Alright, here’s a review for the game that made me wish I owned hiking boots instead of more dice trays. If you’ve ever wanted a tabletop stroll through stunning national parks—but hate actual bugs—this one’s for you. After roping in my friends (bribed with snacks, as usual), I put it through its paces: artwork, gameplay, player interaction, and more. And yes, I’ll tell you if it’s really as relaxing as walking in the woods or if it’s secretly trying to trip you with an unfair squirrel attack. Let’s see if this one deserves a spot on your table or should just stay on the shelf at REI.
How It Plays
Setting up
First, lay out the trail tiles in a line. Shuffle up the park cards and put them in a neat pile. Give each player two hiker meeples, a canteen, and some secret year cards (so you feel mysterious). Sprinkle out the resources—sun, water, mountains, and trees—and line up the gear shop. Now you’re ready to hike!
Gameplay
Each round, you’ll move one of your hikers forward along the trail. You can pick any spot ahead, but once you go past a place, there’s no backtracking! At each stop, you’ll grab resources, fill your canteen, take a photo (to brag about later), or buy gear for cool bonuses. But watch out! Only one hiker per spot unless you use your handy campfire token. Players block each other a bit, but it stays pretty friendly. After everyone reaches the trail’s end, you reset the trail and prepare for a new season—with new twists!
Winning the game
After four seasons, players add up points from visited parks, photos, completed year cards, and any gear. The person with the most points wins, forever holding the title of World’s Best Hiker (at least until next game night).
Want to know more? Read our extensive strategy guide for Parks.
Stunning Artwork and Component Quality in Parks
Let’s talk about the one thing that Parks does better than almost any other board game on my shelf: it looks so darn good, I once caught my friend Tim just staring at the box for five minutes before we even opened it. I kid you not! The artwork in Parks comes from the Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series, and every park card looks like it belongs in a fancy art gallery or, at the very least, on your grandma’s fridge. The colors pop, the illustrations of national parks are so pretty that people who don’t even like camping will want to play. It’s like taking a scenic road trip across America during golden hour, but without worrying about mosquitoes.
Now, let’s chat about the components. The wooden tokens are chunky and satisfying to hold. If you’ve ever played a game with cardboard tokens that feel as flimsy as cheap paper towels, you know what a big deal this is. The hiking meeples are shaped like little hikers with backpacks, and the canteens? Chef’s kiss. Every piece feels solid and like it’ll last longer than my ability to pronounce Appalachian on the first try. Even the tray inserts are top-notch, making setup faster than me trying to grab all the wild tokens before my friends do. It’s clear a lot of love went into making Parks not just a game, but a work of art for your table.
But is it all beauty and no brains? Well, hold onto your hiking boots, because next, I’ll look at the gameplay mechanics and whether strategy can outpace luck on this trail!
Gameplay Mechanics and Strategy in Parks: Hike Smarter, Not Harder
I played Parks with a mix of hardcore planners and wild card friends. Let’s just say, more than one water bottle was thrown in frustration (don’t worry, no components were harmed). The main mechanic in Parks is the trail system. You move your little hiker meeples along a path, picking up resources and taking nifty photos. Each turn, you decide to move one of your hikers forward on the trail, but you can’t move backwards—so if you shoot ahead to grab all the sunshine tokens, you might just miss out on those precious canteens or gear cards. This makes every decision deliciously tense. My friend Jenny got greedy with hiking fast, but then she stared longingly at all the parks she couldn’t visit. Lesson learned: don’t hike with Jenny.
The strategy is all about timing. The further you go, the fewer options you leave yourself. Some players like to hang back and grab more resources, others dash forward to nab special places before everyone else. The balance is neat, but sometimes a player gets boxed in or blocked by someone camping on a space you really, REALLY wanted. It isn’t unfair, but it does mean one bad decision can haunt you for a round or two. The gear and canteen cards spice things up by giving you special actions or more efficient ways to get resources. You can set up clever combos, but if you focus too much on one thing, you might end the game with nothing but a pile of pinecones and regret.
If you’re looking for a game with deep strategy without pages of rules, Parks is a strong pick. Next up, I’m bringing my loudest board game group to test just how social—and accessible—this hike can get!
Player Interaction and Accessibility in Parks
Playing Parks with my friends always gets a mix of laughs and grumbles. The game has just the right amount of player interaction. Every turn, you choose a hiker and move down the trail, but there’s a twist: you can’t land on a spot already taken. I lost count of how many times my best buddy blocked my perfect move—on purpose! This ‘blocking’ is never too mean, though. It keeps you guessing but doesn’t ruin friendships (unless you hide the snacks, then all bets are off).
Parks is also quite easy to teach. I’ve played with board game newbies and grizzled hobbyists, and everyone picked up the rules fast. The player aids help a lot, so you don’t have to flip through the rulebook every five seconds. The actions are simple—get stuff, use stuff, visit parks. The iconography is clear, and the board looks inviting. There’s nothing super fiddly, making it perfect for that friend who hates over-complicated setups.
Parks also shines for accessibility in other ways. The box includes color-blind friendly components, which is a nice touch that more games should copy. And the physical size of the tokens won’t make you go cross-eyed squinting at them. People with less dexterity won’t struggle, either, since nothing requires tiny, precise movements. Basically, Parks welcomes everyone to the table—just maybe not your competitive cousin who takes blocking very personally.
If you want to know how many times you’ll pull Parks off your shelf (and for how long you’ll play), buckle up for the replay value and session length section next!
Is Parks Worth Playing Again and Again? A Look at Replay Value and Session Length
Let’s talk about the big question with Parks: Will you want to play it more than once, or does it end up forgotten on the shelf, next to that unopened copy of Monopoly Madness?
First, the replay value in Parks is pretty solid. The trail tiles shuffle up each time, so your hike is never quite the same. That means your plans for snatching that perfect park visit will have to shift, and you can’t just phone it in on autopilot. Plus, there are a bunch of different year cards and gear cards that keep you on your toes. The shifting weather tokens add more spice. I once spent an hour telling my friend that next time, I’d actually get the camera token more than once. Still hasn’t happened.
The session length is a sweet spot for me. We usually finish a game of Parks in under an hour, unless we get sidetracked by someone’s snack break (I’m looking at you, Greg). It’s quick enough for a weeknight, but you can play a couple rounds back-to-back without losing your mind or your friends.
If there’s a knock here, it’s that once you’ve played Parks a lot, you might wish for another expansion to shake things up. But honestly? The game stays fresh way longer than I expected—probably because of all the pretty parks that remind me I should go outside.
I totally recommend Parks for anyone who likes a relaxing game with solid replay value that won’t eat your whole night. Grab your water bottles and hit the cardboard trail!
Conclusion
Parks really nails it with top-notch art and chunky wooden tokens that make you want to organize your shelves. The game is easy to teach, keeps everyone engaged, and lets you plan ahead without running into a streak of bad luck. Sure, there’s a bit of blocking, but it’s more gentle nudge than full-on sabotage—unless you play with my cousin Dave, who blocks just to see me squirm. The replay value holds up thanks to the randomized setup and short play time. If you want a game that feels fair, friendly, and looks amazing on the table, Parks is a super safe pick. That wraps up my review—time for me to dream about a vacation in an actual park (preferably one with less strategic water collecting).
