It is a sport the place you hunt for “the good things” (for all my Goonies followers on the market). You and your crew are in the hunt for treasure. You unroll the material map and journey within the course your captain factors you. However they will solely provide you with one-word clues to direct you to the treasure. Perhaps alongside the way in which, you discover water, a magical amulet, after which hopefully discover your manner off the island. In case you make a mistaken flip, you could end up in a entice or worse, find yourself cursed.
Landmarks is a phrase sport that may be performed in 20-40 minutes and could be performed cooperatively with 2-6 gamers or competitively when you have 4 or extra gamers.
Gameplay Overview:
You unfold the attractive material map within the middle of the desk. There are two roles. As an explorer, the map simply appears to be like like open terrain with a bunch of hex areas able to be explored with the course of your chief. Because the chief/cluegiver, you will have a map card of which hex areas are:
- Useful: that you simply need to information your staff in direction of the treasure for glory, amulet to reverse a curse, water to refill your stack of tiles to achieve the following spot, or the exit to go away the island.
- Dangerous: that you simply need to keep away from with traps that take away your water, or curses that should be reversed; in any other case, you’re doomed to be on the island.
- Impartial: a clean house that offers no prize or penalty.
The sport provides you 3 beginning phrases already in play on the board, equivalent to “Grape, Journey and Elf.” Then, because the clue giver, you begin the journey by writing a one-word clue on a brand new hex tile and passing it to your staff for them to debate the place they suppose you’re guiding them to discover subsequent. Chances are you’ll give the clue “Soda”, attempting to get your staff to position and discover the hex between Grape and Elf, however they overlook that soda scene within the film Elf, and simply put it close to Grape as an alternative. Whoops! They only landed in a entice, and a clean tile will get eliminated out of your canteen. Now you solely have 5 hex tiles left to offer clues until you may direct your staff to seek out extra water. The aim is to seek out as a lot treasure as you may. Then you’ll want to discover the exit to get off the island or get trapped there without end.
Sport Expertise:
It is a phrase sport that’s just like Codenames or So Clover! Like Codenames, one particular person performs the chief and offers out one-word clues for his or her staff to debate what connections could possibly be doable to that phrase. Like most phrase video games, there are a lot of moments of “Sure! That’s precisely what I used to be pondering! (stable excessive 5).” Or “Noooooo, how might you miss the affiliation with that word- it was so apparent (face palm).” Or “You’re proper, that may be a higher affiliation than I used to be pondering (shrug).”
For the positives, I really like the material map on this sport. It’s my favourite half, unrolling it because it actually looks like you’re headed on an island treasure hunt. The map additionally has two sides, one that’s extra thematic and one other that’s less complicated and simpler to learn. It doesn’t change gameplay, nevertheless it’s cool to have completely different choices. Matches the theme tremendous nicely. I do just like the idea that you simply discover, and there are methods to return again and win should you stroll right into a entice or a curse early on. The sport can be versatile in that you would be able to play cooperatively or competitively. You’ll be able to play it with simply 2 gamers in addition to extra (which is more durable to do for So Clover, and you may’t do with the usual Codenames or Decrypto).
Nevertheless, shortly after rolling out the map and beginning to discover, the sport walked into its personal entice. I simply needed to love this greater than I did. I used to be so stuffed with surprise pulling out the treasure map, that when the precise gameplay let me down, it felt like a curler coaster the place you set your arms up excited at the beginning, then your head bangs round sufficient you’re unsure should you would journey it once more.
I actually like phrase video games. Discovering connections between phrases is a very enjoyable solution to get folks speaking and enthusiastic about issues in a different way. It feels actually gratifying when you find yourself in sync and might make difficult associations match collectively. In Landmarks, nonetheless, there are occasions you’re in sync, however with so many alternative areas to position a tile with the proper associations, that many instances you place it mistaken. It’s very irritating. There isn’t any good solution to point out which course on the map you need the participant to position the hex if there’s an choice to put the tile between the phrases “Elf” and “Grape” on the left or the appropriate facet of the map (see photograph for reference).
In Codenames, you get to decide on what number of phrases you need to affiliate. In So Clover, you understand there are particular choices of phrases to affiliate. In Decrypto, you get the complete creativity to choose not only a single phrase, however a phrase or a music lyric as a clue in your staff to guess a phrase. Nevertheless, in Landmarks, you’ll want to guess not solely what phrase affiliation they’re going for, but additionally typically randomly guess on the map which of the two to three areas that every one share the identical affiliation. Even executed as a calculated danger, the ingredient of guessing shouldn’t be as satisfying to me as different phrase video games. My partner and I trialed a number of homebrew variants to assist the opposite participant guess the appropriate course when you find yourself randomly guessing, however whereas useful, none of them proved to be that enjoyable.
It is a sport I’m not preserving in my assortment (the place, on my keeper shelf, for phrase video games are So Clover and Decrypto). But when somebody liked this sport and requested me to play, I’d say sure (however then most likely probe extra why they like this sport greater than different phrase video games).
Last Ideas:
“Argh!” sums it up properly. Landmarks is a phrase sport with a treasure-hunting theme. I used to be increasingly excited concerning the idea and had much less and fewer enjoyable the extra I performed it. With the open map and no solution to point out course, it’s too straightforward so that you can give an ideal clue between phrases and for the guessers to place it on the opposite 1/3 choices obtainable that completely meet it. In my love for phrase video games, I assumed this may be a keeper, however alas, I will likely be reselling this sport as an alternative. Nevertheless, in a time when of us are admirably in search of options to Codenames in assist of our trans and gender various neighborhood, this sport is an affordable choice.
Last Rating: 3 Stars – I assumed I would really like this much more than I did. Whereas it’s a cool theme and idea, it doesn’t fairly ship. I had enjoyable, however I believe there are higher phrase video games on the market.
Hits:
• Performs cooperatively or competitively
• Extra guidelines and substance than Codenames or So Clover
• Cool treasure looking theme
• Superior material map with 2 distinctive sides and good dry-erase parts
• Performs nicely at 2 gamers or extra gamers
Misses:
• I preferred the idea greater than the gameplay
• It may be irritating giving an incredible clue, however having the map be too open so that somebody selects one of many mistaken choices
