Hansel and Gretel Review

boardgamequest.com:

I’ve been slowly digging my way through the pile of games I got from Gen Con to review this year, and lucky for my kids, a good number of them were family games. They love gaming with me so I’m always looking for something new to introduce them to. After meeting with family game publisher Foxmind, we had a delicious-looking game to try out.

Hansel and Gretel, a cooperative game based on the familiar fable, tasks players with escaping from the evil witch that wants to eat them. The box says it’s appropriate for kids ages 6+, but I can safely say that my twin 5-year-olds handled it with no issues.

The goal in Hansel and Gretel is to collect 5 gingerbread tokens from the top of the house. Each turn, a player will play one of their tiles into the tableau in the center of the table. The goal is to complete pictures of different kinds of desserts. Completing one will earn the players a gingerbread token, which can also be spent for a 1-time movement bonus. At the end of their turn, the player draws a new tile. However, if the new tile is a witch’s hat, she gets a free move action. So watch out on that one.

At the end of each round, Hansel, Gretel, and the Witch will move around the track on the box. Each figure will move a number of spaces equal to the colored dots shown on the edge of the tableau. So if you can count 5 purple dots on the exterior of the tile formation, the Witch will move 5 spaces.

If the witch ever catches up to Hansel or Gretel (or if they lap around and catch her), the players lose and are, presumably, eaten. If they manage to claim all 5 gingerbread tiles first, they win!

One thing Hansel and Gretel has going for it is its excellent production values. My kids absolutely loved the chunky, wooden Meeples,