Short review.

Roll dice. Roll another set of dice. Consult chart. Pass dice. Go back to sleep.
From time to time random cards come up to influence future dice rolls.


Longer review.

Consult Alex Rockwell's reply to the Wolves review. He adds some good commentary about the game.

Components

The components of the game are good. The board (a map of the world) has the valley on the fold, but so what. The play money included with the game is beautiful, and there is a lot of it. Denominations range from $100,000 to $1,000,000,000 (one billion).

There are 3 twenty-sided dice each of which has only a few numbers on it (many of the sides are blank). There are 3 six-sided dice that have instructions on them such as +1, -2 and News.

Ownership markers are very small and plastic. I find them to be small but acceptable. If one is dropped on the carpet you will likely find it without too much trouble.

Card stock is light weight, more like a heavy paper than cardboard, but there are 200 "news" cards in the game.

Game play

Players start with one mining property anywhere on the board that they choose.

On his turn a player must:

1. Consult a chart and collect income from each mine or pay to operate the mine if the price of the commodity is too low.
2. Either purchase a property or explore a property they already own.
3. Roll the market dice.

Let me start my explanation with step 2. Purchase a property is self explanatory. All property costs $500,000 unless an event card modifies it. Event cards usually modify the price in a certain country.

Explore a property. Roll the 3 twenty-sided dice. One represents gold, another silver, and the last copper. The gold die is numbered 1-5, silver 1-7, and copper 1-9. These numbers indicate the amount the mine produces each year. If a number comes up you proceed to roll two 6-sided dice. If numbers come up on more than one dice the player must now choose one resource he would like to develop before rolling the 2d6.

2d6 are then rolled to determine the lifespan (in years) of the mine. If the total is 4 or less the mine is a bust and the ownership token is replaced with a neutral token.

If the 2d6 total is more than 4 the mine is an asset. You can either sell it to the bank (consult a chart to determine its value), or to another player who bids more than the bank would pay, or you can keep it and operate it.

At the end of the turn the player rolls the 3 market dice (one for each commodity). The price of the 3 metals is adjusted accordingly. This is where "news" cards can come into play if that result is rolled. The new prices affect only the next player.

Now, let me skip back to the first step of each turn. Refer to the value of each commodity, find the amount your mine produces each turn, consult the chart, get (or pay if the value is too low) the indicated amount of money. Repeat for each mine you have in production.

That's the game.

Game end.

There are no winning requirements. Just play until you are bored stiff or set a predetermined time limit on the game. The person with the most money and assets wins.

Thoughts on the game

The designer was obviously trying to make a game that reflected the boom and bust nature of mineral exploration. Unfortunately, he is a miner, not a game designer. I do give him some credit, though. This game will probably appeal to those in the mineral exploration industry. If you are not familiar with modern, German games it might be an alright game. It is on a par with run-of-the-mill Hasbro/Wal-mart fare.

The "news" cards add a lot of flavor to the game and often have informative tid-bits of trivia. The political situation in countries can change for the better or worse if you own a mine or buy property there, as well as changing the price of minerals on the world market.

With some publicity "Explorium" could become to roughnecks what "The Farming Game" is to rednecks. That is a game that reflects the uncertainty of the business with a lot of flavor that people familiar with the industry will appreciate.

Bottom line

It is a dice-fest with less player interaction than "Monopoly", minus any hacking and slashing that makes a dice-fest fun.