The Enchanted Tower vs Race to the Treasure

The components of The Enchanted Tower are top-notch in terms of quality, creativity, and uniqueness. Moreover, the art looks magnificent – it’s colorful and highly detailed.

The game is played on many levels on the game’s box - under the colorful gameboard there is not only storage for the components, but also sixteen slots in which the sorcerer hides the key that unlocks the enchanted tower. There’s also a little circular section that must be placed on the corner of the box with eight extra steps on which the wizard must start the game. The tower itself is an actual tower in the corner of the gameboard that has the princess figure placed in the middle.

The player pieces (the wizard and Robin) are minimalistic figures that have magnets on the bottom, which are used to grab the key when you step over the correct tile. After you’ve received the key, you can place it in one of the six locks on the enchanted tower to see if the lock triggers the spring-loaded mechanism in the tower that causes the princess to jump out.

If you have more than two people wanting to play, then you can split up in two teams where one player is the wizard and the others play Robin. This is especially good if you’re playing with younger players and want to team up to help them learn the game.

The basics of The Enchanted Tower can be understood very quickly even by the youngest players. One player takes on the role of the sorcerer who hides the key to the princess’ tower under one of the 16 spaces on the gameboard. The other player is Robin who must try to find the key. Players take turns rolling dice, one die indicates who moves first, whereas the other one shows how many steps can be taken.

Once the key has been found, the player who found it can try to place it in one of the six locks on the princess’ tower. If it works, then the princess will pop out and the player who did it wins. If the tower doesn’t unlock, then the game is reset, and the sorcerer hides the key again.

The game can be very engaging, and it also has a light roleplay element. Gameplay-wise there are some intense moments, for example, when the wizard sees Robin near the location of the key, or when the Robin player sees the wizard catching up.

The game has a nice little story in the official rulebook, which can help with the immersion. Also, sometimes playing the wizard leads to people changing their voice and doing evil laughs, which can be great fun for everyone around.

Race to the Treasure introduces children to concepts such as making choices, prioritizing, and planning. Adults can guide kids to the best choices and explain them, which makes the game a good educational tool. There are many meaningful decisions to be made – where to place the tile, how to plan a route, picking between a key, an ogre snack, or the exit, etc.

Race to the Treasure is extremely simple and can be taught in a matter of minutes to anyone. The mechanic is elementary – you draw a tile and place it. The tile can be either a path or an ogre. If it’s a path, then you decide where to connect it to the road you’re building. If it’s an ogre, then it’s added to the ogre track.

When you gather three keys and reach the exit, everyone wins. If the ogre reaches the exit first, you lose.

Race to the Treasure can take a maximum of 20 minutes, which is short enough for keeping the attention of younger players and not taking too much time for adults.

Setting up the game is quick and easy. You place the board, shuffle the tiles, and then roll the two dice, one with a number and one with a letter, to determine where the keys and the ogre snacks are going to be placed on the 6x8 grid.

This also helps younger children with numbers and letters, so the setup can also be educational.