Trekking The National Parks
$49.99
Trekking the National Parks at a Glance
| Game Type Outdoor Theme Point to Point Movement Travel Card Drafting | Play Time 30 - 60 mins | Skill/Complexity (2 - 5) Light Complexity |
| Age 10+ | Publisher(s) Bink Ink LLC Underdog Games | Published 2018 |
| Categories Teens / Family | Players 2 - 5 (4 is perfect) | Rules Manual Official Rules PDF |
| Our Rating 9/10 | Cost Approx $49.99 |
About – Description
First published in 2014, Trekking The National Parks was the inspiration of Charlie Bink whose family visited as many US National Parks as possible. Charlie got a little help from 524 Kickstarter backers for the initial setup and production costs.
This 2015 Mensa Select and Parent’s Choice board game winner is a race across the country type of game where players must earn points by claiming National Parks and picking up Stones along the way. Tactical decisions are required for those aiming for victory!
Trekking through the US National Parks is an excellent adventure theme for a board game that does give players the feel and idea of what activities are available at these wonderful parks. There’s an environmental educational aspect that’s useful for the younger generation.
While simplicity is at the forefront of this point to point movement and card drafting game there is some strategic stuff happening, so it’s far from boring. It usually plays out for about 30 – 60 minutes a game which is ideal for the intended audience.
2 – 5 player game that plays out at its best with 4 people around the table.
Who’s it best suited for?
We’ve added Trekking The National Parks to the Teens board game category as well as for families. It’s ideal for all the family and best suited for children aged 8 and up to play, although some children younger than eight may be able to enjoy playing.
Any outdoorsy type people, whether they enjoy camping, trekking or any other outdoor activities are likely to connect with this game because of the theme.
If you have played and enjoyed playing the board game Ticket To Ride then you should connect with this game as it has similarities and mechanisms.
Skill/Complexity
Trekking The National Parks is a non-complex game that’s for families to play. It is primarily about fun and a great theme with various actions to take, although tactical decisions need to be made.
The main strategic aspect is for players to determine an effective route to approach one of the available destinations that will enable them to collect colored stones to compete for majorities. Also, tactical decisions are required to out-maneuver and block other players, and using scoring options as best as you can will help you triumph over others while trekking the National Park routes.
The game feels light, enjoyable and tactical, with the tactical being just at the right level for a family weight game.
Setting up, Basics of How to Play & Rules
Setting up is fairly straight forward and takes about 5 minutes. There’s a good amount of components to sort out and place which the rule book explains, clearly.
Object of Game
The object of the game is for players to move from point to point on the board to prove you’re the most experienced trekker – picking up as many victory points as possible along the way. The person that ends the game with the most victory points wins.
How do we collect victory points?
The golden arrows indicate victory points which are found on Claim Park Cards, Occupy Major Park Cards, and you receive points when collecting a Stone. You can also win a Stone Bonus Card at the end to top up victory points.
You now begin with the first player taking 2 action cards and then continue clockwise taking turns. As this game is not dice based and uses cards, all players on their turn choose 2 cards that create actions and these cards are as follows – Draw a Trek Card, Claim a Park Card, and Occupy a Major Park Card. An action you can also take is move your little trekker mover to an important connection after paying the connection cost with your cards and forfeit the cards and the actions they can give you that you could use for that move (decisions….decisions).
While trekking through the parks and making connections you’ll pick up as many of those shiny point gathering stones as you can.
There are other cool bits and bobs going on in between that makes the game fun and interesting, but that’s the meat of the game covered. You can read the official rules book here!
Game Ending & Final Scores
There’s two ways the game can end. 1st, all stones on the board are collected – 2nd, a player has collected 5 Park cards (Major Parks do not count).
Players tally up Stones collected and victory points from the various cards that player has. The player with highest points wins!
Versions & Editions
A second edition was published in 2018. The heart of the game is the same as the first edition, however, there are quite a few changes including board changes and the 2nd edition does simplify the game.
Underdog the company that now publishes Trekking The National Parks also published a national Parks trivia game in 2019.
Likes & Dislikes
- Great theme.
- Excellent casual gamers game.
- Great interaction families.
- Quality components and artwork.
- Easy to learn and teach.
- Educational.
- Not as much fun with 2 or 3 players.
There’s a lot to like about Trekking The national Parks. Great light weight family game that has an excellent outdoorsy theme that’s designed well. It’s easy to learn and teach, and plays out for a well balanced time frame of 30 minutes or more for families.
While this is not a complex game it does add some strategic stuff and tactics which keeps the game lively enough. Replay value is moderate and player interaction is high.
A cool feature of this game is the educational aspect of promoting and learning the children about the National Parks.
It’s everything a lightweight family board game needs to be.
Final Thoughts
I wish they had board games like this when I was growing up. It’s fun to play and has a good balance of tactics and actions with point to point movement simplicity, and it’s designed well with a great theme.
