Gingerbread House Board Game for Witches and Sorcerers | Review

Who do I lure into my little house? In the Gingerbread House board game, you slip into the skin of cunning fairytale witches. The fairytale game goal: attract creatures with their favourite gingerbread and collect victory points!

Build an enticing house out of gingerbread that will make Puss in Boots’ mouth water. Or is it perhaps even more worthwhile to lure the bad wolf?

The fairytale forest is teeming with fairytale creatures that clever witches can capture with the right gingerbread and a pinch of luck. To do this, each witch builds her gingerbread house upwards from gingerbread, jokers and stairs, floor by floor – and in 3D! Which creature can’t resist and wants to nibble on the gingerbread now?

The Gingerbread House board game from the publisher Lookout Spiel is a 3D game for small and large witches and sorcerers. Both luck and the right strategy are the ingredients for victory. The game includes two game variants – the beginner’s game in which luck plays a greater role and the standard game, which requires a little more strategy.

For whom is the game worthwhile, what are the pros and cons? One thing up front: Unfortunately, you can’t eat the gingerbread tokens, but the enchantingly designed game whets your appetite for more!

Note: The publisher ASS Altenburger, which also distributes the Lookout games, kindly provided us with a review copy. However, this review is unpaid and reflects our independent opinion.

The Gingerbread House Board Game at a Glance

• Game type: family game
• Age: from 8 years
• Players: 2 – 4 players
• Duration: approx. 30 min.
• Publisher: Lookout Spiele Verlag (distributed by ASS Altenburger)
• Game author: Phil Walker-Harding
• Year of publication: 2018
• Game objective: Strategically attract precious creatures with the right gingerbread, fulfil reward requirements and win with the most victory points.

Angebot

Lookout | Hexenhaus | Familienspiel | Legespiel | 2-4 Spieler | Ab 8+ Jahren | 30+ Minuten | Deutsch

17,89 EUR

How to Play the Gingerbread Board Game

Player tableau with a witch’s house

Game Material and Preparation

The game consists of one game board per player, gingerbread tokens, jokers and stairs to build, cards with fairy tale creatures, reward cards, gingerbread tokens and a scoring pad to score victory points.

First you decide whether you want to play the beginner’s game or the standard game and lay out the respective reward cards on the table.
Place the jokers, stairs and gingerbread tokens next to them. Each player places a game board in front of them and draws 15 random gingerbread double tiles face down and stacks them face down next to the game board as a draw pile.

Now each witch draws 3 double tiles and lays them out face up and, starting with the starting player, takes one of the fairy tale creatures on display clockwise and places it at the top of the game board in the place with the gate. Then the row of fairy tale creatures is refilled from the draw pile.

Gameplay

You always place individual joker tiles immediately

Build First

The game is not played simultaneously but in turn. The starting witch takes one of the three open gingerbread double tiles and places it on two squares of the 9 x 9 grid on her game board. The gingerbread token triggers the effects of the symbols shown on the grid or the gingerbread tokens already placed. This means that if there is a heart gingerbread and a blue gingerbread underneath, the witch may take these two gingerbread markers from the general supply.

You may also first build up to a maximum of 2 stairs consisting of one tile and then build a double gingerbread over the stairs, in which case you get the gingerbread lying under the stairs. And if you cover two identical gingerbreads next to each other with your double tile, you can take this symbol three times from the supply.

You try to build in such a way that you get gingerbread markers as skilfully as possible and use them to fulfil the favourite gingerbreads printed on the fairy tale cards and at the same time make the most of the tasks on the collected reward cards and fulfil them, because you get victory points for this.

Capture Fairy Creatures

Row of fairy tale creatures laid out

After building, you can capture the fairy tale creatures lying in the row and in your own gate. The fairy tale creatures are worth different numbers of victory points, they are printed on the bottom left. To capture a creature, use the gingerbread markers on the cards to attract it. The gingerbread markers you need go back into the supply and you turn the captured fairy tale creature over onto its back and place it underneath the game board.

You can capture as many fairy creatures as possible in one turn. For each captured fairy creature you get a joker, which you immediately place on your game board.

Completing the Floor

You can use the stairs to complete a floor

For each completed floor, you may take a reward card from the centre of the table and place it in your treasure chamber on the left of the board.

In the beginner’s game, the reward cards give fixed points and you always take the card with the most points.
In the standard game, things get tricky. Because there are reward cards in play that give points depending on the height of the gingerbread house or for captured creatures and people who are cheerful or bad-tempered. So you have to keep an overview and adapt your strategy!

After each turn, you turn over 3 double gingerbread tiles again and fill up the fairy tale creature row.

Win the Game

As soon as all witches have placed their gingerbread tiles, the game is over. Now everyone enters their victory points on the scoreboard under their name for the fairy creatures captured, the points for the reward cards and for any remaining gingerbread tokens. The witch with the most victory points is the winner.

Review and Conclusion

Rating

Clever witches, cheeky fairy-tale creatures, puzzles, luck and a pinch of strategy to boot – and all stirred together with colourful motifs, high-quality playing material and beautifully crafted design. The fairy tale theme with the colourful design awakens the imagination, makes you want more and, as a 3D game, also brings the game element of haptic building.

The two game variants make it as easy as possible for little witches to get into the game and the strategic demands can be increased in further games.

The Gingerbread House board game is quick to set up, functions with simple rules and is quickly understood. The rules are well coordinated and ensure fluid fun. The mix of simple strategic considerations, luck and concentration makes it super suitable as an entry game for children into the world of strategy games. It is a successful family game for children aged 8 and over that stimulates the imagination.

Top or flop for children depends on the theme of the game: children who love fairy tales and like to hide a dragon in their blanket tent will love it – those who don’t like fairy tales are better off with another game.

Pro and Con

Looking closely and puzzling cleverly, and in 3D – that’s what this laying game is all about. Due to the random drawing of cards and gingerbread, every move has an element of luck. In addition, there is the element of strategy, due to the several creature cards on the table with different requirements that have to be fulfilled and the 3 x 3 grid squares with several possibilities to build gingerbread. If you keep both in mind, you will attract many precious fairytale creatures.

In the so-called standard game, you have to think more strategically, as important reward cards with tasks are added. This ensures that the Gingerbread House board game provides lasting fun and neither over- nor under-challenges children.

The rules are explained in a simple and understandable way and are designed in such a way that older primary school children can read them themselves and count and calculate their points. The design and playing material are stable and of high quality. It remains to be seen how the game material will perform after repeated use.

Conclusion

Magically designed and building in 3D for fairy tale lovers: the Gingerbread House board game is a recommendable family game that stimulates the imagination and offers a nice introduction to the world of strategy games.

There are other recommendable family games to discover on Abenteuer Freundschaft. For example, Anchors Aweigh. Or you can browse our family board games or other Activities with Kids.

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