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My Gold Mine
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Experience the thrilling and exciting pursuit of wealth as well as strategy in a fun game of My Gold Mine. Find yourself buried in the precarious although super enticing world of gold mining as you compete against friends and family as players on a mission of building the most flourishing mining operation in the frontier town.
In a game of My Gold Mine, each and every decision you make matters. You must command your entire team of expert miners, manage precious cargo and resource, while employing clever tactics to navigate your way through the unpredictable challenges of the mine. Dive yourself deep into the heart of the globe, employing workers, tools, as well as explosives to extract valuable resources while balancing the need for efficiency with the imperative for safety.
The game’s dynamic gameplay ensures that no two sessions are alike. The mine’s layout evolves with each playthrough, presenting new hurdles and opportunities to conquer. Forge alliances with rival mine owners, but be prepared for these partnerships to sour as competition for resources intensifies. Will you seize the chance to manipulate events to your advantage, or will you trust your allies only to watch them turn into adversaries?
With hidden objectives guiding your strategy, My Gold Mine adds an extra layer of intrigue and suspense. Upgrade and expand your mining operation with the wealth you amass, progressing from a modest venture to an industrial empire. The game’s stunning artwork and meticulously crafted components, from miner figurines to resource tokens, create an immersive experience that draws you into the captivating world of the gold rush.
Perfect for players of all ages and experience levels, “My Gold Mine” blends accessible mechanics with strategic depth. Whether you’re hosting a game night with friends or seeking a captivating solo experience, the pursuit of riches in My Gold Mine promises endless hours of entertainment. Will you emerge as the triumphant mine owner, or will the challenges of the frontier bury your dreams of wealth? Unearth the excitement today.
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Description
Experience the thrilling and exciting pursuit of wealth as well as strategy in a fun game of My Gold Mine. Find yourself buried in the precarious although super enticing world of gold mining as you compete against friends and family as players on a mission of building the most flourishing mining operation in the frontier town.
In a game of My Gold Mine, each and every decision you make matters. You must command your entire team of expert miners, manage precious cargo and resource, while employing clever tactics to navigate your way through the unpredictable challenges of the mine. Dive yourself deep into the heart of the globe, employing workers, tools, as well as explosives to extract valuable resources while balancing the need for efficiency with the imperative for safety.
The game's dynamic gameplay ensures that no two sessions are alike. The mine's layout evolves with each playthrough, presenting new hurdles and opportunities to conquer. Forge alliances with rival mine owners, but be prepared for these partnerships to sour as competition for resources intensifies. Will you seize the chance to manipulate events to your advantage, or will you trust your allies only to watch them turn into adversaries?
With hidden objectives guiding your strategy, My Gold Mine adds an extra layer of intrigue and suspense. Upgrade and expand your mining operation with the wealth you amass, progressing from a modest venture to an industrial empire. The game's stunning artwork and meticulously crafted components, from miner figurines to resource tokens, create an immersive experience that draws you into the captivating world of the gold rush.
Perfect for players of all ages and experience levels, "My Gold Mine" blends accessible mechanics with strategic depth. Whether you're hosting a game night with friends or seeking a captivating solo experience, the pursuit of riches in My Gold Mine promises endless hours of entertainment. Will you emerge as the triumphant mine owner, or will the challenges of the frontier bury your dreams of wealth? Unearth the excitement today.
Run! Dragobert is on the hunt for gold stealing miners, and he looks cross! Who is Dragobert? Oh, he’s just the fire breathing keeper of the mountain where the gold is found!
My Gold Mine is a fast-playing push-your-luck card game for 2-6 players where you are miners trying to collect as much gold as you can before Dragobert catches you!
Set-Up
Super simple to set up and learn, each player receives a miner card and a corresponding colour token. The gold cards are shuffled and placed face-up on one of the spaces on the inside of the box lid. The exit cards are shuffled and face down on the remaining space. Then the 9 large card mine track is laid out with the exit card on the left, the mine cart in the centre, and dastardly Dragobert on the right side. The miner tokens are placed on the mine cart, and the shiny gold nuggets are placed within reach.
Playtime
Every game lasts 3 rounds. Each turn you choose between taking a gold card and an exit card. As well as giving gold, the gold cards will either move your miner 1 card towards the exit, keep you where you are or, if you go for the two nugget cards, move you back 1 card towards the dragon.
Conversely, the exit cards show a combination of options; move 1 or two spaces towards the exit, move everybody one space towards the exit, or swap your miner with another player elsewhere along the mine cart track. There’s even one card with a very greedy bonus of 3 gold on it!
Whenever a Dragobert card is revealed in the gold deck, the Dragobert track card slides forwards one space and the card it replaces is flipped to show the fiery flame side.
If and when you reach the exit, you can’t collect any more gold, but you are safe! Any greedy-guts miners caught by Dragobert are, however, out of the round, and all their hard-earned gold cards are worthless! When every miner still left in play reaches the exit, the round is over and the winner of that one gets 3 nuggets, 2nd place gets 2, and 3rd place gets 1. The game ends after 3 rounds and the richest miner wins. Final Thoughts!
We Love My Gold Mine
We learnt it in under a minute and our son hasn’t stopped asking to play it since! It’s a quick, fun push-your-luck filler game that feels tense but only ever in a super fun, light way. We hesitate for a moment, debating whether to risk mining another gold when the flames of Dragobert’s breath are licking at your heels. We laugh out loud as our miners get knocked out if it doesn’t work out.
Although the artwork is cute and cartoony, it is also quite clever. With the gold deck face up, you know what’s on offer on your turn. You could take it and stay where you are or move spaces closer or further away from danger. But you don’t know what’s underneath, is it Dragobert? Is it more gold? If Dragobert suddenly moves closer, the risk that two-nugget card you took suddenly doesn’t seem like such a good idea!
The sliding mine track card mechanism is great to look at. I can almost feel the heat as Dragobert breathes closer and closer! And the race/reverse race to get closer to the exit but not waste potential gold mining opportunities is a really fun tug of war. Especially when your opponent either moves you back towards Dragobert or over to the exit, thereby ending your chances of gaining more gold.
Knowing how many Dragoberts have appeared at any stage of the game can help plan your moves if you’re good at memorising cards. But honestly, not doing that and just taking the risk is a lot of fun.
The Components
The track cards and nuggets are top quality, and the mine cards and gold cards are good too, our stickers are peeling a little on the tokens, but to be fair we have played it so many times already (and you only really need to know which colour you are in any event). I really love that the box itself acts as a place to stack the cards (a feature of their new-in-box range apparently!). Oh, and I am aaaaallllways a huge fan of magnetic catches!
Player elimination can (and does) happen if Dragobert catches you. Some players might not like that. But the time-out only lasts 1 round, so it doesn’t feel mean. Mini-Meeple was knocked out of one round early into our first few games (and I was expecting a big lippy moment). But he doubled down his efforts on the next one and sent us both into Dragobert’s fiery clutches! The fact we are playing it at breakfast, after school, and after dinner without grumble is a testament to how much everyone in our house is digging My Gold Mine!
There’s gold in them there mines! Ripe for the plucking! There’s a catch, though. (Hey, there’s always a catch when it comes to grabbing free gold.) This shiny stuff stands guarded by a fierce dragon – Dragobert – and he wouldn’t think twice about turning you into toast. So how brave are you feeling? Ready to push your luck to the max? Tied up the laces on your must-go-faster running shoes? Let’s learn how to play My Gold Mine!
Tell Me How To Win!
My Gold Mine is a push-your-luck game for 3-6 players, by Kosmos Games. (There’s also a two-player variant, but I won’t be explaining this here; this How To Play guide is for 3-6 players.) It’s recommended for ages 7 and up, but adults will get a kick out playing this as well as kids. (Especially if you enjoy games like Deep Sea Adventure and Diamante.)
The aim, as you might well have already figured out, is to grab the most gold without getting caught by the dragon. Gold equals points, and you play for three rounds. Most gold wins, but there’s a cool twist in the tale for the final round. This means anyone can still win going into the final round, even if they don’t fare so well in rounds one and two…
Super-Quick Set-Up
There’s nine large Mine Cards (of thick card stock). You place these in a row, with Dragobert at the far-right, and the Exit on the far-left. Notice how the other seven Mine Cards are double-sided? You’ll want them sitting blue Mine side-up (not with the dragon fire side-up; that’s for later!). Place the mine cart card itself in the middle. Your nine-card set-up will look like this (left-to-right):
Exit – 3x Mine Cards – mine cart – 3x Mine Cards – Dragobert
Each player picks a colour. Then you all put your corresponding stickered player disc on the mine cart card. Every player also gets a card matching their colour. The artwork mirrors those on the player discs.
There’s two other kinds of card in the game: Exploration Cards, and Exit Cards. Separate them into their own decks, and then shuffle them. Keep them face-down. My Gold Mine is part of Kosmos’s ‘Open and Play’ series of games, with a magnetic lid that folds down. If you like, you can stack both decks onto the fold-out section of the box. Keep the 12 gold nuggets nearby (in the box, or on the table… They’re what you’re trying to win!
What Do I Do On My Turn?
Turns are simple in My Gold Mine. You have two options: you either draw the top card from the Exploration Deck, or the Exit Deck. Whichever deck you decide, reveal the card, and do what it says. Then it’s the next player’s turn, clockwise, and they then pick which card to draw, and so on.
First, let’s look at Exploration Cards. There’s four different cards within this deck. Theme-wise, they all involve you hunting for gold like a greedy miner. Some, not all, Exploration Cards have gold nuggets on them. Remember, you’re trying to locate the most gold to win.
Some cards have one gold nugget on them, with a plain backdrop. If you draw this, you keep the card in front of you (face-down), and don’t move your miner disc. It remains on the same Mine Card. Other Exploration Cards have a single nugget on them, but the backdrop features a doorway with a lantern. The way out! Draw this and you keep the card (face-down), then move your miner disc one Mine Card leftward, towards the Exit.
Some Exploration Cards have two golden nuggets on them! Jackpot! But, beware. These cards have a doorway on them with a pair of glinting, evil eyes watching you. You take the card (face-down), but then have to move your miner disc one Mine Card to the right. Towards the dragon! The final type of Exploration Card features no gold. Instead, it features Dragobert himself! In this case, you swap the Dragobert Mine Card with the Mine Card to its immediate left. Then you flip that Mine Card over, so it shows dragonfire – the flaming wreck behind the dragon! And as a result, the dragon has moved one step closer towards everyone…
But what if any miner discs were on the card that got swapped and flipped? What if they’re now on the same space as the dragon? Uh oh. They’re now sizzled! Those players suffer elimination from the round. They have to return any Exploration Cards they might have found thus far. Meaning: they now have zero gold this round! Naturally, you don’t want this to happen.
That’s why players have a choice at the start of their turn. They could be greedy and gamble by taking an Exploration Card. They could hope to find gold and not the dragon! But if you’re starting to feel the heat of the flames, could it be time to play it safe and head for the Exit?
Making A Swift Exit
Instead of taking an Exploration Card, players can instead take an Exit Card. This is the safer of the two options. On these cards, there is no risk of alerting Dragobert. Instead, the player gets to take the specific action shown on the Exit Card. You can’t guarantee which action you’ll get, but it will be one of the following:
- Move one step left, towards the Exit
- Move two steps left, towards the Exit
- You, and everybody else, all move one step left, towards the Exit
- Swap your miner disc with the position of any other player still on a Mine Card
- Don’t move at all, but get three nuggets of gold
Some – not all – of the Exit Cards have two of the above options on them. If you draw one of these, you pick which one of the two actions to take, not both. It’s possible to move via an Exit Card onto the ladder on the far-left of the Mine Cards. If this happens, you place it on the top-most available spot on the ladder. Once your disc is on this card, you’re safe! Dragobert cannot harm you now. The gold you’ve claimed is yours and you cannot lose it. Once you’re on the ladder, you no longer participate in the round. You skip your go for the duration of the round.
It’s worth noting that some of these Exit Cards can have a huge impact on other players. Worried about a player having too much gold? If you can force-move them onto the ladder (via the ‘Everybody moves’ Exit Card), you stem their opportunities of grabbing any more gold. It can be particularly dramatic if a player is so close to safety, and then you swap places with them. If you were close to the dragonfire, now they can feel the heat instead of you!
When Does The Round End?
The round continues clockwise until either all players are on the ladder, or have suffered the flames of Dragobert. (Or a combination of the two!) Then, all players who managed to make it to the ladder reveal the total of gold nuggets they have on their cards. The highest total earns three of the golden nuggets. Second-highest total earns two golden nuggets. Third place earns one golden nugget. In the case of a tie, it’s broken by the player who is highest on the ladder. Then all cards go back into their decks and get shuffled again. You re-set the Mine Cards (flipping them back over and moving Dragobert back to the right-most space).
Round two (of three) works exactly the same as the first round. Whoever won the previous round is the first player. Again, three/two/one gold nuggets get awarded for the players with the most/second-most/third-most gold totals. By the end of round two, then, you will have awarded out all twelve golden nuggets (3+2+1, and 3+2+1). But don’t panic if you didn’t fare so well in the first two rounds. You can still win in the third and final round!
How Do We Work Out Who Has Won?
Round three has the same set-up and structure as rounds one and two. The difference here is that for the scoring at the end, players add up the total gold on their cards they earned. But they also include any actual gold nuggets they earned in rounds one and two to this total. And it’s this sum that’s the important one; whoever has the highest amount of gold at the end of round three wins the game, outright!
If there’s a tie in the final round, then once again, the tiebreaker is whomever sits highest up the ladder. Rounds in My Gold Mine can be fast and furious, with absorbing amounts of tension. Rounds can be over in as quick as five minutes (if playing with adults), but expect a little longer if playing with younger children.
Push-your-luck games are hit-and-miss with me, sometimes I love them sometimes I don’t. Luckily My Gold Mine fell into the latter category. It’s short, simple and has fun decisions. Plus, something I did not expect, you push the luck for everyone and can manipulate other players’ game states. Grab your pickaxe, grab your lantern, it’s time for the Zatu second opinion of My Gold Mine
The Setup
My Gold Mine is a very small box, a small rule set and a very simple setup. I think it’s supposed to be played with families and children, big or small. Once you have opened the lovely magnetic box the setup is as simple as creating a row of cards, which creates the mine, then shuffle the retreat and gold cards. Grab a coloured miner token and you are good to go. Easy as peas.
The Push & Pull Of The Mine
Your turn in My Gold Mine is a simple affair. Pick a gold card or a retreat card. The gold cards are face up too, so you have an idea of what loot you will gather. The issue with this is that if you pick a gold card they could reveal a dragon underneath. If this is the case then the dragon at the right end of the mine moves a step towards the miners. It’s beautiful too as the cards that make up the mine flip over to a fiery side as the dragon marches forward.
These gold cards have a varied amount of gold on them and sometimes also move your miner towards the dragon or the exit. It is always a juggling act between getting gold and positioning yourself correctly within the mine. The warmth of dragon breath is always a danger. I have taken gold and had three consecutive dragon cards after, so you are never truly safe.
If you feel the need to retreat you can take a retreat card. These are face down and have a plethora of actions when revealed. Ranging from moving one or two spaces back, swapping places with another miner to the amazing three gold card. These cards normally give you two options and can be quite devious. The three gold card tempts you to not move at all and the everyone move back card can be used to push cautious miners out of the mine.
Gold, The Exit & Shenanigans
If you reach the exit you leave with the gold you have mined. So the game is a constant mix of staying away from the dragon but as I have found over the many games I have played, not too close to the exit either. This is due to the fact that people can push you out of the exit prematurely with a less-than-satisfactory amount of gold. It can be truly brutal. As you leave you are put on a track, so if you have an equal amount of gold, the first out takes priority.
My Gold Mine is played over three rounds but only the last round counts. I know this sounds weird but bear with me. After everyone has either been obliterated by the dragon or exited with a bag of loot, you go to the round scoring. The person who grabbed the most gold gets three pieces of gold, the second gets two and the third gets one. The second round repeats the same and then the third round is the ‘real’ game that decides the winner.
The gold acquired from the first two games just ascites as a booster for your score in the third round. You can win both rounds one and two, get eaten by the dragon and lose the game. It’s very unique and I really think it fits the push-your-luck style of the game.
Lovely, Bright & Compact
Inside this cute little magnetic box is a collection of colourful and bright components that really fit the theme of the game. You have decent cards adorned with beautiful cartoon artwork. You have wooden disks adorned with miners and a bag of shiny gold pieces. It all fits in the box perfectly and is an amazingly minute package that can be taken and played anywhere. Bravo.
Final Thoughts
My Gold Mine is one of my favourite push-your-luck games. For a few reasons, firstly you know what loot you’re risking a possible dragon for and secondly, it’s, in a way, a team journey. You can all end each other’s time in the mine and it’s a constant push and pull between which deck you draw from. Mixing taking loot and moving towards the exit is always charming, especially when you mix in all the weird stuff in the retreat deck. Being able to effect other player’s game states really makes this one shine for me. Hi Ho! There’s gold in this box!
Zatu Score
You might like
- The fiery dragon mine track sliding visual
- Easy to learn
- Fun push your luck filler game for the whole family
Might not like
- Last player in a round can gain a lot of gold