Lately, I’ve been testing out a number of family games from publisher Luki Lab. This is my first offering from them and I have to say, so far all of their games have been pretty unique. The first game was Go Go Ghost, which my kids (ages 6) have been completely addicted to. “Can we play the ghost game, can we play the ghost game”. Needing a break from that, I pulled out Run Beaver Run for them to try. Little did I know, I quickly created a second monster.
Gameplay Overview:
Run Beaver Run is a racing game where you are trying to be the first to get your beaver to the end of the track. On your turn, you roll the 6-sided die to find out how far you will move. It contains numbers 1-3 twice, once with a light background and once with a dark.
Some of the spaces have action symbols on them that allow your beaver to jump ahead a few spaces, switch spaces with another player, take another turn, or have your beaver duck down. It’s that last one that’s pretty important. Because if your die roll shows a dark background, you need to release the rolling log.
The log has some magnets inside and if it happens to catch your beaver, you have to go back to the start (or the checkpoint if you’ve made it that far). Then the next player takes their turn. Players will go around in this manner until someone reaches the final space and wins.
Game Experience:
When I saw a roll and move game with a tiny bit of “take that” (switching places), I was super worried. Roll and move is one of the worst mechanics in board gaming but since this is a kid’s game, I figured I’d go in with an open mind. And you know what, it actually wasn’t that bad. As there are only about 25 spaces in total, and any with an action icon is beneficial, there really wasn’t too much of an issue with the roll and move.
Honestly, the most clever part of the game was how they handled the rolling log. At first, we couldn’t figure out how it would knock over your beaver because it was clearly too high up. But after a few pulls, we figured out not only were there magnets in play, but they were randomly spaced around the log. So just because it rolls over your beaver it doesn’t mean it will necessarily be picked up. That was a really smart play.
Honestly, the worst thing about the game is having to go back to the start after your beaver get “logged”. Thankfully, there is a checkpoint halfway up the track, so you never have to go back to the beginning once you get far enough, but with the die being 50-50 on whether you will need to release the log or not, it can cause the game to drag on a bit. I kind of wish they would have made only 2 sides of the die have the dark side, and not 3.
But from a child’s perspective, the game is pretty great. Both my kids loved it and I really didn’t mind playing with them. The icons were simple enough that after one game, they knew what they all meant. And the game has a great toy factor—they loved releasing the log and moving their beavers around the track. I do want to warn you though that some meltdowns did happen when a beaver got caught close to the end or when someone in the lead had their spaces switched with them. So be prepared to deal with that with your kids.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, Run Beaver Run was a surprisingly fun game that my kids really enjoyed. In fact, I’ve handed the game off to them now that I’m done testing it, and, months later, they are still playing it fairly regularly. So it’s safe to say, the game is a win in our house. Plus, it’s easy enough that you can let your kids play it while you get some P&Q. And even after the game is over, the toy factor is high enough that they’ll keep playing with bits for a while. Top marks from my little testers for this latest offering from Luki Labs.
