Looking for a smooth sailing and fast-paced building game for something different at board game night? Take to the skies in our Wayfinders review!
Wayfinders is a worker placement and route building game for 2-4 players. From designer Thomas Dagenais–Lespérance and published by Pandasaurus Games. On the quicker side with playtime at twenty-five to forty-five minutes a game.
Wayfinders: $39.95
Get It For Less At Miniature Market
Engines purring, goggles down – the seaplane is set for take-off! Welcome to the whimsical world of Wayfinders, where intrepid explorers race to chart new paths through the skies.
You will need to think on your feet and outfit your planes with the right gear to arrive safely – but building hangers on islands and stocking them with parts can help you zip around with ease! Be sure to be keen in your planning and you will unlock the charms of the islands. Wheels up – adventure awaits!
Contents:
45 Island Tiles
60 Resource Tokens
1 Hangar Board
1 Resource Bag
40 Airstrip Cubes
4 Airplanes
20 Worker Meeples
1 Rulebook
4 Player Aids
Ages: 10+
Players: 2-4
Game Length: 25-45 minutes
Take To The Skies: Wayfinders Board Game Review
In Wayfinders you are a pilot and team of workers trying to establish hangers on the various islands of an archipelago. Each island has either a scoring bonus, makes a certain resource wild, or makes certain island colors free to pass through.
Each player will have ten hangers and five workers, as well as an airplane. You have two possible actions to take. Place a worker on the hanger or recall workers. When placing a worker you pick any hanger and put your worker in the lane of your choice. Each lane has a set of three resources that are taken from top to bottom.
The other action, recall workers lets you take back all workers from all lanes. Then, receive a resource per worker on every lane they come back from. After that, you can move your airplane across the islands. You can move freely across any island with a hanger, regardless of player.
The islands have a list of resources along the bottom and a color assigned to them. The color is what resource you need to pay in order to fly over and past it. The list at the bottom is how you build a hanger. You turn the listed resources into the supply unless another player has a hanger there already. If the latter is the case then you pay the resources to the player instead.
Once any player is down to two or fewer hangers, the end game is triggered. That player finishes up and the round continues until the player to the right of the first player takes their turn. This ensures everyone has an equal number of turns.
Wayfinders is a very fast-paced game with great decisions to make. Certain islands add a scoring bonus and those shouldn’t be overlooked. While every island has built-in points, the bonus islands can really boost your score. The balance of putting down workers and recalling them in order to claim islands is very important I think.
I really enjoyed my play sessions of Wayfinders. The modular tilemap keeps everything new and fresh. Claiming the early islands seems very strong. I say this because if you have a hanger on an island first then other players are paying you with resources you can use to settle other islands. This will give you a huge advantage in the long run.
Wayfinders has very nice components and artwork. The airplane miniatures look great and the resource tokens are nice as well. My only gripe is the resource tokens, however. I feel like they should have been printed double-sided. Typically when setting them into the hanger lanes, I put them upside down. Granted this is a minor OCD issue since the color denotes what resource it is without having to see the icons.
I definitely like the game for its simple gameplay and fast playtime. If you looking to set up a quick game this one is a great choice. I could see this one hitting the table quite often based on its speed and fun. I hope you get a chance to check out this fun route builder.
Wayfinders: $39.95
Get It For Less At Miniature Market
