Disclosure: Meeple Mountain received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This review is not intended to be an endorsement.
Near the end of my trip to Gen Con 2024, I stopped by the Van Ryder Games booth to chat with AJ Porfirio, Van Ryder’s owner. AJ handed me a review copy of Gateway Island, which screamed “Baby’s First Hobby Game” through and through, from the not-so-subtle title to the blurb on the back of the game’s box right through the time I showed the game to my eight-year-old.
We tried about a quarter of the 21 mini games included in the box. I would argue that the first three games are so short and simple that they don’t really introduce anything to players who have previously played classic board games. Even my eight-year-old was surprised that the first game, Race on the River, was as short as it was.
We skipped to the middle of the collection, in terms of complexity ratings, and tried game #14, Split the Catch. That was fun and an easy way to talk about games that feature a pick-up-and-deliver/order fulfillment mechanic in other games I already own, such as Sand, Age of Steam, and Wasteland Express Delivery Service. And like the other games included in Gateway Island, none take more than maybe 15-20 minutes to play with 2-3 players. (Some of the games accommodate many more players, so you can use Gateway Island as a way to introduce one child or five aunts and uncles to a bunch of different gaming mechanics.)
All the games detailed in the Gateway Island rulebook feature a short introduction of that game’s rules, the win conditions, and (most helpful to my family) a full-length game sold by another publisher that uses some of the mechanics introduced in each mini game. I was initially afraid that each mini game was going to lead to a sales pitch for another Van Ryder Games product…but in an impressive twist, the games are a mix of classics (Imhotep, Sheriff of Nottingham) all-timers (For Sale, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion) and even some games I have not heard of. Knowing that Gateway Island really is a gateway to 20+ other games makes this an even easier sell.
Gateway Island instantly became a game that I wanted to recommend to my “muggle” friends but also a game that I have since begun recommending to other hobbyists who are looking for ways to bring non-gamers, family members, and/or younger players into the mechanics that make modern games tick. Sure, Gateway Island won’t take the place of some of the best gateway games in my collection, like CATAN, First Rat, or newer gateway games such as Station to Station. But for those with a smaller collection, Gateway Island is a nice alternative.
As a box of games, Gateway Island is fine. Of the games I tried for this article, I wouldn’t play any of them a second time. There’s just not enough “game” with any individual mini game on display here. But as a teaching tool, Gateway Island is excellent. For core hobbyists (essentially everyone I know) struggling to find a game that would help pave the way for the light-to-medium games that we all really want to play, Gateway Island is a winner and a teaching tool worth a hard look as players try to expand their network of gamers.
Gateway Island details
- Designer: Matteo "TeOoh!" Boca, P.S. Martensen
- Artists: Sara Gioria
- Publishers: GateOnGames, Maldito Games, Post Scriptum, Van Ryder Games
- Release Date: 2022
- Player count : 1 - 12
- Age range : 6+
- Time range : 15 - 45 minutes
- Mechanism(s): Action Drafting, Area Majority / Influence, Auction: Sealed Bid, Auction/Bidding, Betting and Bluffing, Closed Drafting, Communication Limits, Cooperative Game, Deduction, Dice Rolling, Grid Movement, Hexagon Grid, Hidden Roles, Hidden Victory Points, I Cut, You Choose, Memory, Moving Multiple Units, Multiple Maps, Player Elimination, Prisoner's Dilemma, Push Your Luck, Race, Real-Time, Score-and-Reset Game, Set Collection, Simultaneous Action Selection, Solo / Solitaire Game, Turn Order: Auction, Turn Order: Pass Order, Worker Placement
- BGG Geek Rating: 7.51305 - converted to Meeple Mountain scale: 4.0.
- More articles about Gateway Island.
Add Comment