I recently got Enchanted Tower for my 5 year old niece, based on interesting looking gameplay and theme. It turned out to be a wonderful little game that both she and my 11 year old nephew enjoyed.
Basic Gameplay:
The mechanics are straightforward but a lot of fun. One player takes the role of the sorcerer, and the other take turns controlling “Robin.” All the robin players close their eyes and the Sorcerer hides a key under one of the 16 tokens on the board (there are compartments for the key under each). The two teams then race to find the key. The sorcerer knows exactly where it is, but has a longer path before he can start looking. Once someone finds the key they try it in one of the six locks on the tower. If the princess is freed that team wins. If not the sorcerer hides the key again and things start over.
General Thoughts:
There are a lot of little touches that take a great basic concept and elevate it. Each turn both teams roll a special die. The sorcerer rolls one that has pictures of the player tokens and determines which team moves first that turn. The other team rolls one with two color coded numbers on each face that determines how far each team moves that turn.
The mechanism under the tower is separate and thus can be turned, so which lock is the winning one can is randomized each game. Magnets on the bottom of the pieces make it obvious when the key is discovered. The board, tokens, and pieces are all beautiful and of high quality.
Everything comes together wonderfully to form an easy to learn children’s game that plays quick, is captivating for the little ones and enjoyable for the adults playing with them. My niece and nephew got very excited when trying the key and taking their turns as sorcerer. Overall Enchanter Sorcerer was a bit hit for us and I highly recommend checking it out for the little gamers in your family.
Derailments of Thought 