Family Board Game Nut Hunt Soon on Kickstarter
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post from Pine Island Games. All thoughts and opinions are our own.
We’ve been playing board games with our 9-year-old son since he was a toddler, and some of the very first board games we ever purchased for him were family versions of popular games we already loved. Well-known games like Catan and Ticket to Ride both have great kids versions that helped us introduce him to the more strategic elements of the Eurogame genre.
If you’re unfamiliar with the term, Eurogames involve a bit of thought and planning, and often require you to manage resources and build and purchase things. They also generally emphasize individual development as opposed to direct conflict between players. We tend to like games like that a lot (the 2 I mentioned are 2 of our all-time favorite kids games), but, honestly, we just don’t have many that the kids can play.
It’s a very popular genre of board games for people that enjoy strategizing and executing plans. But it’s been quite a long time since we’ve gotten our hands on a family Eurogame that captures our hearts like the legendary Catan and Ticket to Ride. I’ve long thought that there is a big chasm in the market that still needs to be filled - in the middle ground between simple kids games and complex adult games.
Nut Hunt is a game that is going to help fill that specific niche in the market. It’s a family game that includes elements that remind us of both Catan and Ticket to Ride, and it has its own cute personality and several fresh elements as well. And, to be completely objective and honest, the cute theme of Nut Hunt is probably much more engaging for most kids - compared to collecting wool and wheat or building trains.
And I think it’s that cute personality that really goes a long way. I think you’ll agree with me that it’s easy to love a game with cute squirrel and fox meeples, and beautiful art on the game board as well. I’m very impressed with the handsome variety of locations on the hex pieces that make up the game board. I really don’t think you can underestimate style and setting in a board game, and Nut Hunt is an endearing and attractive-looking game.
How to Play Nut Hunt
Similarly to Ticket to Ride, each player has secret objectives that they are trying to complete - routes between two locations that they have to finish with an uninterrupted run of squirrels or nests. And, like Catan, different hexes provide different resources (in this case, different nuts). And you can spend your nuts on recruiting more squirrels.
The other major mechanism in the game is the wandering fox - certainly the cutest meeple in the game - and that wily fox will undoubtedly pester you quite a bit. The fox moves on every turn, scattering every squirrel from the hex that he lands on to neighboring hexes. Several times during the course of the game, the fox is likely to throw a wrench in your plans for completing your routes.
The fox also serves as a major strategic element of the game. Moving the fox again is one of the options on your turn, and it can be used for pestering your opponents, gathering an extra nut, or even strategically scattering your own squirrel to a new location.
On your turn, you move the fox (randomized by the fox die), scatter the squirrels where the fox lands, and collect your nuts. Then you have a choice. You can either: 1) Hassle the fox and pull him to a square with one of your squirrels or nests 2)Recruit a new squirrel by spending your nuts or 3) Take your chance on getting a new objective card.
Whenever you have 3 squirrels on the same hex, they automatically turn into a nest. And the game ends when someone builds their 4th nest. You get 2 points for a nest, plus points for completed secret route objectives (and bonus points for their length). But you also lose points for objectives you don’t finish, which certainly adds quite a bit of strategy that I’ll talk about later.
Who is Nut Hunt for?
Nut Hunt is officially recommended for players age 10+, and an estimate of a 30 minute play time. But I would add a slight adjustment to both of those numbers. Our 9-year-old was very absorbed in the strategy of the game and had no issues at all, so I might personally lower the age to 8 or 9+. And that’s a fantastic age for board games - and lets it serve as a nice bridge between kids games and adult games.
And the game can easily stretch for longer than 30 minutes, but that’s for an interesting reason that I’ll explain. An exciting strategic element of the game is that it only ends after someone makes their 4th squirrel nest. So, effectively, everyone can avoid ending the game until they want to end the game. And they probably don’t want to end the game if they have incomplete objectives.
In our first game, every single one of us seemed to be delaying things towards the end, so it might have lasted a full hour. That pesky fox kept chasing away our squirrels in the middle of our routes, and everybody wanted to maximize their points before the game ended.
Eventually, my son hassled the fox and I scattered my squirrels to a hex where they made my 4th and final nest. I basically decided to end the game, despite the fact that one of my objectives was incomplete. But, ultimately, the extra 2 points from being the only person in the game with that 4th nest gave me the win by a single point.
Sadly, our son was 1 single squirrel on 1 single hex away from beating us by a pretty wide margin. He had a solid strategy of collecting extra objective cards, but the fox chased away a squirrel right at the end that disconnected his routes. But the important thing is that he was clearly very engaged in the game. I love playing games with him where he gets to strategize, and it’s always a joy watching him learn and then execute his plans.
I think at this point it’s safe to say that Nut Hunt already safely belongs to our top 4 favorite family Eurogames - along with Catan Junior, Ticket to Ride First Journey, and Honga. And that’s pretty good company!
Soon on Kickstarter!
Nut Hunt is about to launch on Kickstarter - with a target launch date of Tuesday, June 7th. If you enjoy Eurogames like Ticket to Ride or Catan, I encourage you to keep an eye on the campaign. Especially if you feel the need (like I do) for more great family games that better accommodate that middle area of kids ages 8-12.
I’m personally very impressed with this first project from designer Jasper Burch and independent publisher Pine Island Games. Nut Hunt is well-polished and very endearing. And I’ve learned not to underestimate what it means when our son really gets engaged in a game. I look forward to seeing what they come up with next!
If you want to keep an eye on the Kickstarter for Nut Hunt, make sure to follow the campaign and ask to be notified when it launches: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pineislandgames/nut-hunt
Are you thinking about backing Nut Hunt? Or have you played it already? Let us know what you think in the comments!
