How To Play Adventure Land from Haba

Adventure Land is a game of collecting items, whether those are swords, herbs, companions or gold. And then you fight monsters. In the box there are three different scenarios. But that basic element is true throughout the scenarios. The other rule is that you can only move your adventurers down and to the right. So as you play, swords, herbs, gold, any of them might pop up behind you and will you be able to get them?

That’s the main hook of the game. You play a set of adventurers who only move in certain ways, down and to the right. But not all the items start out on the board. You flip out more cards throughout the game to place more items. So players have a changing landscape. And sometimes everything starts on the far side of the board, so what do you do there. Do you push an adventurer across the board to grab them knowing they won’t collect much more? Or do you wait it out scoring fewer points?

Are There Enough Decisions?

Let me start out by reminding people, this is a Haba game. Haba tends to make kids games in their yellow boxes. But also, this is a Kramer and Kiesling, the two designers, game and not a Haba yellow box. It is meant more as that family weight game. So it requires that it’s simple enough for kids, but not so simple that adults won’t find it interesting.

It’s more Land than Adventure

I’m not sure how well Adventure Land fits into that area. I think that it is going to be interesting to kids, and probably more interesting to people who don’t play a lot of games. For myself, I play a lot of games, so it is less interesting. It is less interesting because the decision space is very limited.

The decision around which adventurer I move and how far I go, I like it. But the decision around, is this a good thing to pick up or not. That is less interesting. The randomness as things come out, it could be interesting to adjust to, but it feels basic. I don’t feel like I am making an exciting decision in the game. I joked in the title it is more land than adventure, but it kind of feels like that. How do I use the land best to get points, not what adventure am I going on.

The decision around which adventurer I move and how far I go, I like it. But the decision around, is this a good thing to pick up or not. That is less interesting. The randomness as things come out, it could be interesting to adjust to, but it feels basic. I don’t feel like I am making an exciting decision in the game. I joked in the title it is more land than adventure, but it kind of feels like that. How do I use the land best to get points, not what adventure am I going on.

The Game Length

The game also has a 10 by 10 grid. I think all the spots have cards, so that’s 100 cards. That means as you flip out a couple at a time, it isn’t a fast game. It is a lot of turns and a lot of small moves that aren’t that exciting. If the game played with half the cards each time and you raced to grab the things, that’d be more intriguing. But because it plays with everything you know eventually cards will be flipped. So it is just a longer game, again, with more land than adventure.

What Works in Adventure Land?

But it isn’t all just okay. And I want to be clear, I think that the game is just okay with it’s decision making. I think I am just not the target audience. This, with a more interesting name and probably more interesting cover, would be a great game to sell in Target. It does what it should to create something new for a introductory game, down and to the right, while not being too complex.

I also like the scenarios in the game. They offer minor tweaks to the rules. It isn’t like any element of them is too complex, but they add just a little bit in. In a scenario you want to get to towns. Another scenario your goal is to fight monsters for your bulk of points. They aren’t massively different, but they are unique.

Who Is It For?

I think I’ve covered this, but I really want to lean into it. This game is going to be a solid game for people who want an introductory game. It should sit on the shelf with a Catan, Ticket to Ride, and be maybe even slightly more family friendly than those.

But I also think it has a shorter shelf life than those. The main compelling item in the game is how the tiles come out. Where are they going to show up on the board, and what strategy do I have for them. But there just isn’t enough variety to make games feel massively different. So it’s a game a family will play and enjoy for a year or two and then get set aside, in my opinion.

Final Thoughts on Adventure Land

This is a game that I wanted to like more than I did. Not just because Tom Vasel likes it, I got no issue with having a massively different take on a game than a review. Look at his review of Super Fantasy Brawl and my love for it. Instead, for me, I also wanted to like Adventure Land because of that main hook. Often times a hook of something like “down and to the right” movement is enough to make an interesting game.

I won’t belabor it, but it just doesn’t do enough with that. It’s about the spatial movement in the game, and that is it. For a family with a 7-9 near old, that might be enough. For me, it is just a bit dull, and I think with other Haba games out there, they are better. It’s not a bad game, it just doesn’t make me want to play it again.

My Grade: D+
Casual Grade: B-
Gamer Grade: D

Send an Email
Message me on X at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

124-101

100 – 76

75 – 51

Unplayed Board Games 50 – 26

50: Arboretum

This is an abstract game about planting trees. What interests me so much in this one is that you play out cards to build up your arboretum, and you score points for having trees go in ascending order. But in order to score a type of tree, you need it in your h and at the end of the game. So do you risk it that you might not get a tree of the type you need in order to complete a longer route and score more?

49: Call To Adventure: The Stormlight Archive

Call To Adventure comes in a few different flavors. There is the base game which is generic fantasy. That has an expansion for Patrick Rothfeuss Kingkiller Chronicles. And while I do like that series, I knew there was a Stormlight Archives version coming out, so I waited for it. I love the setting of the game, and I think a game where you are building up your characters story is cool.

48: 7 Wonders Duel

I got this one a while ago using store credit after a trade. And the game I think is going to be fun and probably better for me than 7 Wonders which I think is just okay. This does a lot of the same things, drafting, fighting, and science, but all in a two player package. And you can win by doing more than just getting points. Though, points are one way to win. Get one of each science card, you automatically win. Push the combat all the way to your side, automatically win. I like that a lot.

47: The Dragon Prince: Battlecharged

And now we’re back to another IP (intellectual property) that I really like. The Dragon Prince is a great show. And this is a two player battling game. You put together games of characters to face off against each other in battle. Looks some like Super Fantasy Brawl with card play determine a lot of what you do.

46: Paper Dungeons: A Dungeon Scrawler Game

It’s one of a couple roll and writes on this part of the list. Paper Dungeons as it says is a Dungeon Scrawler. So it is going to give you a bit of that dungeon crawling feeling all while being in a roll and write package. I hope that between it, Doodle Dungeons, Deadly Doodles (which I know I like) and Drawn to Adventure, I’ll have some fun adventure focused roll and writes.

45: Yggrasil Chronicles

This is a bigger box game, some of that though, is because it comes with a tree. One that you put together, and then it’s a cooperative game where you are trying to protect Yggdrasil, possibly, my knowledge of this one is limited. But the game looks like a lot of fun, and I know that the original is really challenging. Plus a giant 3d tree that rotates is cool.

44: Forgotten Waters

Forgotten Waters is a campaign game that I wish I played already. It’s gotten bumped down the list a little just because I’m playing more in person. But it was a good one that could be played via Zoom. In this game you are pirates on a crew working together through an adventure. There is voice acting for the story, and overall just seem like a fun time. And it uses the Crossroad card system from Dead of Winter that I love.

43: Mythic Battles: Pantheon

Definitely a big game here. I don’t have the whole Kickstarter, just the base game and Pandora’s box and that is a lot. It’s another one of those head to head battling games, like The Dragon Prince or Super Fantasy Brawl. This one is pitting Greek gods against each other. And what really intrigues me about this one is how you can pick up trees, as a god, and use them as a weapon. So the terrain is very much in play.

42: Catacombs & Castles

We go from an epic minis game to a one versus all dungeon battling game where you flick discs. And that is what intrigues me. I like dexterity games, and Catacombs & Castles seems like a lot of fun. It also seems a bit more complex, otherwise might be higher on the list. But I think if I learn the game it’ll be pretty easy and fast to teach.

41: Adventure Land

While I’ve gotten a lot of games based off of Sam Healey’s reviews on the Dice Tower, I have less based on Tom Vasel’s but Adventure Land is one. In this game you are taking out adventurers trying to get treasure. And they move across the board right and down. That means if a treasure shows up to the left or higher on the board, you might not be able to get it. So how to balance that out getting the best treasure, but still hanging back?

40: Space Base

This falls into that category of Foodies, Machi Koro, and My Farm Shop. A game where you roll dice and no matter what you get something. I like those games, and this is supposed to be the most gamer version of that. It gives you a lot to think about and you can build up some powerful combos while you try and get points. And you have more tracks to control and keep track of.

39: Chronicles of Crime

This is a deduction based game that I’m confident I’ll love. Chronicles of Crime, from Lucky Duck Games, uses an app that you can scan cards with to interrogate them and so you can actually look around the crime scene. The concept is cool and while the cases sound a bit less in depth than Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game, it might work better for some people because of that.

38: Fleet: The Dice Game

Roll and write game and actually dropped further down the list than I’d have guessed. Fleet is a game about building up your fishing fleet and scoring as many points as you can. I’ve heard that it’s great for combos, which I love in roll and write games. And it’s also more complex. I think that it is going I’m going to play solo pretty often.

37: Raiders of the North Sea

Possibly the highest true euro game on the list, Raiders of the North Sea has you building up your crew and taking them out to plunder lands. What intrigues me so much about this one is that your turn you put a meeple on, and take a meeple off. You can’t do the same one twice in a row, so it gives some interesting strategy to the game. And as you push out further and plunder, you lock some meeples to those locations, but get stronger ones back.

36: Horizon Zero Dawn

Based off of the Playstation video game, Horizon Zero Down doesn’t take you through the story of the game, but it puts you out on hunts against monsters. I’m excited to see how this game works, I really like the video game, but need to play it more. And I like the idea of just going out on a hunt, and it being a scenario and then done. It’s a bigger minis game, but not a campaign.

35: Reichbusters: Projekt Vril

Now we’re onto a campaign and Reichbusters is one that I picked up because it looked like so much fun when GloryHoundd YouTube Channel played it. And I think it’s going to be amazing. I need to get the errata cards taken care of, but sneaking into bases in WWII and finding all sorts of crazy experiments going on, it’s very Hellboy. And that theme is just fun, plus it’s not just kick down the door and shoot the board game.

34: Bloodborne

Another video game board game with Bloodborne. Another one that it is a bigger game but doesn’t play over a massively long campaign. I believe this one comes together over three different plays. Or it might just be that’s how the chapters, that are in the box, come out. Still, fantasy, fighting monsters and bad guys. Story going on, and from CMON, I suspect I’m going to enjoy this one.

33: Time of Legends: Joan of Arc

And another big box game. Time of Legends: Joan of Arc is almost a miniatures game more in the lines of a Warhammer where you takes two armies up against each other. But it does away with all that measuring. And it comes down to scenarios, there are characters, NPC’s, that you can interact with. And it’s time of legends because it takes the legends from the Joan of Arc time period and historical records, so it can add in dragons and things like that.

32: The 7th Continent

The 7th Continent has been on my shelf for a while. And I need to get it played before The 7th Citadel comes in, because I suspect I’m going to like that one better. In The 7th Continent, you wake up on a continent cursed, and need to explore and find a way to break your curse. I’ve heard that the first one is tough and takes a lot of time to play. Mainly so you learn the continent, but as you do the other ones, you have more of an idea of where to go.

31: Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write

The final roll and write for this list, and might be the final one overall. Dinosaur Island is a big game about building out a dinosaur park with a lot of euro mechanics. The Rawr ‘n Write is similar in that you’re building out a park. And you are trying to breed dinosaurs, it just does it in a roll and write version. So I’m very excited to give it a go. Supposed to be a heavier roll and write as well.

30: The Crew: Mission Deep Sea

The Crew is a cooperative trick taking game where you have limited communication. And while there is a space version, the Mission Deep Sea is supposed to help improve a few things. Mainly because you have missions, Mission Deep Sea makes them variable. The space one they are set. I like trick taking, and I need to play more of them.

29: Land vs Sea

Land vs Sea is a tile laying game where you are trying to complete areas of land or sea. But I care about completing land areas where as you care about sea. And the tiles are four sided, so having two in your hand gives you a lot of options. I wonder if this might replace Carcassonne when I play it. A tile laying game, but one that seems like it could be simpler.

28: Heroes of Land, Air & Sea

Now we’re back to a big game with Heroes of Land, Air, and Sea. This is a massive 4x game where you’re taking over lands, exploring new locations, fighting your opponents and building up your power. Twilight Imperium 4th Edition is a massive 4x game as well that I’d love to play set in space, but Heroes of Land, Air, & Sea just spoke to me as a 4x game I wanted to own.

27: Champions of Hara

Champions of Hara is a pretty big game, and one that seems like it will be quite unique. It seems unique because all the characters seem unique, and I like that about it. It has a fantasy feel to it, but it isn’t fantasy in the normal way. And I believe that you play the game in two parts. The first part is competitive. Then the second part, really second game, is cooperative where you work together to complete the winner of the first games story.

26: Floriferous

Final one for this part of the list is Floriferous. A set collection flower game, this one looks amazing. The artwork is great, and I like the mechanics, or how they sound. You basically draft cards from the columns. But as you draft, you place your pawn next to the spot. So the higher in the column, the next round, is going to go, then the next. Plus you are drafting scoring cards, great ways to get more points, but you’ll go last in the next round.

Final Thoughts

One more list of this, and then you’ll know about all the games i need to play. I actually had a game night this past weekend and I didn’t play any new to me games. I did have a few pulled out. But with the group, and player count, not all of them would have worked.

This part of the list also had a lot of big games in it. And while some of them might be harder to get to the table, even something that is more campaign like Reichbusters, you can play on off scenarios. So I should be able to get a number of them to the table. And some of the roll and writes, probably all of them, can be played solo.

Which one should I play first from this chunk of the list?

Send an Email.
Message me directly on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here.
Support us on Patreon here.

This is going to be a list article, with all my unplayed games ranked. But before I dive into that, I want to talk about some of the terms that I just used. Mainly shelf of shame and shelf of opportunity. They are the same term phrased in different ways. Let’s dive into them and then the big list of games to play.

Shelf of Shame vs Shelf of Opportunity

This is a term that I’ve heard thrown around for a few years now. The idea that games on your shelf have this title. First off, I think this is kind of silly. Games that you haven’t played don’t have a special spot in existence. Now, maybe they do have a special spot on your shelf, but they aren’t held in any sort of light. They are just a board game.

But the first term I heard is Shelf of Shame. The idea behind this is that you feel bad since you haven’t played all your games. This is silly. I go back to my talk about collection versus a hobby. Know what you have on your shelf. For me, board games are a collection and a hobby. That means it’s fine to not get to every game quickly. They are part of my collection. But I play them, as they are part of my hobby as well, and hobbies get used or worked on.

Then came the term Shelf of Opportunity. Shelf of Shame is very negative, and opportunity sounds much better. But I, again, find this not much better. Yes, they are games that you play eventually. And yes, it spins it in a positive light. But both terms keep a focus on the fact the games aren’t played.

What Do I Call Them?

I call them what they are. Board games to be played. A board game is just an object. In labeling them either way, it places power on that object. Yes, one puts it in the light of a game being an opportunity for something new, and new exciting opportunities are good. But it leaves the pressure on actually playing the game.

Like I said, I play games. I buy games. Board Games are a collection and a hobby for me. I own games that might take a long time to get played. Campaign games where I play one at a time or two, and I am already playing two. Those wait for when I have time, and that is okay. I feel like the label places a cloud, no matter what label, over the games, and in the end of the day, games are just games.

If I never play a game in my collection and it collects dust for five years. I shouldn’t feel bad about leaving that opportunity out there. I most definitely shouldn’t feel shame. It is a game and I play games. So I play other games and not the game that is sitting there. I am still enjoying the hobby without playing every game I own.

So Why Write This Out?

I gave myself a challenge at the beginning of the year. Not because I feel guilt about games that I haven’t played. But because it is fun to play games. And I want to play games, I want to experience new games, and I want to cover new games.

For me, my challenge isn’t to get all the games off the shelf. It isn’t because I feel like I miss out on an opportunity. And I care not about shame from it. For me it’s about trying new things and almost making a game out of it. If I don’t make it by the end of the year, I don’t care. I play these for fun.

Unplayed Board Game List

Let’s Talk About the List

124 Games on it, and my goal is to get it down below 100 by the end of the year. You add in a bunch of Kickstarter games coming in, and you can see why it is a big list and also a challenge. And of course, then, there are campaign games on the list. If we look at campaign style games, I think we’re sitting at 14 on the list. And that is a lot of games to play through a campaign of, so that isn’t going to happen. Though, with Sleeping Gods coming off the list to start the year, it will some over on Malts and Meeples.

There are also some kids games on the list. Right now, I don’t think I will play those this year. Monza looks fun, but the toddler isn’t quite ready for it. But the toddler is also three, so who knows, maybe by the end of the year, we can play those games a bit more. But right now I’m not expecting to.

I also think it’s important to note that a lot of big games are at the top. Those are the ones that I’m most excited to play and cover. And some of them should be getting played soon. Probably after this weekend I’ll be lining up a time to get started playing Roll Player Adventures.

To go along with that, there are a lot of solo games as well. I could play, in the top 20, around 75% of them solo and some of them are solo only games. So I need to start knocking those out first, because they are high on my list. That won’t be how I get under 100, though.

Final Thoughts

I think that it is fine to challenge yourself to play your unplayed games. I think it is fine to limit how many unplayed games you own. When that becomes the focus or the obsession, I think that is when we start to lose the focus on what we are doing. Or when tie to it other emotions, like shame.

When I see people post about clearing their shelf of shame, I am sure it feels good for them. But on the flip side, in the comments, you see people feeling guilty about their unplayed games. I am not that way. I don’t feel guilt over that. And you shouldn’t either.

This is an odd article, I wanted to talk more about the games, and I will soon. But before I could do that, I think it is import to talk about the shame or guilt that can be thrown around in the hobby. Not always intentionally malicious but always harmful.

Also, let me know what game you think I need to try first. What is your favorite on the list that I have too low, or that you know I would like or should try?

Send an Email.
Message me directly on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here.
Support us on Patreon here.

The Games

The games that got unboxed yesterday varied from new ones that I’d gotten via Kickstarter, ordered from the company, an Amazon purchase and from my FLGS, friendly local game store. So a wide variety of content for the stream.

From Amazon I purchased Adventure Land from Haba. This is a game about collection treasures, fighting monsters, and more. But it’s done in a very abstract way. You move your adventurers down and to the right, never back up or towards the left. That means that you need to figure out when to push forward to get that one treasure or when to hold back an adventurer to move later in the game.

At my FLGS, I picked up Space Base from AEG. Some call it a Machi Koro killer, it is all about building that tableau of cards in front of you and them activating. This one seems to have more going on in it than Machi Koro did. I expect that it’ll be less of an introductory game to the genre of engine or tableau building.

Direct from the publisher, Breaking Games, I joined in on the hype for Dwellings of Eldervale. This is a massive worker placement, fighting, exploring game. I almost get a little bit of a Lords of Hellas vibe from how it does a little bit of everything, and I really like Lords of Hellas. It’s a big game, and I love the noise making monster bases.

Finally, from Kickstarter, but really from Roxley Games, we have Dice Throne Adventures. Dice Throne is one of my favorite games. I love the one on one, or king of the hill battling and dice chucking. This makes it cooperative as you explore portals and fight bosses.

Patreon Announcement

I talked about this yesterday, but on my stream I went through my Patreon again. In particular, I ran down all the different levels and why I am doing a Patreon. I’m going to be mentioning this from time to time and I’ll be talking about it briefly probably in every stream that it exists. But if you are enjoying my content and want to help support it getting bigger and better, Patreon, right now, is the only way to do that. Any money that I get through it will go into improving the website, the Malts and Meeples livestreams, and the 10 Minute Marvel podcast. Thank you so much for checking out the content and even considering the Patreon. I know a lot fights for people’s attention and money, and I hope that you enjoy what you are getting from the site, streams, and podcast.

Email us at nerdologists@gmail.com
Message me directly on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here.

Adventure Land

This is one that has been on my radar for a long time. Tom Vasel of the Dice Tower is a fan of this game, but it’s gone under the radar otherwise. The concept of Adventure Land is just intriguing to me because it sounds simple, but the decisions seem meaningful. On your turn you move one of your adventurers down and to the right, to the right, or down, and you are picking up treasure. But the trick is you can never move one back up or to the left. So how do you balance out the movement of a number of adventurers to maximize your points? I think it’ll be a fun game, and I really do think there is a lot of interesting space to strategy in the game.

Marvel Champions – Quicksilver

The latest release in the Marvel Champions line, and of course I was going to run out and pick it up right away. I’m more waiting for the Scarlet Witch to come out which was supposed to be this month but looks like it’ll be in March now. Still, I’m going to be curious to see how they mimic super speed for Quicksilver. They’ve done a good job of surprising me and making other powers work really well. I’m hoping that he’ll be fun to play as well.

Space Base

Space Base has been on my radar for a while. It’s been described as kind of a Machi Koro killer for a lot of gamers. From what I know about it, the game is more complex, though not by a ton than Machi Koro which was really very introductory. I actually got rid of Machi Koro over a year ago, because for an engine building game, it was going to be the first one I pulled off the shelf. To teach engine building I’d use Splendor or Century Golem Edition. If Space Base does have more going on in it, then I’m hoping it’ll be a nice game that feels similar to Machi Koro but that I can pull out after I’ve taught engine building. I’m not sure which theme is more attractive to players, though, building a town or building a space base.

Deadly Doodles 2

Technically this is an expansion. You need the base game to play it. And I got the base game not too long ago, in fact I believe that was when I picked up The Wasp at my FLGS that I grabbed Deadly Doodles as well. So apparently I grab roll and writes when I get Marvel Champions content as well. This is the one that I sat down and played the day that I got it. This expansion just adds more to the game. So in the base game you are just going in, grabbing treasures and weapons and fighting monsters. It’s very simple, the expansion adds in 6 new map boards. The first map doesn’t really add much to what’s going on, but the other maps add more and more to the game so what was a very simple flip and write (or draw and draw as they called it), not becomes more of a complex game. I like how you can tailor the level of the game to the players of the game just with that. I’ve barely started on the content, but I can see there’ll be a lot more, now the only question is do I fit everything in one box, I’m thinking the answer to that will be yes.

Which of these games seem the most interesting to you? I have you played any of them before?

Email us at nerdologists@gmail.com
Message me directly on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here.