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‘All Meeples In. (pause) Go!’ This was the new phrase of the night while playing the game of Incan Gold! It was said many times- with suspense each time. Who would leave? Who would stay? Who would safely gather up treasures and artifacts to head back to camp? Who would stay to risk it all in hopes to find more?
Incan Gold is an awesome family game for 3-8 players, ages 8 and up, and played within about a half hour. The winner is the player who has safely gathered the most treasure while exploring an ancient Incan Temple at the end of 5 rounds of play. (Available on Amazon)
To prepare for the game, a Temple is created by placing down 5 numbered cards which makeup a complete image. Each card represents a part of the Temple being explored during a round. Players will begin exploring ‘card 1’.
Beside the Temple is placed the Questing Deck of cards. This deck consists of the Artifact rumored to be in this part of the Temple, Hazard cards, and valuable gemstone cards (Turquoise (value 1), Obsidian (value 5), or Gold (value 10) of various amounts).
All players set up a ‘tent’ in front of them, and can either take a Meeple Pawn or a pair of player Cards. The Meeple and pair of player cards (tent and torch for each player) get used for the same purpose in the game. They indicate who continues to explore the temple or who returns to camp.
On each turn a Quest card is turned over from the deck. It could be a Hazard card. If two of the same Hazard Cards are turned during a round, the round ends automatically. Any treasure NOT safely inside a tent is lost for all players who are in the Temple.
The turned card of the Quest Deck could be a Treasure card though. Players exploring the Temple equally divide the amount of treasure noted on the card and place it OUTSIDE their ‘Tent.’ Treasure (from the turned card) that couldn’t be split equally remains in the Temple to be taken out when any play or players decide to leave.
The turned card could also be an Artifact. This Artifact card is set to the side and MAY be taken safely back to camp when a player returns. Artifacts are valuable. Only ONE person returning to camp can take it back.
At the end of each turn (or the start of the next) is the most fun. Players have to decide, before the next Quest Card is turned over, if they are going back to camp or staying inside the Temple to explore more. It’s a difficult decision!
When a player decides to stay to explore more, he waits to see what is found. Is it a Hazard, an Artifact, or more treasure? There is a chance a Hazard may be turned over next. If it is the second Hazard of the round, the round ends automatically. All players in the Temple would lose all treasure OUTSIDE their tent. NONE is kept safe and all is lost of that round.
When a player returns back to camp he can place all Treasures gathered from the Temple from that point in the round – INSIDE his tent where it cannot be lost. He would sit out for the rest of the round.
The decision to stay or go must be decided before each new Quest Card is turned over. This is done by either using the Meeples or the Torch/Camp cards.
If using the Meeples, (which is what we did when we played), all players pick up their Meeples, hold them out, and at the word of ‘Go’ by a designated player (the Guide), each player must immediately either- KEEP them in hand (indicating they are staying to Explore) or DROP them out of hand (indicating they are leaving the Temple).
This aspect of ‘What will you Risk?’ reminds me of the game of Skunk. Like in Skunk, players can choose or not to risk the points they have collected. Players can leave the Temple and put any treasure they have gathered in that round, sometimes only a small amount, but which can add up, safely into their tents OR they can stay in hopes of the next card being a big payout of treasure, and then leave. But what if a Hazard or or more players leave later when treasures are split more?
It’s always a question of ‘do you stay or do you go now?’
Incan Gold offers that suspense of ‘What is going to happen?!’ Will the risk pay off or not?
It’s a great family game for lots of laughs, and a few groans of ‘darn, I knew I should have left!’
Play a game, any game, Today!
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