I went to the game store to pick up a game as a surprise for my (adult) son the other day. I was kind of hoping to get ‘San Juan’, but alas it was out of stock. I knew he also had interest in Reiner Knizia’s Rheinlander, but couldn’t afford that game. So I checked out a few other games in the $30-and-under range, and with the help of the owner, I found a fairly good number of titles that I figured he would like. After much consideration, I chose ‘Through the Desert”, a 2-5 player game that’s a far cry from ‘San Juan’, but something that I figured he’d like. In hindsight, it was a good call.

Components: This is our first game from Fantasy Flight, so we didn’t know what to expect for the quality of components. There are lots of brightly colored cardboard counters that depict waterholes worth 1, 2, and 3 points, and there are 5-point oasis counters and 10 point color counters – one full sheet of counters in all. They’re colorful and fairly easy to distinguish. The four-fold gameboard could be a little bigger, but isn’t a bad size, either. It’s a fairly nondescript desert, except for a mountain, some blue dots on the hexes where waterholes are to be placed, and little tree icons where oasis can be placed. Once placed, the plastic oasis tree markers add a nice 3D touch to the board.

Oh, and there are over 150 plastic camels and 30 riders. Each player gets six riders to place upon the camels. One rider goes on a gray camel that stays off the board – it’s a reminder as what color rider each player is. The other five riders get placed on one camel of each of the five colors. They gently snap into place nicely most of the time. The color of the riders are nice, bold colors. The camels come in five vomit-inducing pastel colors. My son remarked “Well, “Hermagor” is no longer our ugliest game!”

The rule book is printed in many languages, but even the English section alone seems far too long for what should be. The game is easy to both learn and teach, and some helpful explanations are shown in picture form.

Theme: This section could have been intentionally left blank. Like many Knizier games that I’ve played or heard of, the theme has been applied to the mechanics with duct tape. The game has as much to do with desert travel as reaching the other side of a checkerboard has to do with a royal coronation. But this is NOT checkers, and in my opinion the pasted-on theme doesn’t hurt gameplay one bit!

Object of the game: To gain the most points by claiming waterholes and oases, and forming the longest chain of camels in each color, and enclosing large areas of land.

Gameplay: OK – NOW we’re talking turkey!!! After setting up the initial placement of oases and waterholes, each player takes turns placing his five camel riders, heretofore known as ‘Caravan Leaders, onto the play area. (A slightly smaller board is outlined for 2- or 3- players, otherwise the full board is used. The leaders cannot be placed in a hex adjacent to an oasis, nor can it be placed on a hex containing a waterhole. No caravan leader (or camel) can be placed in any hex adjacent to a hex containing a camel of the same color that’s owned by an opposing player.

The first player (and second player if there are three or more) then chooses a camel of any color and places it in a hex adjacent to his caravan leader for that color. The next player (and all subsequent plays) consist of taking two camels (can be the same or different colors) and placing them in hexes next to your other camels of like color(s). This continues until one color of camel has run out, ending the game.

I won’t get into the other rules about adding new camels, surrounding land masses and securing points, as those are adequately covered in other postings. I WILL say this, however: Do not think that this is a mindless and passive game of randomly placing camels until a winner is declared. By contrast, this is a fun and challenging tactical struggle that makes you balance achieving your goals with preventing others from achieving theirs. Getting two camels to place per turn doesn’t allow you to do too much, but if you plan carefully, you might be able to make placements that will accomplish both offensive and defensive tactics at the same time.

Best Points: The estimate of game time on the box states 15-45 minutes, and that’s probably pretty accurate, which makes this fine for either multiple plays or using it as filler. This game really takes the best of both worlds – easy to play (so it can be used as a gateway game) and tactically challenging to win (which means experienced gamers will also enjoy it). And, for under $30, it seems like a great value. Also, because you decide where to place your camels (with a few restrictions), there is no luck factor in the game, and that’s a BIG plus!

Bad points: Those who are allergic to pastel colors will need to wear some kind of protection when handling the camels. Just kidding! The only real negative that I can spot is the sorry attempt at giving this game a theme. The same game could have been marketed as on a bland cardboard hex grid using simple colored disks - but it IS more fun with camels, I must admit. A minor point of irritation is the set-up time, which can be appreciably shortened by separating the colored camels into Ziploc bags or plastic boxes.

Who will like it: Fans of games like Go will find some familiar elements, but with completely different mechanics and scope. Fans of other Knizia games like Rheinlander will likely appreciate it, too. But the simple mechanics and depth of tactical play will likely appeal to a wide audience, with the exception of those who demand highly thematic gameplay.

Final Thoughts: While there’s nothing that made me say ‘Wow!’ here, everyone who’s played it has enjoyed the game immensely, and I for one look forward to playing this many times in the near (and distant future). I recommend this game very highly, giving it an 8.5 out of 10.