Elfengold

About this expansion

Elfengold is an expansion for Elfenland for 2–6 players, with a playing time of approximately 120 minutes. Released in 1999, it adds a substantial economic aspect to the original game.

Each turn, players bid against one another to purchase the available transportation tiles. These tiles become the focus of a tense competition, as everyone must decide how much gold to spend in pursuit of the options they want.

Generating that gold creates the expansion’s central dilemma. On each turn, players choose whether to take gold or draw more cards. The decision is rarely straightforward: transportation tiles are useless without cards, while cards are useless without the right tiles.

• Economic gameplay: Add gold and purchasing decisions to Elfenland.
• Competitive bidding: Bid against other players for the transportation tiles available each turn.
• Resource tension: Balance the need for gold with the need for more cards.

This interdependence gives every choice added weight. Taking gold can help secure an important tile, but drawing cards may be necessary to make transportation useful. Players must continually weigh immediate purchasing power against the resources required to use what they acquire.

Elfengold makes Elfenland more similar to its predecessor, Elfenroads, by bringing economic decisions into the experience. It was released shortly after Elfenland won the Spiel des Jahres. Note that this title is an expansion for Elfenland, not the separate stand-alone game also called Elfengold that was published by Alan Moon’s now-defunct White Wind game company.