View source for Elfenland

{{Short description|Board game}}
{{for|the legendary mystical Elfland|Álfheimr}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox Game
|name=|  subject_name=''Elfenland''
|image=|  image_link= [[File:Elfenland.jpg|200px]]
|  image_caption= Box cover of ''Elfenland''
|  designer= [[Alan R. Moon]]
|  publisher= [[Amigo Spiele]]<br>[[Rio Grande Games]]
|  players= 2–6
|  ages= 10 and up
|  setup_time=< 5 minutes
|  playing_time= 60 minutes
|  random_chance=
|  skills=[[Routing|Route planning]]<br>[[Racing]]
|  footnotes=
}}
'''''Elfenland''''' is a [[German-style board game]] designed by [[Alan R. Moon]] and published by [[Amigo Spiele]] in German and [[Rio Grande Games]] in English in 1998. ''Elfenland'' won the [[Spiel des Jahres]] award in 1998.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.spiel-des-jahres.de/en/spiele/elfenland/|title = Elfenland}}</ref> 

== Background ==
The game was originally based on his earlier game ''Elfenroads'' (published by [[White Wind]]), but since ''Elfenroads'' took about four hours for a game, the play was simplified to reduce the time closer to an hour, making it appeal more as a family game.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alan Moon wins Game of the Year |url=http://www.gamecabinet.com/news/AlanMoonInterview2.html |access-date=2016-01-23 |website=www.gamecabinet.com}}</ref>

== Gameplay ==
The game is played by 2–6 players, with 4–5 making for the best game. 
Each player tries to reach as many cities as possible and then return to his "home city." 
Home cities are drawn at the beginning of the game from a pack of city cards and they remain hidden throughout the game.
The game is thus reminiscent of the [[traveling salesman problem]].

Players move using transportation cards. 
Elves can travel on a wide variety of vehicles including troll wagons, elf cycles, rafts, giant pigs, unicorns, dragons and [[Magic in fiction|magic]] clouds. 
Different types of transportation will travel better over different terrain, and some methods of transport cannot cross certain terrains at all. 
There is only one problem:  you cannot travel over a route (except water) unless there is a tile on that road, and only the type of transport shown on the tile can be used to move along that road.   Before anyone can move, tiles are drawn and laid out across the board. This part is the one that calls for the most strategy, as players try to line up their tiles to set up a nice route for themselves and a difficult one for their opponents at the same time.

As well as normal tiles, each player receives one trouble tile for use during the game.
These hinder other players by forcing them to use an extra transportation card at that point. 
Also, any player can simply use any three cards to pass over any route that has a tile already there, allowing the type of transport shown on the tile to be ignored.

The game has subtle strategies to make others navigate through the cities. 
When a player puts a transportation type you don't want in your path then you have to find a way around it. 
All of the aspects of the game make for a very exciting race to visit the most cities while never quite being sure who is winning until the last round.

==Expansion==
There was an expansion for ''Elfenland'' published, called ''Elfengold''.
Note that this is different from the original ''Elfengold'' published by White Wind.{{cn|date=August 2022}}

== Reception ==
Bernhard Fischer from ''Spieltest'' praised the game's mechanisms, and accessibility, but was mixed on the luck elements.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fischer |first=Bernhard |title=Elfenland |url=https://www.spieletest.at/gesellschaftsspiel/52/ |access-date=2022-08-01 |website=www.spieletest.at |language=de}}</ref> It also won the 1998 [[Spiel des Jahres]] award, and placed third place in the 1998 [[Deutscher Spiele Preis]] award.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Preisträger – SPIEL Messe |url=https://www.spiel-messe.com/de/deutscher-spielepreis/preistraeger/ |access-date=2022-08-01 |archive-date=2020-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103224339/https://www.spiel-messe.com/de/deutscher-spielepreis/preistraeger/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Reviews==
*''{{ill|Envoyer|de}}'' #24<ref>{{cite web | url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020707210052fw_/http://www.envoyer.de/ausgaben/1998/10/006.html | title=Envoyer - Elfenland }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{bgg|10|''Elfenland''|711|''Elfenroads''}}

{{Spiel des Jahres}}

[[Category:Fantasy board games]]
[[Category:Spiel des Jahres winners]]
[[Category:Alan R. Moon games]]
[[Category:Amigo Spiele games]]
[[Category:Rio Grande Games games]]
[[Category:Board games introduced in 1998]]