I was surprised to see how few reviews there were on this game. Before I bought it a few months back, I absorbed every word I could on the existing reviews here on the Geek. In the end, it was sort of foregone conclusion for me to get it, because I love nautical/exploration themes, and the game looked gorgeous. I was just really hoping I would like it as much as I thought I would.

Most of my games are played 2-player between my wife and I. My kids are still young, and on occasion we'll get in multiplayer sessions with friends or family. So between her and I, it's usually me who gets most of the initial enjoyment from new games. That's because it's me who usually spends the time reviewing them, reading up and studying them, reading the rules, etc. Some games I spend more time doing this on than others; these are my most highly anticipated ones, since I have so much time invested in them before they already come. Entdecker was one of those games. I combed through all the reviews, read the instructions online, and watched the tutorial on Mayfair's "Professor Easy" site. The latter influenced my decision immensely, as I could watch how the game was played, see the components in action, and get an overall feel. Of course, now I had to buy it. And not only did it not disappoint me, but I was pleasantly surprised by my wife's opinion. I'd say 75% of our games take her a couple plays to get into them, find out what she's up against, and start enjoying them. But, she loved this one right after our first play.

And it's easy to understand why. As long as you're not a die hard "no luck" gamer, you should enjoy Entdecker. It does have luck involved, which we'll get to later, but you have to consider it as part of the theme. You are exploring the high seas; no one before you has been here, and it could be anything beyond these waters. You may come across pirates, storms, or gold mines, but you never know just where.

Not having played the original, I had nothing to compare it to. A lot of the reviews I read of "Exploring New Horizons" (the newer version)were negative when comparing them to the original, since the new version added some things and changed some others. After playing the newer version, I personally can't imagine that the changes are a big deal if you're used to the original. You could even play without some of the changes.

On each turn, players will choose a tile from either the face down stacks or the face up stacks. Each costs money, but the face up tiles cost more. The tile must be played off your starting position. If you cannot legally play it, it gets thrown out and you are down the money you paid for it. If it fits, your ship marker advances into it, and you can place your next tile off this new one, if you paid for a second one.
There are 7 different land/sea configurations on the tiles. Some have land on each side, some have land on 3 sides and sea on 1 side, etc. It's amazing to see the game unfold, and how all the tiles fit with each other.

Once land is explored, you can leave a scout there for 1 gold, build a fort for 3 gold, or a settlement for 6 gold. Once an entire island is discovered, players tally up all the types of exploration units they have on that island. The player with the most valuable unit will get all the points for the island, the person in second will get half that, etc. The total number of points an island yields will be equal to the number of tiles make up the island, plus any additional "Waterfall"
tiles are part of the island (which yield an additional 5 or 10 points).
Once an island is complete, everyone's scout are placed on a "jungle path" on the side of the board. Each path is connected to a "hut" which houses an indiginous crop (corn, etc.) Each crop offers a point value from 5 to 15. Whoever has the most scouts on a path at the end of the game will get those points.

Additionally, there are tiles with a "?" on their backs as part of the face down pool. These can be good or bad; they are storms, pirates, gold mines, or friendly natives. (won't get into what all these are here).


Let's talk about the components of the game. The box is a little thin and flimsy, but not nearly as bad as Age of Empires III. The board is absolutely beautiful and perfect. It's a large, 6-fold board, nice and solid, with a great sketch of a clipper ship. No complaints here.
The tiles themselves were disappointing. I was hoping for tiles made of the same stock as Carcassonne. Instead, these are noticably thinner and flimsier, and if you're not careful, you'll rip the paper off the facing when you punch them out from their sheets. On the other hand, the artwork on them is great.
The coins used are also thin cardboard, but this isn't a big deal. They do the job fine.
The ship, dice, and exploration units are all nicely done in wood. The player colors are white, red, yellow, and purple, kind of a strange mix. Uunfortunately, you won't be able to decide which color you want; for two players you will be stuck with white and red, with three you add the purple set, and the 4th player gets yellow.
The box insert is nice and provides enough compartments for everything. The rule book is great, includes plenty of color pictures and examples, and the game even comes with a decent-sized tutorial booklet to get you going. I HIGHLY recommend watching the Professor Easy tutorial online, though.

So, let's review all the potential luck factors of the game:

--Amount of points awarded for each island (you will never know how big an island is until it's completed, hence, the resources you allocate to an island may be wasted). On the other hand, players have an opportunity to attempt to control the size of the island by where they place the tiles, and which type of tile is placed.

--The "?" tiles could yield a good or bad effect. You're taking a gamble when you draw one of these tiles, as there are 2 possible good and bad effects each.

--The income each player receives at the beginning of the turn is determined by a dice roll.

--The tile you buy is turned up from a face down stack. You have to announce how many you plan on buying before you start. Depending on where you are, tiles may not fit and your turn will be over.

--The point value on the crop you draw to place in a hut is pulled blindly from a bag. Points could be 5 to 15.

The above luck factors don't negatively impact my opinion of the game at all, but I know they do for some. Like I said, I consider it part of the exploration theme. Also, you may be interested in playing with some of the variants people have posted here on BGG. Theoretically, you could play the game without the huts/jungle paths altogether. I feel they open a new part of the theme though, and give the scouts and additional role.

So, it's a great game that scales well from 2 to 4 players, and plays well with each. Once you get the initial rules of placing tiles down (which will seem fiddly at first), the game is a breeze, yet offers a lot of decisionns -- where should my expedition start? how much money am I going to use on exploring, so I can have some left over for settling? which tile do I want to create this island with? Can I block an opponent's progress by limiting the size of their island?
and so on. A game will usually last at least 60 minutes, and go anywhere up to 90 with more people. But, there is a lot to do, a lot to think about and to decide on.