Ravensburger Labyrinth Board Game - A Strategic Maze Challenge for Family Nights - Find Treasures & Block Opponents - MESH Accredited - Great Birthday Gift - 2-4 Players - Kids Ages 7-10 and Older

Ryott United States

Engaging and challenging board game for young kids

I have been a board game lover all my life. I am always open for a traditional game of chess or go, a family night of Trivial Pursuit or Scrabble or an all-out nerd night with Shadows Over Camelot or Warhammer. My 3.5 yeard old son seems to have also acquired this interest, so I am now in a quest to find games that we both enjoy playing together. Last November I came across Labyrinth, a game I had not considered before due to its childish-looking cover. Even it was rated 8+, I decided to give it a try due to the overwhelming good reviews in Amazon. Oh, what a right decision! Labyrinth is that kind of game where the concept, the gameplay and the artwork come together to provide a masterpiece of family entertainment. But enough general praise; let me give you the detail of why I love this game. THE RULES - In labyrinth, you have a deck of cards. Every turn, you look at your top card in the deck and then try to bring your pawn to the right place in the board where that item is. So if your top card is the sword, you will have to move your pawn to the place where the sword is - The labyrinth does not always have a path to the item you want to pick. That is why there is an extra tile. You can insert this tile from any of the yellow arrows (look at the picture of my son inserting a tile). This will shift all that line, and reshape the whole labyrinth so you can have a path - To win, you need to find all the treasures shown in your cards and go back to the start point - While the rules might look simple at first, the gameplay is simply fantastic. Introducing the tiles allow you to change the shape of the labyrinth, or even shift the position of yourself or your rivals! As we play more often, we find more creative ways of playing - and sometimes to obstruct each other, hehehe DESIGN AND QUALITY - First of all, the game comes in a beautifully decorated box. Once open, it has compartments to store the pawns/cards/tiles. This is already a plus compared to other "modern" games that expect you to dump everything in a mess into the box - The tiles, same as the board, are made of hard cardboard. I got a little surprised at first (I was expecting hard plastic), but now that I have got used to them I feel them sturdy and durable - The pawns that you use to play are simply superb. The Wizard, the Warlock, the Witch and the Sorceress (that's what I have name them, you can look at the picture). Thank you, Ravensburger, for spending a little extra money in making each of them unique and not just make the same figure in four colors! - The tiles slide very well when pushed; sometimes they get stuck if the line of tiles is not fully aligned, but after a few games you will get use to this and it will not bother you - The artwork has a mixture of childish-looking and art. My son loves the sword and the dragon the most! RECOMMENDED AGE - In general, I recommend this game for children 5-6 if you are willing to spend time to teach them, and 8 if you want them to learn the rules quickly - Yes, I am playing it with my 3.5 year old, but I still need to help him a lot. He can figure out how to move his pawn around the labyrinth to the next treasure, and even insert the tile for a small, easy labyrinth reshape. But for more complex moves he needs my help. Don't get me wrong, I love playing it with him, but unless you are a nerd like me you might be better with other games such as The Game of Life Junior Game or Monopoly Junior Board Game, or even ThinkFun Rush Hour if you have patience to teach him. You can check my reviews of these games if you are interested. - If you are thinking to bu this game to play with adults only (no kids), I might not recommend it so much though. I think traditional games like Risk or Scrabble, or more advance games like Catan 5th Edition, Pandemic Board Game or Shadows Over Camelot will be more challenging and engaging for mature players Overall, Labyrinth is definitely a 5-star game with a unique gameplay. I expect it to remain as one of our most often plays games for the next few years!

Customer521 United States

Our Whole Family Loves This Game! AND, We added some nice twists to keep it interesting!

First off, this game is just fantastic. My wife and I love playing it, and our three kids (ages 4-8) love playing with us. Our two oldest ones will play it without us, which is great. The basic rules are very easy to learn, and the game is always engaging. We did add a couple of elements to spice it up because after a while certain family members would take forever deciding what move to make in the maze. So we added two elements and I'm putting them up here for you in case you like that kind of thing: 1. When we play with adults, there is a 60 second timer for every turn. If you can't make your move in a minute, you lose your turn and return to your starting tile. It gives you just enough time to think, but it definitely adds some intensity to the game! 2. We added an element we call the Monster in the Labyrinth. It works this way: (We use a little figurine of a troll for this) The Monster begins the game on the Middle Tile of the board. He will move though! At the beginning of every turn, the player must roll a dice [If you're using the 60 second rule, you don't start the timer until after this element is done]. If a 1-5 is rolled, the monster didn't find the player and the turn continues. If a 6 is rolled, however, the Monster has found the player! The Battle ensues! - The Monster moves to that player's tile, and the player rolls the dice again. - If a 1-3 is rolled, the Monster has defeated you and your turn is over. The Monster then goes back to the Middle Tile(His Lair, where he likes to sit and gloat). - If a 4 is rolled, you won and can continue your turn. The Monster stays on that tile (He's dazed from the battle). - If a 5 is rolled, you mastered the Monster and can now send him to attack any other player in the game! That Player must battle the monster using the same rules. Once all the monster fighting is done, the original player continues their turn. The Monster remains on the last tile he fought at unless he won the fight. Anytime he wins, he goes back to the Middle Tile (again with the gloating). - If a 6 is rolled, you mastered the Monster and he tells you a secret path to your next item and you get to go straight there. The Monster remains on that tile. If you run into the Monster when you're navigating the Labrynth, you must fight him. The Same rules apply. If you lose then you simply stay there and your turn is over. If you begin your next turn and the monster is still on that tile with you, treat it as though you rolled a 6. You have to fight the monster. If a player sends the monster to fight you and you lose, your next turn is skipped. If you win, you get whatever benefit applies. In the exceptional event that you begin your turn on the Middle Tile (The Monster's Lair), and the Monster is there, you must fight him. Treat it as though you rolled a 6. [That's happened before, and it can be hilarious when you're trapped in the Monster's Lair for a while!]. Since we started playing with the Monster, our kids absolutely love it! Who doesn't want to fight a monster when they're searching through a Labyrinth? It adds an element of suspense and action to the game. Either way, this game is absolutely worth owning!

Tamsyn United States

Clever Game That's Fun and Varies Each Time

My son recently turned 7 and has been increasingly interested in board games, so we've been looking for games to add to our collection. We'd been focusing on cooperative games initially, so as not to foist a value of competitiveness too young. But he's naturally now gravitated towards enjoying some competition, so we've been open to considering these kinds of games too. Labyrinth is a really clever, aesthetically pleasing tile game that consists of a board made up of moveable tile path pieces (and some fixed tile pieces that are attached to the board). Players receive a set hand of cards, each containing a picture of some treasure located on the board, and are competing to retrieve the treasures in their hand before everyone else. There is always one extra piece of tile path available that a player uses on his or her turn to push a row or column of tiles in such a way as to create a viable path that either lets the player reach a treasure or get closer to it. Once the row or column is pushed, the tile at the other side becomes the new free tile that the next player uses to create his or her path. Thus, the board is always changing, players are forced to work with unexpected bends or straights -- and sometimes, one player's plan to reach a treasure is upended by the next player's move. It's a delightful mix of strategy and physical game movement that's not overly intense, and is easily learnable and enjoyable by both children and adults. The tile pieces are sturdy, thick cardboard and feel very durable, and the characters are whimsical. We've enjoyed several games so far, and my 7-year-old hasn't gotten tired of it yet. It's also not too hard for someone his age to win.

Carsten United States

LOVE THIS GAME and the Kids do too!

I am from Germany and Ravensburger games are super popular over there. I used to love this game when I was a kid 30 years ago and was excited when I saw it for sale in the US. I am SUPER PLEASED to say, that this game is the same quality as it used to be. Many newer games are made on the cheep nowadays and it takes away the fun to play. The game play: It's simple but every time you play you'll have to find a unique way to solve the puzzle. Basically, you have to get from point A to B and the tiles on the playing field can be moved around. So every turn can either open up new paths or someone can block your patch on their turn. Ages: I play this with my 6 and 8 year old. While my 8 year old gets creative and figures it out, my 6 year old gets the idea of the game but only sees relatively simple paths. But that's good as he learns to be more of a creative problem solver. It's totally fun for adults too How long does each game last: It's a fun and quick family game. Each game lasts between 20-30min. Most of the times we play 2-3 games. Is it hard to learn: As for any game, there is a learning curve. But once you get the idea (which is after playing it once) you start to get creative and your mind starts turning. I'd say its confusing at first but everyone got it after one practice round