Enchanted Forest was a novelty and provoked some interesting points of discussion for my family and I as we played this one. It is not my normal go to sort of game, but I then needed to remind myself that this is a game not aimed at me as the target player. It’s a children’s game, and when that realisation was made things improved for me significantly. It wasn’t about me and my gaming preferences.
Rules overview
This is, without doubt, a classic children's game first and foremost. A game for 2-6 players which is quite cool but it can take a little while. The suggested age is from the age of 4 which I feel is about right.
The objective here is simple. Be the first to uncover three treasures from around the board.
Players all start at one end of the board with a castle full of fantasy treasure items linked to famous fairy tale stories at the other side of the board. One of which is revealed. The forest lies in between.
Players roll 2 dice to determine their movement and decide which way to navigate the board to explore the trees where the treasure is hidden. Players need to remember the treasure under each tree as it is useful. If they discover the treasure shown by the card in the castle, they must then work their way to the castle to the key space. When they are there they then select what they believe is the matching tree to earn that treasure to earn it if correct. This check is done secretly and if wrong, they just place the tree back down. They only need to show the tree if aligning with the treasure so it is earned.
Players can investigate many trees within the forest to suit their strategy.
Vibrant art
The set looks wonderfully exciting to play with the box art in the first instance and the colourful box content. It is a game well designed to catch any child’s eye that includes pictures of beloved fairytale characters.
Ravensburger have done excellent work here in the first impressions of the set. When taking it out the delivery box, the younglings were all over it wanting to play straight away.
Gameplay
When you read the rules initially it seems quite fun. However when play starts it only took me a couple of turns to realise some of the flaws with the game play.
- Lack of rule clarity on whether you need the exact number to land on a tree and search it as well as the key space. We assumed if you got to it you could search and then finish the move beyond it. The correct number would have resulted in this game taking such a long time.
- A player could camp around the key and just take random guesses with no real knowledge of where items are. Just guess away and you would get there eventually.
- If players have an excellent memory, they can explore the board first then complete the point above knowing where everything is.
- Young children do not keep secrets. They blurt things out in excitement. It spoils the mystery and puts the child at a disadvantage when they have revealed it.
It is a Kids game
And this point above in the sub title is key. The game is designed for children, not for me as an adult. When questioning them about it afterwards they loved playing it. Enchanted forest was a little quest for them.
- It tests their memory skills as they do have to pay attention to what they are searching under each tree and try and remember when that treasure item becomes available in the castle.
- They have decisions to take in the direction they choose to explore the board. This will be key to their strategy if they are to be successful in the play.
- Mental math skills are tested by adding the 2 dice rolled and working out the total. Sounds basic but these are important little skills which is followed by the decision of direction after.
- As the game builds they do have a lot to remember on what is happening on the board. So there are some slightly more complex skills of gameplay being gently introduced with this as there is a bit happening. I did struggle to remember where 1 or 2 treasures were as the game went on so it will test children.
Reminiscing
This game did a number on me. Due to the issues mentioned above it made me wonder if some of the classic kids themed games I had when I was a child had similar flaws with the play. Not games like Snakes and Ladders or Monopoly. I had a Snowman themed game and a Thunderbirds game to remember a couple and I just wondered if they were flawed in a similar way to this one but I was too young to understand and just accepted the rules? I will never know. But I had a lot of fun playing those games in the same way my children did with this game.
Final Thoughts
This is a game with an issue or 2 but you must keep in mind (if you are a big gamer) this was designed for children. When you take that into account it is easy to look past those flaws when the kids are having a wonderful time.
