IELLO Steam Park Board Game Fun for All Ages

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1. Anonymous Verified Buyer – 9 June 2024

   Quick Take: Steam Park is a mix of fast-paced die speed-rolling, punctuated by periods of thinking and strategy. You will build your own theme park and fill the rides with visitors. Our Positives The first impression of the game is fun; you’ll be arranging 3-D cardboard rides, rolling cool custom dice, and battling the other players for the fastest rolls. It’s satisfying in a shot of adrenaline when your roll lands exactly how you planned it and you snatch up the First Player token. The bonus cards add a (necessary) general game plan and variety to each game. Without them it would be easy to fall into the same strategy every time you play and wait on the die rolling to determine the game. I like how the strategy works with adding visitors to your park. The game starts with one visitor of each color in the bag. Depending on the number of visitor dice rolled, players will place new visitors in the bag and draw out randomly. If you’ve paid attention during the game, you can get a feel for what is still in the bag and the odds can be swung in your favor by stacking the bag with the color you’re trying to pull out. Near the end of the game, you’ll appreciate the balance introduced by the Dirt. For example, a player who spent the first four or five rounds mostly building up his park and adding visitors will need to devote an entire turn or two cleaning up all the dirt that he piled up. Meanwhile, players with a more balanced approach might pull off a last second win by landing four visitors in their rides on the last turn of the game. You’ll probably play the first few times without stands. Once the different stands are in play, it opens up the game some more and creates other ways to win. With so much dice rolling, there is definitely some luck involved but players with a strategy in mind and the help of a few well placed bonus cards will usually come out ahead. Negatives Maybe a misplaced expectation, but I thought that Steam Park would feel more like, well, a theme park. For a game so heavily invested in theme, I was expecting more interesting decisions–upgrading rides, creating the best park design to attract visitors, raising prices, hiring entertainers. The rides are different in the sense that they are different colors and have different artwork, but that’s about it. It’s not like they function differently in the game. Final Thoughts Steam Park at first will create a panic attack for players who like to take their time and think about the decisions they want to make. I’m one of these players, so my first several games of Steam Park playing with my wife I felt like I was careening through the game haphazardly without a plan. You can start the dice-rolling with a general idea of what you’re aiming for, but that goes out the window when your first three rolls don’t land anything you’re looking for. Some people will love this fast faced, somewhat random part of the game; those we’ve played with so far have been split. I like the theme of Steam Park, which isn’t surprising as I loved Rollercoaster Tycoon. It never quite feels as open-ended as that, though. I never really felt like I was “designing” a park, but rather figuring out how to arrange different sized game pieces on a grid. It’s a fun game, just not exactly what I was hoping for. Good unique game to have on the shelf. Note: full review of this game, including gameplay descriptions and a lot more pictures available at playbegins.com

   

2. Ethan Verified Buyer – 2 July 2024

   Though I only give it three stars, I still like the game, I just don’t find it very fun. I don’t find the game very competitive. Rules are fairly simple and easy to get going, but does take a fair bit of explaining for a new player…and that’s only the basic gameplay, I find people’s eyes glossing over when you start examine the different stands. Age group I played with was 7, 30s, and 60s all together.
   If your family (or gaming buddies) don’t like cooperative games, this might fit the bill. Game took about an hour to play…and an hour for initial assembly!!! (Only have to do that once though).
   

3. Bob Verified Buyer – 18 September 2024

   This is an excellent theme park-building game! It has a little learning curve, but it’s not so much you can’t remember all the rules after a couple of plays. There are player guides to help as well.

   Players roll dice to take actions. Actions involve building attractions or buildings (toilets, casino, etc.), cleaning the park, placing robot guests on rides, and a couple more. Players are basically managing their own park. It may sound complicated, but it isn’t. Turns are quick and the game is a lot of fun.

   Everyone to whom I’ve introduced this game wants to play it again and again. It is very well designed, and the components are high quality. I recommend the Play Dirty expansion which adds two players, six attractions, ten new buildings, and a new robot (gray dirty robots).

   I’m glad I got this game. It’s a great addition to any gaming library.
   

4. tilly Verified Buyer – 8 December 2024

   So disappointed. After reading all the reviews I thought this would be a wonderful game to add to my sons Christmas presents. The best thing I can say is we enjoyed setting up the game. The pieces etc are lovely…. however the game itself is overly complicated with no substance and the rules were patronising and very annoying. We wanted to scream!! But that was an hour after trying very hard to make sense of it all and play the game!!
   

5. Anonymous Verified Buyer – 1 January 2025

   Quick Take: Steam Park is a mix of fast-paced die speed-rolling, punctuated by periods of thinking and strategy. You will build your own theme park and fill the rides with visitors. Our Positives The first impression of the game is fun; you’ll be arranging 3-D cardboard rides, rolling cool custom dice, and battling the other players for the fastest rolls. It’s satisfying in a shot of adrenaline when your roll lands exactly how you planned it and you snatch up the First Player token. The bonus cards add a (necessary) general game plan and variety to each game. Without them it would be easy to fall into the same strategy every time you play and wait on the die rolling to determine the game. I like how the strategy works with adding visitors to your park. The game starts with one visitor of each color in the bag. Depending on the number of visitor dice rolled, players will place new visitors in the bag and draw out randomly. If you’ve paid attention during the game, you can get a feel for what is still in the bag and the odds can be swung in your favor by stacking the bag with the color you’re trying to pull out. Near the end of the game, you’ll appreciate the balance introduced by the Dirt. For example, a player who spent the first four or five rounds mostly building up his park and adding visitors will need to devote an entire turn or two cleaning up all the dirt that he piled up. Meanwhile, players with a more balanced approach might pull off a last second win by landing four visitors in their rides on the last turn of the game. You’ll probably play the first few times without stands. Once the different stands are in play, it opens up the game some more and creates other ways to win. With so much dice rolling, there is definitely some luck involved but players with a strategy in mind and the help of a few well placed bonus cards will usually come out ahead. Negatives Maybe a misplaced expectation, but I thought that Steam Park would feel more like, well, a theme park. For a game so heavily invested in theme, I was expecting more interesting decisions–upgrading rides, creating the best park design to attract visitors, raising prices, hiring entertainers. The rides are different in the sense that they are different colors and have different artwork, but that’s about it. It’s not like they function differently in the game. Final Thoughts Steam Park at first will create a panic attack for players who like to take their time and think about the decisions they want to make. I’m one of these players, so my first several games of Steam Park playing with my wife I felt like I was careening through the game haphazardly without a plan. You can start the dice-rolling with a general idea of what you’re aiming for, but that goes out the window when your first three rolls don’t land anything you’re looking for. Some people will love this fast faced, somewhat random part of the game; those we’ve played with so far have been split. I like the theme of Steam Park, which isn’t surprising as I loved Rollercoaster Tycoon. It never quite feels as open-ended as that, though. I never really felt like I was “designing” a park, but rather figuring out how to arrange different sized game pieces on a grid. It’s a fun game, just not exactly what I was hoping for. Good unique game to have on the shelf. Note: full review of this game, including gameplay descriptions and a lot more pictures available at playbegins.com

   

6. Aidy L. Verified Buyer – 8 March 2025

   My family often only has 3 players, and most games seem to be ideal with 4 or 5. This game is excellent with 2-4 players, although the game becomes much more cutthroat (and fun) with 4. It’s a good combination of other games I own – I’d compare it to a cross between King of Tokyo and Agricola. There’s a good amount of strategy, some luck involved, and a game with 4 players takes an hour.

   The instructions are extremely well written and the pieces are all pretty high quality. I recommend getting a feel for how the game operates by watching The Dice Tower review on Youtube.