Very original and mind boggling board game (Ravensburger Labyrinth)

Member Name: joerobo

Product:	Ravensburger Labyrinth
Date:	26/06/09 (24 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Requires a lot of thought

Disadvantages: Maybe too much luck for some people's liking

This is a very original game, which requires a great deal of thought when playing. I have a re release of this game, and although it looks exactly the same as the picture, it seems apparent that they have changed the winning conditions since the way I play is different to the description.

The most important thing to understanding how this game works is understanding how the board works. The board has 16 fixed squares on it with the rest of the squares made up by tiles that are free to move. Each square/tile has a path on it, which can run in different directions, for example it could be a bend, a straight path or a t-junction. When all the squares are on the board then there is a labyrinth formed with lots of paths and dead ends alike.

Onto each square is put a numbered tile, these run from 1-20 and then there is a 25 tile. All players compete to collect these tiles, which must be collected in numerical order. This is where the beauty of the game comes in- on your turn, you get to alter the maze by pushing the one spare tile along a file- thus pushing out a tile at the other end of the board. This requires a lot of visualisation to work out what new paths are going to be formed and whether they will help you.

I personally find that a lot of satisfaction can be got from really thinking about smart moves, especially moves that stop oppenents getting a tile if you cannot get it youself.

All in all, this is a fantastic game which requires a lot of thought, but has enough luck in it to allow younger players to have a chance of winning without having to think very hard. A fantastic game.

Summary: Well worth tyring this one out