Every 100 Games Series - The Legend of Landlock

My 5,700th game played was one with my oldest daughter who is 5 years old. We pulled out The Legend of Landlock, a game that was given to us by a friend whose kids had out grown it. So read on to see how this game stacks up from my point of view and from a kids point of view.

Game Play
This is said to be a 2-4 player game, but it really is just a two player tile laying game where players are creating a grid. On the tiles are roads and rivers. One player is playing as water and one player as land, trying to make long routs, form islands, and generally manipulate their land type on the map. After the whole grid is complete, players score points based upon how long and many their particular terrain type is and a winner is declared. The game we played took about 15 minutes to play.

Components
The components are there. The game was originally made in 1988 and you can tell a bit. The art is unassuming, the tiles while they work aren't exactly the thick quality you'd find in Carcassonne or Forbidden Island. However, there isn't anything wrong with them either. There are not any other components in the game.

Strategy & Tactics
There is actually quite a bit of strategy and tactics in this game. More than I expected. Drawing a single tile a turn though can limit how much you plan, but not any more than other tile laying games. This is a very abstract game of push and shove, setting up what you need to happen and preventing your opponent from doing exactly what they want.

Overall
I was pleasantly surprised by this game. I think it is a game that for the most part the best player will win everytime and feels more like a classic game of Othello or Checkers rather than a small kids game as it is packaged. However, kids can enjoy the game, all the tiles match up and so make for easy placement. My daughter enjoyed our play of it, but has yet to ask for it again. So I guess this one was a solid game for me, just not one that has been overwhelming us. There are other kids games that we prefer and also other abstract games that we prefer.

Recommendations
Carcassonne Players - This isn't as fun as Carc. It is a bit shorter and only two player. It is much more simpler though, so perhaps a good gateway for a kid into Carcassonne.

Non-Parents - If you don't have any kids, I don't think I'd get this game. There are many better abstract 2 player games out there to enjoy before this one.

Kids Who Love Theme - This is also a non-recommendation for me. For instance Candyland, as horrible as it is, is much more thematic of a game. The Evening in the Stable another simple roll and move type game is much more thematic. If you kid isn't playing to play a game, but is instead playing to enjoy a story, then Landlock isn't the game for him or her.

*Every 100 Games Series - Back in March of 2006 I began tracking each session of the various board and card games I play. I soon got the idea to write a review on every 100th game I played, one because I like writing reviews, and two because it is interesting to see what game I review next. You can find a list of all of them here: Every 100 Games Series Reviews. All images are from BGG and if you follow their URL you can find them there.