Ravensburger Enchanted Forest - Family Game

This is a beautiful, well thought out, strategic game. Ravensburger is such a great German (I believe) company for beautiful, durable, mentally stimulating games. I used to buy my own daughter (now 25) their toys at the Early Learning Center (since gone out of business) years ago and was thrilled to find them through Amazon to purchase gifts for my niece and nephew. I cannot explain what a great time my niece and I had playing the Enchanted Forest (over and over). As you read the instructions you realize the Ravensburger people thought about every little detail that could have made game play tedious or lengthy and you realize that they truly thought of everything to make it enjoyable. My niece is 8 yrs old and a bright student and we thoroughly enjoyed playing this 3 times in a row. Average game play is about 1/2 an hour (maybe it would be longer with more players). Retention and strategy are important, but it is still simple enough that they will not become annoyed. The little trees that are placed around the board (with the secret treasures hidden underneath) are absolutely precious and well made, as is the board itself (beautiful artwork)and the playing cards (no flimsy thin cards that will rip in a few weeks) but nice thick sturdy cards. If you think this game is pricey, wait till you and your child receive it, how pleased you will be and once you play, you'll realize what a bargain it is. This is one to be passed down to the next child in the family. It was very nice to read the child psychologist's review and know it is used in therapy.Irene, Caldwell, NJ

My husband and I purchased this game as a birthday gift for my 7-year-old daughter. She loves board games, and we spend a lot of family time playing games like Sorry and Trouble, which are fun, but they're also on the rather flimsy side, and don't always hold up well to heavy use by children. I fell in love with this game almost from the word go--and so did my daughter. Even the box is heavyweight and gorgeous, unlike the typical flimsy boxes that contain her other games. The board is heavier duty than the mass-produced games we typically play, and the treasure cards are sturdy, thick, and guaranteed to hold up far, far better than, say, her deck of Uno cards. The little trees are pretty sturdy plastic, but the tokens and the dice are made of wood. Have I died and gone to gaming heaven, where games seem lovingly, carefully made instead of mass-produced and cheap?The gameplay itself is also fun and unlike any other game we've played. It's a bit of a combination of Memory and Sorry. At the beginning of the game, you turn over one of the treasure cards, and your object is to find that treasure and give it to the king before the other players. Players must move around the board, peeking under the trees to see where the treasures are hidden. Even if you don't find the one you're looking for, you want to remember what you've seen so that you know where to find it, should its card be turned up. Once you find the hidden treasure that matches the one on the card, you head to the castle to give it to the king. The first player to find and return three treasures wins the game.But that's only half of the game. Finding the treasure and making it to the castle are two entirely different things. Landing on the same place as another player sends that player back to the starting point in the village. If you roll the same number on both dice, you have the option of using three different spells. Because of this, the game moves beyond a simple memory game and into the realm of strategy. If you find the treasure, do you immediately charge toward the castle, hoping the other players can't stop you, or do you attempt to throw them off your trail by pretending to continue looking?This is our first Ravensburger product, but not our first independent game. I can safely say that this won't be our last Ravensburger game. I'm extremely impressed with how beautifully made and how creative a game it is. It's fun not just for my daughter, but also for me and my husband, which means we all enjoy a good family gaming session.

This is a great alternative to the basic memory game. Instead of just randomly flipping cards until you find a match this forces you to move and remember where the pictures are located. The board is quite sturdy and very detailed. There are scenes from the most popular fairy tales through out. The trees are made from a strong plastic and held the cardboard pictures in place quite well. The only issue I had was I pushed one of the picture disks too far and the picture bent a bit but doesn't detract from the game. The cards are good quality cardboard and very detailed as well.The ability to turn around during a roll of the dice is a great mechanic and makes planning out your moves a necessity. The added feature of having to move to while remembering which trees you have seen while looking for the particular tree for the goal makes this game a challenge. There are several different strategies that could be employed for this game, such as looking for the goal tree and then heading to the castle, forgoing all the other trees, or seeing as many trees as possible early on.This game helps children with planning, memory, and bluffing (no smiling when you find the right tree). It has been played almost every board game night at my house and one of my daughters favorite games. I highly recommend this game.

This is a wonderful game that our whole family plays together!!However, our son is 7, and has never won this game yet. The reason is that the players have to remember (memorize) the objects that are under the many trees all over the board. It is too difficult for a young child to remember the placement and pictures of that many objects! But, the game is great for older players, aged 9 to adult I would say.The game board is lovely. The pieces are durable and will last a lifetime.The game is challenging, and different everytime. It does not take forever to play the whole game. It is a game that has an acutal plot, and is totally non-violent.It is educational also. It teaches addition due to the different ways you can use your dice rolls to move. It also teaches kids memorization skills. I use it to teach my child little memorization tricks, that will come in handy his whole life.All in all, a great family game!!!!!

Gioco che mi rimanda alla mia infanzia.... Gioco da tavola divertente anche per gli adulti.... In gioco per la famiglia che coinvolge attenzione memoria fortuna...... Bello e piace a tutti gli amici dei miei figli, 7 e 9 anni

J'avais connu ce jeu sous le nom de Sagaland dans les années 80. Celui-ci est fourni avec la notice en Anglais uniquement, mais je l'ai retrouvée en français facilement en cherchant sur le net (sagaland + notice). Un bon jeu de société pour jouer avec les petits à partir de 6 ans.

We thoroughly enjoyed playing this game! I have the original from 1982 - and now this copy too! (as I'm a collector of board games and their various editions) The game has remained completely unchanged for more than thirty years, in regards to both quality and design - with the exception that is of the artwork to the box, which some have seemed fit to criticise - and I must say, I agree with them! This is because if you take a look at the box of this edition from 1994 - as lovely as it might be, it tends to portray this game as a bit `juvenile', or for the younger child - especially when coupled with the subject matter, but actually this is a VERY and most enjoyable challenge of a game for adults too - indeed people of any age group, but the box lets it down, and may put these groups of people off as a result... Ravensburger have done themselves no favour here be redesigning the box, as they are limiting their market for this great game unnecessarily... The original artwork just had a photo of an old castle - it looked more the type of game for older children and adults. To emphasise the effect artwork can have on potential players, I have a brother who will not play a game once he's seen this kind of box... Hide the box from him of a good game, (or set it up before he arrives so he never sees the box) and he plays it and enjoys it!This is a game of a tiny bit of luck, but primarily skill and memory, and the rules are quite clever in that it allows players in degrees to `thwart' their opponents, which calls for an ever-changing game and outcome!Much fun and a delight to play - just a pity about the box which will invariably spoil the chances of some players giving it a go which is a great shame...

Great game that kids aged 4 can play with help of a grown up - and can play independently from aged 6 so long as there is an older child playing to make sure rules are adhered to. Can probably be played from about age 8/9 without any parental oversight.It's not a complex game - but there are enough rules that having a grown up around to point out the different options and possible consequences definitely helps.Works really well in parent/child teams. Parent deals with the cunning strategy whilst leaves the actual job of remembering what treasures are under what trees to the Rain Man like memory abilities of kids. Or is just me getting thrashed by their 4 year old at matching pairs games...?We have a 4,6 and 8 year old.

Bellissimo gioco per bambini dai 6 anni in su che allena la memoria e la strategia. Ottima l'ambientazione in una foresta magica.