Who doesn’t love a trip to the amusement park? Today we will explore a board game that takes you and places you in the role of amusement park developer, trying to build the best and most exciting park and inviting all of the guests looking to have a good time into your park!
Meeple Land is published by Blue Orange Games and is for 2-4 players. It is designed by Cyrille Allard and Frederic Gerard. Art by Tomasz Larek.
Overview:
Players purchase rides and services for their individual amusement parks trying to welcome in as many visitors as possible. Players earn income each round and score victory points at the end for how their park lays out. Be careful not to lose points also for unhappy guests!
Gameplay:
Each player takes one Plot board and entrance along with a scoring sheet. Meeple buses are drawn and visitors added to each one. The attraction and service tiles are placed in a row with a face-down stack for each type. Extra park expansion tiles, entrances and coins are placed within reach.
The game is played over 4 rounds made up of multiple turns. At the start of each round, each player receives a grant towards building materials for your park.
On you turn you can do one of three things, you can:
1-Buy a tile
2-Advertise
3-Pass
To Buy a Tile you choose one of the tiles in the market face-up. It can be an attraction or a service and it is then placed into your park. To place a tile you must place it on the grid of your park and at least one path must be connected to an existing path already on your board. To add a service to your board the tile must be added directly next to an attraction for it to give you the bonus needed.
Once tiles are placed on the board they cannot be moved. Keep this in mind as you play and attempt to connect different parts of your park so that they are in the right locations early planning can make it better in the end!
A player may also Advertise, bringing visitors into their park by buying the top tile in the face-down stack and adding those visitors to the stack. You can place them at the entrance or into the park. The tile is placed back under the tiles.
Finally a player may choose to Pass and end their turn. If you cannot buy a tile or do not wish to, you must pass. Once you pass you cannot carry out an action until the end of the round. Place a bus card at your entrance and your turn is done. The round ends once all players have passed.
At the end of each round you will welcome new visitors to your park from the Meeple bus and place them where it is available for them to visit. You can place them on matching color spots and only on spaces with services if they are connected to the attraction.
Players then receive revenue of $1 for each visitor and a bonus $1 for each space that has a bonus banner. Players then determine the first player based on who has the least amount of money.
New buses are placed so that there are one more bus than there are players. The game ends after four rounds. At the end of the game players score points based on the variety of attractions they have along with the meeple visitors they have added to their park. But beware-anyone stuck at your entrance is going to be negative points for you. Also any paths that end into a tile instead of connecting or going of the board will also be negative points. At the end the player with the most points wins!
Impressions:
Meeple Land offers a fun exploration into the world of amusement park building that is familiar to anyone who has played video games the are similar. It has a similar feel to a game like Rollercoaster Tycoon, especially the simple versions like the mobile one. I have always enjoyed those games and found that this was close to the same type of style. So first and foremost, this is a great game for someone who either already likes that style or is familiar with it.
This game is certainly one that families would enjoy as well. I have played it with our teenage kids and they enjoyed it quite a bit and found it easy to understand. Younger kids would also find this to be a game they would enjoy as well, the style and simple nature of the gameplay makes it easy for the entire family to enjoy.
The art and design on this one is great also-it is colorful and the cartoon style is one that really draws the eye in. I love how the designs really pop off of the tiles and they are all unique and very fun. The meeples are plentiful as well-there are so many of them in the box! This game is one that is definitely going to draw the eyes of players and onlookers alike.
Overall I would highly recommend this one to anyone who loves the theme of rollercoasters and mobile/computer games like Roller Coaster Tycoon. The park building and set collecting is fun and the art and quality of the game really do stand out. I recommend this one for the coaster enthusiast and/or gamer in your life who is looking to have some fun at the table going on this ride!
Be the first to comment