When the unique Parks launched in 2019, it rapidly turned a trendy traditional, thanks largely to its attractive paintings celebrating the U.S. National Parks. See our review for particulars on that first version. But Keymaster Games didn’t simply slap a contemporary coat of paint on the 2nd Edition and call it a day. Instead, it thoughtfully mixed the bottom game with its expansions, streamlining the gameplay, updating the visuals, and introducing new options, all whereas preserving that cozy game really feel.
The result’s one thing that looks like each a sequel and a revision. Either approach, the 2nd Edition of Parks is a great excuse to hit the paths, snap some pictures, and fill your canteen throughout again.
What's within the Box
Like the unique model, the second version of Parks is available in a fantastically designed field filled with parts that reside up to its iconic design. Right on prime, you'll discover a textured, high-quality rulebook that's straightforward to comply with and contains a QR code that hyperlinks to a useful video in the event you favor to study by watching.
While Parks is comparatively simple to play, it contains a wide range of parts. Two log-shaped containers maintain the game's colourful picket tokens, representing the sources you'll gather whereas mountain climbing the path. Beneath these is a tri-fold game board with clearly marked areas to guide you simply by setup. The game board has been utterly redesigned and expanded, with an all-new everlasting path space, canteen tile drafting part, and more.
The actual standout is the built-in storage tray on the backside of the field, which is the most effective I’ve seen throughout the 60-plus board video games I own. Everything has its place, from tokens and tiles to cube and playing cards, all packed effectively to maintain the game’s footprint compact, whereas making cleanup a breeze. The tray holds decks for the Parks, Gear, Passion, Ranger Teddy, and Volunteer Projects playing cards, together with solo reference playing cards, Season and Campsite tiles, Photo and Hiker tokens, Trail Site tiles, and more.
Each participant will get a board that includes an empty backpack and water bottle, with clearly marked sections across the edges for organizing visited and reserved parks, bought gear, and more. The Backpack holds up to 12 sources, whereas the water bottle has six areas for Canteen tiles you’ll be able to fill as you play.
One of the largest updates within the 2nd Edition is the expanded card set, which now contains all 63 U.S. National Parks, up from 48 within the unique. The playing cards function all-new paintings and clear iconography that higher matches the game's up to date, more colourful design. While some followers could miss the unique illustrations from the Fifty-Nine Parks print series, the brand new artwork feels more cohesive and matches properly with the remaining of the game’s fashion. Each card contains the park’s identify, founding date, and a short blurb about what makes it distinctive.
Rules and How It Plays
Gameplay within the second version of Parks is a streamlined tackle the unique, incorporating components from each expansions. The goal is easy: rating probably the most factors by mountain climbing the path, visiting parks, snapping pictures, and finishing optionally available goals.
To set up, every participant takes a pair of hikers and the matching participant board. They additionally obtain a random Canteen token, positioned on their board, and a Campfire token flipped to its lit aspect if taking part in with more than three gamers. Each participant is then dealt two Passion playing cards and chooses one to maintain, discarding the opposite. Lastly, the First Hiker token is given to the designated beginning participant.
Passion playing cards present small thematic objectives to chase during the game, similar to visiting parks with particular icons, utilizing Wildlife tokens to take pictures, or shopping for Gear from the merchandise store. Once accomplished, you’ll be able to flip the cardboard to decide on one of two rewards: an ongoing impact that lasts the remaining of the game, or an endgame bonus that provides additional factors to your closing rating. Some Passions are simpler to finish than others, and I normally leaned towards the endgame bonuses as these additional factors have been usually the distinction between successful and dropping.
Each spherical in Parks takes place during one of three seasons: spring, summer time, or fall. All three seasons are drawn randomly at the beginning of the game and every presents a distinctive bonus, similar to rewarding gamers for amassing probably the most of a particular useful resource or visiting parks with sure icons. While spring and summer time don’t grant any additional factors, the autumn season awards three bonus factors to the winner, making it particularly interesting. Players can select to disregard these goals, however they offer helpful incentives in the event that they align along with your objectives.
On their flip, gamers transfer one of their two hikers ahead alongside the path, amassing sources or performing the action on the Trail Site tile above the space they land on. Since you’ll be able to solely transfer ahead towards Trail’s End, cautious planning is vital. Trail Site tiles can offer particular sources like solar, water, forest, and mountain; allow you to purchase Gear from the merchandise store; permit you both to take a photograph by exchanging any useful resource or add a token to your Canteen; roll the Trail Die for a random bonus; or commerce any useful resource for a Wildlife token (which, fittingly, acts as a wild useful resource token). Every tile is shuffled every season to maintain issues contemporary and unpredictable, besides the Parks space, which is completely positioned within the center of the path.
Landing on the Parks space enables you to both reserve a park or go to one by paying its useful resource value. If you have got enough sources, you’ll be able to even go to a number of parks on the identical flip, making this space essential for scoring factors. Because of that, it’s usually probably the most hotly-contested spot on the board. Thankfully, there’s no restrict to how many parks you’ll be able to reserve, and no penalty for not visiting them earlier than the game ends. However, since you’ll be able to’t reserve and go to in the identical action, every selection on this space carries actual weight.
Parks is in the end a game about alternative value. Every transfer asks the query: What am I giving up by going right here? Many Trail Sites offer one-time bonus sources, so gamers are racing to grab what they’ll earlier than others beat them to it. Since every Trail Site is exclusive every season, and you’ll't share a space with one other participant (together with your self) except you utilize a lit campfire, each determination issues. You would possibly skip forward to grab a key useful resource or attain a particular website, however doing so means sacrificing all the pieces you handed alongside the best way, with no probability to go back till the next season.
Like many worker placement games, the actual strategy in Parks comes from utilizing each of your hikers in tandem to dam opponents from amassing key sources or taking beneficial actions. In larger participant depend video games, the path can get crowded quick, so refreshing your campfire to share areas turns into important. In decrease participant depend video games, there’s more room to breathe, permitting you to gradual down and hit more spots alongside the path. When a participant reaches the Trail’s End, they select one of three actions: take the Parks action, pay any useful resource to take a photograph, or purchase Gear. The first hiker to reach at every space additionally will get a one-time bonus, including an incentive to hurry the path. This fixed push and pull between slowing down to collect sources and racing forward for rewards is the actual particular sauce that makes Parks shine.
Because your Backpack can solely maintain 12 sources, you need to handle your stock fastidiously by spending sources when potential, otherwise you risk having to discard beneficial ones on the finish of your flip. The Canteen, against this, presents versatile bonuses everytime you gather water. Instead of putting the water in your Backpack, you’ll be able to slot it into a Canteen to gain a useful resource or carry out an action, relying on what you’ve collected. Some tiles even grant highly effective results, like taking the important Parks action. Once used, Canteen bonuses stay unavailable till the subsequent season, so timing issues. Overall, they’re a intelligent option to give gamers various paths to key actions and sources with out relying solely on open path areas.
Another option to earn factors on the path is by taking pictures. This is mostly accomplished by visiting a Trail Site or the Trail’s End space with a photograph icon, the place you’ll be able to exchange any single useful resource to take a photograph value one level. The participant with probably the most pictures on the finish of the game additionally earns bonus factors, providing you with a good purpose to snap a few alongside the best way. If you land on a space with the Shutterbug badge, you’ll declare the Shutterbug token, which helps you to take a second photograph every time you utilize the photograph action, as long as you’ll be able to pay for it. However, the token will be taken by different gamers, so take advantage of of it whereas it’s yours.
During your expedition, you’ll have probabilities to go to the Gear store and buy gadgets to help you alongside the path. Gear prices between one and three solar sources, relying on the impact. While Gear doesn’t immediately earn you factors, it presents mild engine-building alternatives like gaining bonus sources at particular Trail Sites, filling your Canteen after sure actions, or refreshing your Campfire more usually. That stated, I discovered the Gear store to be hit and miss, except it immediately advantages your general gameplan. You’re normally higher off saving your sources for visiting parks, since that’s the place the actual factors are.
While Parks helps solo play and up to 5 gamers, I discovered it shines greatest with two or three players. However, the strategy feels a lot more cutthroat at two gamers (a cooperative board game, this isn’t). Regardless of participant depend, when just one participant has hikers left on the path, they have to transfer each hikers to Trail’s End on their subsequent flip. This rule retains gamers from being too grasping with attempting to hit each space alongside the best way, as they risk being rushed and lacking out on more beneficial alternatives. In a two-player game, that is even more noticeable, since one participant can bounce to the top early and power the opposite to skip potential turns needed to catch up.
Once you have got a few hikes underneath your belt, you’ll be able to add optionally available modules to Parks to increase selection or raise the problem. The Camping mode introduces three tents to the path, permitting you to select from a pool of highly effective bonuses. However, utilizing a tent means you can’t gather sources or use the action at that Trail Site. Volunteer Projects add more problem by introducing restrictions that gamers should comply with, similar to spending additional sources when visiting parks, limiting the quantity of Wildlife tokens you’ll be able to maintain, or solely being allowed to go to parks you’ve already reserved.
Parks contains a full solo mode that pits you towards Ranger Teddy, an automa made up of two units of hikers that take actions by flipping playing cards to find out their motion. Your goal is to realize the best rating potential, which provides loads of replayability. While Ranger Teddy’s hikers don’t gather sources, buy Gear, or go to parks immediately, they discard these components when touchdown on the corresponding areas, successfully simulating the stress of competing gamers. Because their motion is usually unpredictable, you’ll need to remain in your toes so as to succeed. You can even add Ranger Teddy to multiplayer video games to simulate more gamers on the path and add some selection.