Karuba – Fun Family Jungle Exploring

It’s time for your family to venture off on an exploration through dense jungles in search of long-lost treasure.

Join the expedition in Karuba!

Karuba is a fun tile-laying game that’s been a hit in our family. And we think it will be a hit with yours as well.

You may already be familiar with our love of tile-laying games. We enjoy the feeling of creating the board as we play – whether it is a countryside, a ship, a building, or a jungle.

In most of the tile-laying games we’ve played we all contribute to a central game board area. But Karuba is different. And it’s a fun difference.

In Karuba, each player has their own board in which they’re laying tiles to create paths through the jungle for their adventurers. And players are racing through their own jungles to collect the most valuable treasures to win.

See how to play as well as why it’s a great family board game in Caleb’s video review of Karuba.

 

Can the whole family enjoy playing Karuba?

I’ve learned over the years to be judicious on which board games I introduce my wife to.

She’s not a fan of learning new games all the time. She prefers to play games she’s already familiar with. So when I find a game I think will appeal to her, I get very excited. I get even more excited when, after playing with her, she gives it a big thumbs up and wants to play it again.

And Karuba is one of those games!

If it’s a hit with mom, it’s a keeper.

And Karuba is definitely a keeper!

It’s a game that’s easy to learn and presents a simple challenge. Players build paths on their own boards in a race to get their adventurers reach their temples.

Since players are working on their own jungle boards, there isn’t direct conflict. What one player does won’t have a direct impact on another player. For example, one player can’t ruin another player’s path. The only impact is that the first player to a temple gets more points.

Because all players use the same type of tile each turn, all players have the same chance to progress. It’s how they use their tiles that makes the difference in how the game turns out.

It’s fun to look over at the other players’ boards to see how they’re coming along on their progress toward their temples.

And it can also be helpful. Knowing how close other players are to getting certain color adventurers to the temples may help them choose which one of their own adventurers to move along.

Karuba is also a good family board game because of its mix of luck and choices. The luck comes from the randomness in which tiles to place. While the choices include whether to place a tile or discard it to move an adventurer.

When placing a tile, players have to choose where to place it. And when moving adventurers, players have to choose which one to move, how far to move them, and whether or not to stop and collect gems along the way.

Thus, each game plays out differently because of the tiles that come up and how players use them.

Even young kids can understand how to connect tiles to create paths through the jungle. And they can also understand that the blue adventurer is heading to the blue temple. They just may need a bit of practice to more fully understand the trade-offs with their placement choices.

All in all, it’s a great game everyone in the family can enjoy.

 

How does Karuba score on our “Let’s Play Again” game meter?

If you haven’t guessed, Karuba scores high on our “let’s play again” game meter. The best part is that it’s a board game mom loves too.

Many times we’ve played more than one game in a row. The game plays rather quickly. And because of the random tile draws, each game plays out differently.

It’s also fun to place the adventurers and temples in different spots depending on how much of a challenge we want to create. The more the adventurers have to cross paths, the more difficult it can be to get them to the end.

The only lag in setting up a game comes from organizing the tiles. And each player will have their own style for how they like to organize their tiles. But it’s still a pretty quick set up.

Karuba has a premier spot in our game closet because it’s game that even mom will suggest playing!

Thanks HABA for a great family board game!