It’s heating up in here – Eruption

Since we don’t live anywhere near a volcano, we don’t usually worry about lava destroying our home and neighborhood. And if we were to think about it, I’m sure it would be a horrendous thought.

But even if the thought of a real volcano erupting in our town would be awful, the prospect of playing a game about it is just fun. After all, a lot of game themes may not be so fun to encounter in real life, but there’s a lot of fun in playing a board game about them.

In Eruption, you’re saving your village from the lava from a nearby erupting volcano while at the same time diverting the lava toward the villages of your opponents.

Watch Brooke’s video review to see what she thinks of Eruption.

Can the whole family enjoy Eruption?

Eruption is all about family play. It’s not a heavily strategic game for avid gamers but rather a lighter game for families to enjoy together. It’s simple enough that younger players can enjoy playing it yet confrontational enough that adults and older players may enjoy it as well. After all, don’t you think your teenagers will love sending lava toward their sibling’s village?

Of course, in games where you send bad things to the other players, you’ll need to watch out for hurt feelings. While younger players may enjoy sending lava towards dad, they don’t like the prospect of it coming their way. Yes, this is one of the life lessons kids need to learn but it better not be done in a malicious way. Eruption is meant to be just a light family board game, so it’s best when played that way with younger kids.

As you can see from Brooke’s review, she likes all that Eruption has to offer – a bit of luck and a bit of strategic decisions. Choosing where to send the lava is perhaps the biggest decision each turn. But you’ll also be faced with decisions of when and where to build walls as well as when to play the special cards. And the special cards add a lot of variability and fun to the game. You many think you’ got someone on the ropes and then they’ll play their rain card and cool down their village just before the end.

How does Eruption play with 6 players?

Eruption allows for 6 players in the game – which we love to see in a board game since it means our whole family can play together. However, we don’t think playing with 6 players in Eruption is ideal.

1. When you play with 6 players, most of the time you’re just sitting, waiting for your turn. You sit while you watch others roll dice and you sit while they decide where to place their newly drawn tile. Waiting for those decisions can really slow the game down. In other tile laying games where you build the board as you go (like Carcassonne and Gold Mine) we’ll play with players drawing a tile at the end of their turn so they’ll have more time to decide where to play it on their next turn. It really helps the game move along at a better pace. But that doesn’t really work for Eruption.
2. Another downside with 6 players is that you also don’t get as many turns. This means you don’t have as many opportunities to affect the game and your opponents’ villages. A lot of the game is based on luck anyway with the tile and card draws, but there is a bit of strategy in where you place your tiles and what walls you build. With less turns during the game, the balance shifts more to the luck side and less an impact through strategy.
3. And the last downside to 6 players is that some players may go untouched. This makes it simple to go easy on the younger players, but it doesn’t make for as much fun for the others. Then it’s more like a couple players battling it out while others watch from the sidelines.

We think the best way to play Eruption is with 3 or 4 players. With 3 or 4 players you get enough interaction to make it interesting and enough turns to have your decisions make an impact on the game. And it also lasts the right amount of time to keep it fun and light.

How does Eruption score on the “Let’s Play Again” meter?
Eruption hit middle ground on our “Let’s play again” game meter. It’s a good family game with a great theme for tile laying, but it’s not a game that we’re clamoring to play immediately again at the end. The main reason for that is the length of the game with 6 players. But that being said, when played with 2, 3, or 4, the time is well spent.

Thanks Stratus Games for another fun family board game.

P.S. We hope none of your real homes get destroyed by lava.

The Board Game Family Game Ratings
	Caleb
	Brooke
	Jaden
	Trevor
	Mom
	Dad
	Average

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