*AD – the item in this review was gifted to our household for this post. All opinions, as always, are our own.
Farplace is a board game with a mission, as it was created by the animal rescue of the same name, to sort of teach children about rescuing animals and to raise funds for the rescue itself. This board game has a front and back to the board and is designed for two to four players. It’s a bit complex for little ones, due to the special rules for each different animal, but is a pretty interesting board game all together.
Players choose which animal they are and get the matching meeple and character card. The character card explains their abilities; I was the pigeon, which means I could fly over houses and water, and when I rescued a pigeon, I got to select three golden cards and then pick one to play on that turn. Robin was a cat, who could use the boxes on the map to speed through, getting to go over all the boxes for just one space, and Kai got to be the dog, which could go through a little tunnel. Dann got the bunny, who was able to move diagonally. All of these characters change how you move on the map, as there are houses and water to avoid, as well as different tiles that you can stop at for bonuses.
On your turn, you get to take any two actions (including using an action twice). The most popular action was either taking two from the object card bank or from the deck face down. These object cards were things like “worming” or “vet check up” which are needed to rescue the animal cards in your hand. Players could also grab an animal card and rescue an animal if they had all the cards they needed. When you rescue an animal, you need to give up all of the object cards that that animal needs specifically, then draw a golden card. You must then do what the golden card does (things like giving specific pets to other people or making it so your move does not count), then you can move your character across the board. Your goal is to get to the finish line and not have any animals waiting to be rescued in your pile.
We found that making little piles of what we had was the best way to organise, as we found ourselves getting lots of object cards quickly in Farplace. There were also some lovely conversations around what a “humanised trap” is, and as nobody could steal each other’s cards, it was nice to see what people had. Most of the animals revolved around releasing, however there were a few red cards that were rehoming, which if you had them at the end of the game, would send you back spaces! Winning actually takes place when one person crosses the finish line – if they have any outstanding animal cards they need to go back one, and if they have red animal cards they need to go back the total of the number listed. Everyone else needs to do the same, so you can end up finishing first and then losing based on your animal cards.
Farplace is a simple game to follow, once you get it going. Our only real problem in the design of the game is hoarding cards. Often we had players who would not play specific cards, as they were trying to target their pet (cat for example) who does not need something like release.
I do love board games, especially when my kids were younger and now with the grandkids. I have not heard of this game before but I know it is one we will all love to play
This Farplace Board Game is interesting. We love board games and This is the first time I heard of this kind of board game.
I LOVE this so much! I’m a huge animal lover, and so is the rest of our family. This was absolutely made for us.
I can’t tell you how much I love this game. I was a vet assistant for 7 years, and every dog I’ve ever owned has been a rescue. I love the concept here.
It’s clear that the character cards and meeples play a significant role in shaping the gameplay, making each playthrough a fresh and enjoyable experience. The mention of different elements on the map, like houses, water, and bonus tiles, adds to the intrigue of this board game. It sounds like a fantastic choice for a gaming night with friends or family. Thanks for sharing this exciting board game experience!
Aww what a sweet family board game! This looks like a lot of fun and I bet it’s so nice getting together to play a tabletop. It’s not something we do often enough anymore in our home..so it’s nice to see!
Such a great game! Love when kids play and learn at the same time!
The Farplace board game, not only sounds like a fun and engaging game for the family but also serves a noble mission of teaching children about animal rescue and supporting a rescue organization.
This is such a nice mission for a game to teach kids about rescuing animals and providing for rescues. Sounds like a fun one x
I absolutely love you boardgame suggestions and this rescuing animals sounds legit good.
It’s great to see a game that encourages conversation and strategic thinking.
This sounds like a fabulous game and my daughter would absolutely love this as she loves animals period and wants to be a veterinarian!
This game looks very appealing and the graphics are very good. Great concept for a board game. Very disappointing though in reality. I bought this for my Grandson but none of us in the family could work out how to play at all. Instructions are long winded and unfathomable. We had to give up with it eventually. Sorry to be critical, we were very excited about playing it so it was a big disappointment to find it so complicated despite the fun looking presentation.