Today's review is of the 2017 release, Explorers of Ixalan. For 2-4 players, it takes 30-60 minutes.
Overview
Explorers of Ixalan is a Magic: the Gathering variant. The game includes four preconstructed decks, one for each tribe on Ixalan (vampire, dinosaur, pirate, merfolk). Everyone starts at 20 life, and the game is played according to normal Magic rules (get your opponent to zero life), but with a twist: on your turn, you can buy up to one tile, laid out before the game starts as displayed below, by spending the amount of mana indicated on it. Purchased tiles are flipped and effect performed (it could be ongoing or one-time use)- and the ongoing ones can be taken from other players (when your creature(s) do them damage, you can take one tile).
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| game in progress; image from here |
This is a fun variant of Magic and worth a play or two; they basically mixed the Magic engine into a board game. The tile angle helps make the game 'busier' in a good way- it increases the probability that you can do something every turn (you can spend your mana on land tiles if you can't play spells). The included decks are okay- not overly special, but they give you the flavor of the Ixalan block. It does make the game more complicated, and may thus only appeal to Magic players. I prefer 'normal' Magic, but this is a good exercise in how a slight rules change can alter strategy (and/or gameplay experience) a good deal. I've seen this game go on clearance occasionally; pick it up when it does.
Rating: B+
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