Elfenland
Encyclopedia
Elfenland is a German-style board game
designed by Alan R. Moon
and published by Amigo Spiele
in German and Rio Grande Games
in English in 1998.
It is originally based on his earlier game Elfenroads (published by White Wind), but since Elfenroads took about four hours for a game, the play was simplified to reduce the time closer to an hour, making it appeal more as a family game.
It won the Spiel des Jahres
award in 1998 and won the third place Deutscher Spiele Preis
award in 1998.
Each player tries to reach as many cities as possible and then return to his "home city."
Home cities are drawn at the beginning of the game from a pack of city cards and they remain hidden throughout the game.
The game is thus reminiscent of the traveling salesman problem.
Players move using transportation cards.
Elves can travel on a wide variety of vehicles including troll wagons, elf cycles, rafts, giant pigs, unicorns, dragons and magic clouds.
Different types of transportation will travel better over different terrain, and some methods of transport cannot cross certain terrains at all.
There is only one problem: you cannot travel over a route (except water) unless there is a tile on that road, and only the type of transport shown on the tile can be used to move along that road. Before anyone can move, tiles are drawn and laid out across the board. This part is the one that calls for the most strategy, as players try to line up their tiles to set up a nice route for themselves and a difficult one for their opponents at the same time.
As well as normal tiles, each player receives one trouble tile for use during the game.
These hinder other players by forcing them to use an extra transportation card at that point.
Also, any player can simply use any three cards to pass over any route that has a tile already there, allowing the type of transport shown on the tile to be ignored.
The game has subtle strategies to make others navigate through the cities.
When a player puts a transportation type you don't want in your path then you have to find a way around it.
All of the aspects of the game make for a very exciting race to visit the most cities while never quite being sure who is winning until the last round.
Note that this is different from the original Elfengold published by White Wind.
The expansion is, however, hard to find.
German-style board game
German-style board games, frequently referred to in gaming circles as Euro Games or Euro-style, are a broad class of tabletop games that generally have simple rules, short to medium playing times, indirect player interaction and abstract physical components...
designed by Alan R. Moon
Alan R. Moon
Alan R. Moon is an author of board games, born in Southampton, England, and currently living in the United States. Despite his nationality, he is generally considered to be one of the foremost designers of German-style board games. Many of his games can be seen as board game variations on the...
and published by Amigo Spiele
Amigo Spiele
Amigo Spiele is a German board and card game publisher. Many of their games have won Spiel des Jahres awards, and many have been published in English by Rio Grande Games.- Notable games :* Bohnanza* 6 Nimmt!/Take 6!* Café International...
in German and Rio Grande Games
Rio Grande Games
Rio Grande Games is a board game publisher based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The company primarily imports and localizes foreign language German-style board games.-History:...
in English in 1998.
It is originally based on his earlier game Elfenroads (published by White Wind), but since Elfenroads took about four hours for a game, the play was simplified to reduce the time closer to an hour, making it appeal more as a family game.
It won the Spiel des Jahres
Spiel des Jahres
The Spiel des Jahres is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the stated purpose of rewarding excellence in game design, and promoting top-quality games in the German market. It is thought that the existence and popularity of the award is one of the major drivers of the quality...
award in 1998 and won the third place Deutscher Spiele Preis
Deutscher Spiele Preis
The Deutscher Spiele Preis is an important award for boardgames. It was started in 1990 by the German magazine "Die Pöppel-Revue", which collects votes from the industry's stores, magazines, professionals and game clubs. The results are announced every October at the Spiel game fair in Essen,...
award in 1998.
Gameplay
The game is played by 2–6 players, with 4–5 making for the best game.Each player tries to reach as many cities as possible and then return to his "home city."
Home cities are drawn at the beginning of the game from a pack of city cards and they remain hidden throughout the game.
The game is thus reminiscent of the traveling salesman problem.
Players move using transportation cards.
Elves can travel on a wide variety of vehicles including troll wagons, elf cycles, rafts, giant pigs, unicorns, dragons and magic clouds.
Different types of transportation will travel better over different terrain, and some methods of transport cannot cross certain terrains at all.
There is only one problem: you cannot travel over a route (except water) unless there is a tile on that road, and only the type of transport shown on the tile can be used to move along that road. Before anyone can move, tiles are drawn and laid out across the board. This part is the one that calls for the most strategy, as players try to line up their tiles to set up a nice route for themselves and a difficult one for their opponents at the same time.
As well as normal tiles, each player receives one trouble tile for use during the game.
These hinder other players by forcing them to use an extra transportation card at that point.
Also, any player can simply use any three cards to pass over any route that has a tile already there, allowing the type of transport shown on the tile to be ignored.
The game has subtle strategies to make others navigate through the cities.
When a player puts a transportation type you don't want in your path then you have to find a way around it.
All of the aspects of the game make for a very exciting race to visit the most cities while never quite being sure who is winning until the last round.
Expansion
There was an expansion for Elfenland published, called Elfengold.Note that this is different from the original Elfengold published by White Wind.
The expansion is, however, hard to find.