Grab Your Pith Helmet, It’s Relic Runners!

The idea of running through ancient temples in search of treasure has been ingrained in my mind since I was a young boy. This was largely due to the Atari and Commodore 64 games I played. In video games like Pitfall and Pitfall II: Lost Caverns you were given control of the fearless adventurer. I can still picture those stacks of gold bars sitting on the other side of a series of dangerous jumps. We have come a long way with video games. The power of imagination is almost given a backseat to the realistic pits and caverns of the current Tomb Raider games. Relic Runners is a board game from Days of Wonder that brings a bit of that basic temple exploration I enjoyed as a kid to the tabletop.

Relic Runners will take about 60 minutes to play. Depending on how organized you keep the pieces, setup should only take about 5-10 minutes. I find it beneficial to have a few of these shorter games in my collection. You can fill a night with multiple short games, start an intense gaming night with a light intro, or even finish off the evening after your players are starting to get a bit exhausted. The game is also simple to learn, teach, and play. It may take a few sessions to master, but right out the gate new players will have a fun time. I will mention a number of ways players can be strategic, but this shouldn’t discourage people who shy away from games like Axis & Allies. The rules are simple enough that players can complete turns, score points, and finish the game without thinking too hard about it.

At the center of the board you will find the players base camp. This represents the starting location and a place to restock on rations (rations are spent to explore the temples and ruins). The area surrounding camp is considered the jungle. The jungle is filled with temples and ruins, connected by a series of paths or rivers. Each location consists of a stack of tokens to represent the temple or ruin. You will spend the game moving between these locations, exploring, and scoring points to win the game. This movement gives the game a classic board game feel which I enjoyed.

With a temple each layer is a level of the temple you can explore. The game includes three types of temples and each do different things as you explore a level. The instructions are clear about what each temple provides allowing for a variety of strategy. Ivory temples can provide a player with a bonus condition for scoring points at the end of the game while blue temples provide instant points to add to your stockpile. Exploring a purple temple may reward you with rations, saving a long trip back to base camp. There is a wide range of treasures to be found and players who become familiar with what can be discovered and where will up their chances of winning the game (you can easily refer to the instructions).

The ruins of Relic Runners provide the player with the materials they need to build pathways between locations. This is an important part of the game as during the move phase each player can move once on a trail without one of their pathways (one space) and then once along an entire connected pathway (multiple continuous spaces). This is important for two reasons. You need to provide quick access to base camp so turns aren’t wasted securing rations and also for scoring points collecting relics. Relics are revealed when all three levels of a temple or ruin have been explored. A player who can connect relics (of like color) with a continuous path will collect one and be able to score points. The longer the path the more points! Having to think about where and when to build and move paths provides another level of strategy to the game and makes each turn fun and exciting. Will I be able to secure that path between relics before someone else swoops in and steals the glory?

A jungle explorer is only as good as the tools in his/her toolbox! One final set of tools each player will have at their disposal are the machete, compass, and shovel. Each tool has three levels on a card and perform three different functions depending on where your token is currently set. The machete might allow you to complete an action without using a ration while a compass is going to provide a chance at moving your pathways around. You are provided limited chance to move these around so you should constantly be thinking ahead for what bonus you would like to gain and when. As an example, when I noticed I would be finishing my longest pathway I made sure to move my compass to the setting that allowed me to immediately score two points for each path before breaking up the complete path for other uses.

Relic Runners is a high quality product. For the most part the pieces are made from the sturdy cardboard that you find in many modern games. You also get 20 sculpted relics that are made of plastic. The artwork is drawn well and has a slightly cartoonish feel. The colors are vibrant. Each player will have an explorer card with a fun and unique adventurer (male on one side, female on the other). The instruction book is filled with wonderful art, but is still very readable.

I recommend Relic Runners if you are looking for something light to mix in with your collection. It will provide you a deeper gaming experience than most basic games, but may lack elements that hardcore tabletop gamers are looking for in a game. If you are new to the current style of board games or have kids ready to step up to something a little more difficult I think this is an excellent transition game. The theme is family friendly and still has that board game feel. You can find Relic Runners at your local game shop, Amazon, or through Days of Wonder’s website here. http://www.daysofwonder.com/relic-runners/en/