The Quest for El Dorado

A race through the jungle, decided almost entirely at the shops beforehand.

Somewhere past the treeline is a city made of gold, and four expeditions are going to reach it or die trying. You assemble a team — scouts, scientists, photographers, the odd prop plane — and push through swamp, jungle and village toward the golden border. Reiner Knizia designed it, Ravensburger publish it, and the modular map means the route is different every time you set it up. This edition includes three promo packs, adding nine further expedition card sets.

It is a deck-builder, but a race rather than an engine: cards are fuel, and the machete you bought in round two is the reason you clear the jungle in round five. The tension is that the terrain is unforgiving about currency. Machetes cut jungle and do nothing at all in water, so a beautifully built deck can strand you one hex short while someone with a scruffier one walks past. Around forty-five minutes, and it is one of the cleanest introductions to deck-building on the shelf.

Perfect for: The overpacker. The person with the right tool for every job, all of them at the bottom of the bag.

2–4 players | 45 minutes | Age 10+

—

📖 New to the mechanism? What Is a Deck-Building Game? — how they work, and where to start.