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Rio Grande Games Tobago and Navegador Most Fun Games Review!

Rio Grande Games Logo most fun games

Two of the Most Fun Games

Rio Grande Games offers a great variety of the most fun games that younger children, older kids, and parents can all enjoy. With a range of strategy games with underlying themes of negotiation, auction, risk taking, area control and more. They also offer a line of card games as well. At Rio Grande Games they have a mission to promote playing games that are based on choices rather than solely on luck. This style of gaming encourages social activity and teaches about making good choices as well as consequences. Rio Grande Games started by publishing the most fun games written in German into English version and has since been able to publish their own games with many award winning games along their line including their games considered the most fun games, Dominion and Race for the Galaxy. These aren’t games you’ll find at your typical big box store but once you try them, you’ll be hooked!

Navegador

2-5 players, ages 12+
Length: 60-90 minutes

Rio Grande Games Navegador Review most fun games

I absolutely love playing board games but haven’t been able to settle for luck based games in a long time. I really enjoy the competition and challenge that comes with games that have strategy built in that allows me to really use my mind and think and come up with my own reasoning for how to proceed in a game. I was thrilled to get to check out two of Rio Grande Games most fun games. The first, Navegador, takes you on a role-playing journey as a Navegator in the 15th century working to explore the African coastline and establish trade routes. This game introduced a new game mechanism I had never tried before with the use of a rondel to determine what actions you can take on your turn. Each turn you are given the option to move between 1-3 spaces ahead on the round action rondel letting you determine your best plan of actions. Once you pass one choice you’ll have to wait all the way until you get back around the rondel to choose the action again so you have to be careful to not miss certain types of actions to help you move ahead in the game. There are lots of different paths you can take throughout the game to win and we really enjoyed the variety of strategies you could choose and be successful at. The rondel brought in such a unique gameplay aspect, also, and we really enjoyed that feature of this game. The rulebook was really hard to follow and understand and the game was a bit difficult to explain as you almost need to be able to explain all the different action types at the same time as they all correlate so well.

If you’re looking for a unique and fun game to add to your game closet, this game definitely adds some new aspects to gaming and made for a really fun game night. It didn’t have as much player interaction as I would have liked but we still had a really great time playing this game and it will definitely see some more play time!

Tobago

2-4 Players, ages 10+
Length: 60 minutes

Rio Grande Games Tobago Review most fun games

Tobago is a game of induction as you work together while competing to discover where different treasures are buried somewhere on the map. The board is put together using 3 pieces of the map that are double sided and can be shifted in a few ways as well giving you a different map for each game you play which keeps the game interesting and fun. Once the board is assembled, the map variety continues by adding huts, palm trees, and statues to give variety to the map. Tobago is a very simple game to learn and to teach so you can be quickly playing and enjoying the game after a quick set-up and explanation of the rules. The game pieces provided are really high quality and beautiful making you feel like you are a part of the adventure as you drive your jeep throughout the terrain. Each player is given “clues” to the treasure which can be played on any of the 4 colored treasure piles to help discover where a certain treasure is located. As you lay down one of your clues you may eliminate all but one of the possible locations, in essence “discovering” the location of the treasure. It’s a really interesting way as none of the treasures have a set location on the map but are actually discovered as you go along and clues are placed. When one of the treasures is discovered and then dug up, players that have helped in the discovery are shown a treasure card and then treasures are handed out in descending order with the option to “pass” on a lower treasure card to try to hold out for a better treasure. The fun really comes into play as there are two hidden curse cards that once revealed make all remaining players left to receive treasure go without so it’s a risk of how long to you hold out for higher treasures versus grabbing the first available card to hopefully avoid a curse!

We have absolutely loved playing this game! It has become one of our most fun games because it is a lightweight game that is easy for beginners to pick-up on and very different than other games we own and regularly play. There is a good handful of luck to the game but enough strategy to keeps us all interested and having a great time. This is a great game to play as a family and I believe can be introduced to some children younger than 10 that enjoy and grasp games easily. We often can play a 4-player game of Tobago in 30-40 minutes when everyone knows the rules. If you typically like deep strategy games, this one will be a perfect lightweight addition to your game closet for when you want something quick and easy to play. Or, if you’re looking to try more complex games than luck-based games, this is the perfect introduction game! Either way, it’s one of the most fun games we’ve played!

Find some of the Most Fun Games available at Rio Grande Games!

Navegador retails for $59.99 and Tobago is available for $54.95. Both these, and other great Rio Grande Games are available at your local specialty gaming store. You can use Rio Grande Games Store Locator to find a store near you or try your local mall. Both games are also available on Amazon.

Disclosure: I received Tobago and Navegador games in exchange for my honest review. I was not compensated in any other manner. The opinions expressed above are my own and any claims should be verified on the sponsor’s site. Topic: most fun games

Rich Hicks

Friday 28th of September 2012

I had never heard of them before reading your review. Their games sure look inviting and interesting

slehan

Friday 28th of September 2012

Tobago looks like we would really like it for game night.

Pam

Thursday 27th of September 2012

This looks like a lot of fun! I love to play board games for family night.

Stefani Tolson

Thursday 27th of September 2012

This sounds like a fun game. Something I would play with my older children.

Shaunie Wyatt

Thursday 27th of September 2012

I really liked your review on these games. These games are great to y on a fday night and pefect for the family

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