- Play Time: 15 minutes
- Game Type: Cooperative, Road Building, Strategy
- Maximum Number of Players: 4
- Youngest Player Age: 3 years old
- Rules Difficulty: Easy
- Language Dependence: No in-game text
- Game Setup: Easy
- Clean up: Easy with no adult intervention necessary
- Future Gamer Skills: tile placement, decision making, cooperative gameplay, strategy
- Some call it educational: linear thinking, grid concepts
- Replay value: Medium
- Manufacturer: Peaceable Kingdom
Long story long
Race to the Treasure, by Peaceable Kingdom, is our son’s go-to game when looking for something to play with friends. The story goes like this: you and your friends are trying to get to the treasure before the ogre. The path is not easy to see, but the ogres are slow. Get to the treasure before the ogres, and you all share in the win!
Race to the Treasure is a cooperative game with simple rules. It’s easy for kids to teach other kids, and pretty fun for older kids to join in. The core mechanic involves drawing face down cards to build a path. Children as young as 3 can enjoy this game. Younger children who have yet to master coordinate planes will need help setting up the beginning of the game. In order to play completely independently, the player must be able to place tokens on letter,number coordinates, line up pieces end to end, and yell “OGRE!”
Logistically, the box is the size of a traditional family board game, though a little shorter. It is easy to pickup, set up, clean-up, and put away without too much adult intervention. The components are all paper or cardboard, and completely recyclable if you are the type of heathen that gets rid of board games. You need a kitchen table sized space to set it up, as most of the pieces need to be placed face down next to the board.
Race to the Treasure is one of those games that is easy for kids to teach other kids how to play. Whenever the playdates are starting to look like a toy hoarding mess, we break out this game. Like most good kids games, the players will win most of the time. As this is a cooperative game, everyone’s a winner. Everyone, except for the ogre.
Please note: This is an unsolicited, uncompensated endorsement of this game. We are recommending this game because it’s super fun, and it makes parenting easier.
