River of Gold Review

boardgamequest.com:

We review River of Gold, a euro game published by Office Dog. In River of Gold, players are trying to earn the most points by sailing down the fabled River of Gold in the Legends of the Five Rings.

I love cooperative fantasy games, but I need a break. I have been reviewing too many lately.

Behind cooperative games, my favorite type of game is an indirect confrontational Euro. Not completely multiplayer solitaire (for example, Rolling Realms, which I do love). A Euro where worker placement or drafting what your opponent wants is as confrontational as it gets.

So, what is this River of Gold that showed up in my review queue? Honestly, I never even heard of the game. After reading the box, I discovered it is set in the Legends of the Five Rings, a world I know about as much as the Eras’ Tour playlist. Hint #1: I know nothing about the playlist.

But not knowing much, or anything, about a game, has not stopped me from reviewing before. It has a quick playtime. It does not appear overly complicated. Fine, I’ll give it a shot.

Did I enjoy my time with River of Gold? Or did I drown in boredom, waiting for a new fantasy coop to save me? Hint #2: I did not need a life vest during my time with the game.

River of Gold is a competitive worker placement game for two to four players. As previously mentioned, it is set in the Legends of the Five Rings universe; however, like Lords of Waterdeep and Dungeons and Dragons, anyone can play this game and enjoy it—knowledge of the setting is not required. Most games are a comfortable sixty to ninety minutes, depending on player count.

The game lasts an undetermined number of turns, with players progressing through four steps on their turn as follows:

There is a scoring round when Era 1 ends (all the Era 1 tiles have been moved off the building board), then play returns to normal. The game will end after all the Era 2 building tiles are moved off the building board. Points are tallied up and the player with the most VPs is crowned the