few times playing before you start to know which combinations of tiles will produce high scores. • Balanced: (GO ) The game is completely balanced, but an edge goes to those than know the cards and can keep a count of which cards are left in their heads. This seems like a family game of chance, but it is actually a strategy game. • Chance (GO) The card draws for the badges and pictures are random as is the bear roll. All in all, this is much more of a strategy game than a game of chance. • Clarity: (GO) The rules were fairly clear. You will want to take out all the components and run through a few sample turns before explaining it to the family. • Reasonable Time: (GO) The box says 20-40 minutes, but after the first game if you have a competative set of gamers the time will be closer (and sometimes over) 40 minutes. Bonus Criteria • Social: This game is surprisingly competitive. It looks like a family game, but there is a significant strategy aspect to it. You will find that people will recognize when someone is about to score a trifecta with certain badge combinations, and the competition for a particular badge can become intense. • Unique/Interesting Mechanics: The use of the sun and bear to get multiple rewards per turn is a nice twist, and it means that using your canteen hyper move on the right turn could snag you the badge that drastically increases your score or prevents your enemy, er ... fellow player, from getting the badge they need. • Informed: No. I would have thought that you would learn something about the parks, but there are just pictures on the tiles. • Rewards Throughout: Yes, once you get a badge, you keep it. • Variant Home Rule: There is some interaction between players, but we added a house rule that made the game more fun and also lessened some of the strategic competition. When we rolled the bear die, if the bear landed on you, rather than get the resource bonus of the tile, any players on the tile had to discard one resource during the day and two at night. It really helped balance the game and made the bear a more integral part of the strategy as opposed to an add-on.

It's a great casual game that's fun and engaging where you can also have a conversation and not have to focus too much on the strategy of it.

It was a little difficult to get going like some previously stated. We read the whole book and then watched some YouTubers play the game in order to understand fully. Once we got it down it was kind of fun! But I’ll admit it was a little anti climatic. We will play it again, but other games would be chosen before it. It is VERY beautiful and I love the details.

I love this game, it's very similar to the parks game. very easy once you get to know how to play it.!

Not that great of a game at all. Not well put together in my opinion and I love to hike. Not worth the money