Tikal
| Game | Tikal | Complexity | Medium |
| Company | Ravensburger/Rio Grande | Time | 2-3 |
| Setting | Ruin Exploration | Solitaire | Nil |
| Type | Tile Laying | Rating | 8.5 |
Overview
The game is built around the exploration and excavation of the ruined Mayan city of Tikal. Players lead expeditions that will discover and excavate treasures and temple ruins, while forestalling their opponents.
Game System
The game is played on a variable board that gets constructed as the game progresses. The board is made up of hexagonal tiles which are placed one each turn. The tiles may contain temple sites, treasure locations, volcanoes, or in some instances nothing.
After placing the tile, thereby increasing the playing area, the phasing player will take his move. The player is given a fixed number of action points with which to perform his game functions. These include, entering new expedition members, setting up a base camp, excavating a temple site, looting a treasure site, forcible exchange of treasures, and even posting guard on a temple site, securing it for the entire game. There is always a feeling of "so many things to do, and not enough action points to do them" that makes this an intense game.
When a volcano tile is drawn, each player takes a turn (without drawing any tiles), and then points are awarded for ownership of temples and treasures.
The game ends at the end of the fourth scoring round. Player with the highest point total wins.
Components
The game comes with beautiful components: a board depicting a base camp and a couple of temple ruins in one corner, and unexplored jungle hexes in the remainder of the board. The playing surface is constructed during play from 2" hexagon tiles, depicting ruins containing treasure, temples. Each tile also depicts a number of stones on its hexsides, representing the number of actions it takes for a piece to move across the hexside. Wooden pieces represent of various colours depict members of the exploration team and their camps. Beautifully depicted cardboard chits for treasure amd temple excavation round out the components.
All in all, it sets the standards for German-type games. Remember, this game was published in 1999, before German games became popular in the States.