Raccoon Tycoon - Gateway Strategy Board Game for Adults and Family | Fast, Fun, Economic and Set-Collecting Competitive Game | 2-5 Players | Ages 8 and Up | 60-90 Minutes | by Forbidden Games

I adore this game! After the initial confusion of figuring out how to play this is a simple and fun strategy game! The board and pieces are made out of a good quality cardboard, and the graphics are just so stinking cute! This game comes with lots of little pieces, and I recommend having plastic baggies and dixie cups in order to keep things organized and easy. There is a nice amount of strategy and luck going on in this game that can keep you feeling fulfilled, but the way that points work it never feels overly competitive. One of my favorite games. With around a 45 minuet play time I'd recommend this for both family and friend game nights.

This is nothing like Monopoly! There's money exchanging hands and the bidding on "railroads" gives the feeling Monopoly gives (in the best ways). Let me break it down:You pick up "commodities" (think iron, wood, WINE, coal... etc). In order to draft commodities, you have to raise the pricing of certain types. As people "sell" their own commodities, the price drops. This is an amazing game feature because there's so much change in how much money you can collect on your turn (for good and for bad).Once you have money, you can buy "buildings" (which is the deck-building aspect), which helps assist you in gaining commodities more efficiently, or gain money.With the money you receive from selling commodities (which you KEEP HIDDEN), you can start bidding wars for "Railroads." Just because you want something, doesn't mean your guaranteed to get it. I've lost many a games because I was hoarding my money for no reason.No game is ever the same. There are so many strategies in this. I have yet to play in under an hour with 2-4 people (1.5hrs with more +3 people). As a gamer who DOES NOT enjoy long games, this one feels perfect for the 60-90 minute game play and it has quickly risen to one of my favorites.Ideal game for people who love: Splendor, Catan, Ticket to Ride

A great strategy game to play. Every game play is different, never gets boring! A must have game..

I nearly returned this game because for some reason we had a really hard time figuring out how to play. It is Super detailed at the beginning with the set up and there are a lot of different things to learn at the start. I am sooo glad we persevered because it really is a wonderful game. I have seen both my kids and my teens enjoy this game together which is a definite plus! To be honest, there was enough strategy and challenge that even my husband and I enjoy playing it!

My son and his gf taught us how to play. Its took a few rounds for me to get used to it. But I really liked playing. Its not a short game, so keep that in mind. We played almost 2 hours. Its hard to figure out your strategy until you see how aggressive the other players are, but that is part of what makes it so interesting. Its made w quality and should last a really long time. Definitely recommend.

First of all, if you buy ONE market manipulation game...buy Stockpile. If you can't or find the price prohibitive, this is an...okay alternative. It won't be anywhere near as fun, but it's acceptable. Now, if you aren't totally devoted to market manipulation and just want an economic game...buy Pan-Am. While it's not EXACTLY a "market manipulation" game, Pan-Am combines brain-burning strategy, worker placement, action selection, buying, selling, upgrading etc. even better than this game does, and last time I checked it was HALF the price. Pan-Am also plays great with two players. This...does not.In Pan-Am you are bidding on routes etc., and that's long-term strategy. In Racoon Tycoon you are literally bidding on Victory Point Cards (?) that serve no other purpose than to "win the game". It's an odd mechanic, but if you have three, four, or five players I can see it working. The trouble is, if one player has a ton of money and everyone else is falling behind, well they are just going to buy (ahem, BID) on Victory Point cards every turn (or buy them, yes, you can bid AND buy victory points). Now this is partially negated by the fact that MONEY IS HIDDEN. It seems a bit odd, but the idea is that YOU KNOW which direction commodities (stocks) can go because all the market cards ARE NOT hidden information (you know that someone can raise prices for certain things and what resources they are likely to try to get). So if someone isn't paying attention when other people are cashing out...you might be blindsided in the auctions for Victory Points. Regardless, a rule that the first player in a two player game can only bid once doesn't seem fair, it seems...an odd way to make a three or more way mechanic shoehorn into a two way mechanic that still doesn't feel right. Since HOW YOU WIN is victory points, this is really more a "bidding game" with market manipulation as the means by which you get money to do said bidding, and since card draws are random...there's a fair bit of randomness in whether or not your "stock" will be up or down.All that said...The theme is nice (if superficial/disconnected from the actual game), the art is good (not great, but...good), the component quality is EXCELLENT (Large vinyl money? Thick cardboard tokens? A solid board? Yes please!), and gameplay is enjoyable.If you are worried about difficulty learning the game...don't be. It's REALLY simple. Easier than learning stocks and bonds. Almost easier than Monopoly.So, in the end, this is a good game. If you want just one more economic game it's a good choice, more fun than some Euros I could mention. However, it should NOT be your "first choice". That should be Stockpile, followed by Pan-Am. If you can get this game for cheaper than Pan-Am...it's a good choice for families or people who don't enjoy a brain-burning exercise.

Don’t let the instructions fool you! I was worried that this game would be difficult to learn due to all the instructions but it’s not! You do need to read through everything once to get started and refer back to it a few times but it was so much fun. It’s something different that we were excited for. It was easy enough for five of us to learn, ages 10-44.It’s like if monopoly had a stock market and you never had to worry about paying rent to other players or go to jail! Once you have the basics down you can even make up your own house rules.10:10 highly recommend! You won’t regret it!