Incan Gold

by Sunriver Games

Product Features

• 3-8 players
• Playing time 20 minutes
• Ages 8 and up
• Spiel de Jahres recommended (2005)
• International Gamers Award nominee (2005)

Product Details

• Item Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• ASIN: B000NL2K9A
• Item model number: 1011
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #184,195 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Product Description

Incan Gold is a game in which players push their luck as they head down an abandoned temple, attempting to find the most jewels. Each turn, a card is turned over that increases the gold found in a temple or shows a hazard. Players can attempt to escape, keeping the loot that they've acquired, or stay in the temple, hoping for increased profits. As players escape, those in the mine will acquire bigger shares of each pile of gold found, but also run the risk of dying if the same hazard card is drawn twice. Up to eight people can play this game, and it works very well at parties and other gatherings, as players decide whether or not to stay or leave the temples. With quality components and a compelling theme, Incan Gold will be the first choice of large groups looking for a fun filled game.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quick, Easy to Learn and Fun!, June 28, 2007

By 

John Marek - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Incan Gold (Toy)

Ever wanted to be a "Indiana Jones" style treasure hunter? Well, with Incan Gold, you get your chance. With an iron nerve, a bit of prudence, and some luck, you could be rich. Or, you could end up dead. Incan Gold is an English language version of the German game "Diamant" which may help to explain the fact that even though the title says "gold" the actual treasure in the game is gems. If you are looking for a game requiring complex strategy or deep thought or a game with a lot of educational value, Incan Gold is not it, but it is still a lot of fun.

The game is very simple; In each of five rounds, a succession of cards is laid out representing what you find in the ancient Incan ruins. These may be valuable gems and artifacts, or they may be hazards such as snakes, spiders and landslides. Before each new card is revealed, each player must decide to continue deeper into the ruin or to walk away with what they have already gained. Those who stay in may gain greater wealth, but they may meet a tragic end and gain nothing. A player keeps whatever they have when they opt out and even the players that "die" get to start fresh in the next round. As with most "Euro" style games all players remain part of the game until the final round. The winner is the adventurer who comes away with the most treasure.

Each round ends (on average) with about 8-10 cards on the table so the whole game is quite fast. While the game can be played with as few as three players, I find that it is most fun with 6 to 8 players. While the game is recommended for ages 8 and up, it is so simple that it could be taught to kids younger then 8. Mostly the small "gem" pieces and the ability to make informed decisions are the only limiting factors.

As far as durability is concerned it is as durable as any card game can be. The gems are little plastic pieces that will probably last forever, but eventually every well played card game will deteriorate. Before that happens, however, you will definitely have gotten your money's worth in fun!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For Kids, Mostly, January 22, 2009

By 

Corey - See all my reviews

= Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Incan Gold (Toy)

I expected Incan Gold to be an adult party game that would be easy enough for kids to play. Instead I received a kids game that adults could play at a party. My 6 year old daughter thoroughly enjoys this game and my 8 year old daughter likes it too.

My wife feels it is far too easy and a tad boring. She does not feel it is a game we could play with adults on game night. I feel it could be played on game night as a warm up game, but there's no way it can stand alone.

The first time you play, you're reaction will be, "That's it?"

Here is a quick overview of gameplay: Each player receives the same two cards. One card is a picture of a man entering a temple, and the other is a picture of a man leaving a temple. On the count of three, all players lay down the card that reflects their intention to either leave the temple or venture further in.

After all players have revealed their intention, a card is turned over from the draw deck. The card will either be a treasure card or a trap card. Treasure cards reflect a point value. Those points are divided among all players who chose to remain in the temple (You could use this opportunity to teach division to your grade schoolers in a very fun way).

If a trap card is revealed for the first time, nothing happens, and another hand is played. If the same trap card is revealed a second time later in the round, all players who remained in the temple die and lose any treasure they had collected up to that point. (For younger players the instructions use the term "scared away" instead of "die" implying that the adventurers simply dropped their treasure and ran out.)

Players who chose to leave the temple get to keep all the treasure (points) they have collected up to that point, but sit out the rest of the round, and are not able to collect any more points until the current round is over.

A round ends after all players have voluntarily left the temple, or two trap cards have been turned over.

The winner is the player with the most points after 5 rounds.

I compare this game to "Deal or No Deal" or "Press Your Luck." The only decision a player will ever make is whether or not to continue into the temple risking all the points they've earned so far. Beyond that, the game is 100% luck.

The artwork on the cards is very nice and it pulls the kids into the game. There's also cute little "tents" to keep your treasure in. There is a 'temple' made out of five cards that are turned over to represent each of the five rounds. Some cards are going to get beat up fairly quickly because all players are playing the same two cards over and over again.

It's not a bad game at all, especially for kids. But if you're an adult who thinks you're getting a deep, highly-sophisticated European-designed game, you're going to be disappointed. This one's all about your expectations.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, but has it's limits..., January 22, 2008

By 

Alan Holyoak (The Shadow of the Tetons) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

= Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Incan Gold (Toy)

Players in this game are archeologist/explorers who have discovered an Incan Temple. The temple has 5 entrances, and each entrance takes the explorers into a different tunnel. During one game players explore all five tunnels.

The farther you opt to go into the tunnel, the greater your chances of finding treasure and artifacts. At the same time, however, the greater your chances of running into a tunnel terror so intense that you drop everything and run like mad to get out. Only players who decide to leave a tunnel before the terror shows up get to keep what they found in a particular tunnel.

A tunnel's contents are revealed as cards are drawn from a deck that contains treasure, artifact, and hazard cards. So, basically, the game presents players with a series of choices about whether to delve deeper into a tunnel and increase their chances of getting rich, as well as their chances of running into a hazard and losing it all, or taking a sure thing and getting out while they still can.

We purchased this game for the family, and it was a hit. Our crew includes children ages 17, 15, 13, and 8. All of them enjoy playing, but after a few rounds we made some house rules. In our opinion there are too few treasure cards and too many tunnel hazard cards. There are, I believe, 3 each of 6 different kinds of hazard cards. When two identical hazard cards are turned up in a tunnel all explorers still in the tunnel must drop their loot and flee. In order to increase the amount of loot we could collect, and thereby increase the fun of the game especially for younger players, we decided to pull one of each of the hazard cards from the deck. That means that the farther you get into the game, the fewer hazards you have to deal with (you'll see when you play). That made the game more fun for us.

As for the game itself...we enjoy the premise, but the cards are kind of flimsy, and the tent cards leave a lot to be desired. I'd have been willing to pay more for plastic tent pieces and a larger deck of more substantial cards.

All in all this is a solid family game, and the game is designed for up to 8 players. The play is fast enough to keep younger players engaged, and it's interesting enough to keep teens involved.

With all things considered, this is a solid 4 star game.