Victory Point Games Gem Rush 2nd Edition Board Game

It's a great solo game, a great co-op game, and a great competitive game, so it's definitely worth a place on my shelf. It's also very small when you just put the cards in a bag, so you can take it all over the place and have an excellent, versatile, easy to teach game to play with anyone! The tile placement means that the game is different every time, and leads to such interesting and unique terrains to deal with - like, if you get the coveted Time Vein tile, you can suddenly do a lot of really impressive, high-movement turns, but only between nearby spaces, so the convenience of some tiles skyrockets compared to others. It really feels like visiting a brand new exciting cave every time. And the solo mode is amazing! Getting to explore that whole new fresh cave by yourself feels just as rewarding as it does with others, and it's so similar to the regular game that you're learning the same skillset you'll want to use to clobber your opponents when you later play with friends.The one downside is that unlike the original edition, the cards don't have text - just symbols. And symbols are rubbish. I can't stand them. Luckily, they're pretty straightforward symbols that are easily translated with the player aid cards.

I picked up this game at an incredibly discounted price from my local game shop, Wandering Dragon. I don't feel the game is worth the retail price of $38. The mechanics were much simpler than I thought they would be. There is very little strategy to the game; winning is mostly down to luck. All the components are very nice but the character standees are large and make seeing the pictographs on the cards difficult. The pictographs are used to determine what each room card does, they take a while to learn and can be confusing. The instructions do have a description of what each room does and I refer to that.The game is light enough on theme and gameplay that my whole family enjoys it. My wife does not always enjoy games that are too themed in fantasy and my kids struggle with complex mechanics. This game is great for a family game night, not great for a weekly game group. My son (8) particularly likes it. We like playing co-op and trying to beat our last score. It's an ok solo game for passing the time.