Lego Treasure Quest
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Origin story: Lego Treasure Quest was a favorite party game to play with my kids. It got everyone thinking and running and laughing and wanting to play again, so that's a winner in my book. Unfortunately it's out-of-print, and used sets are now going for $60-80.
In 2014 I figured out how to play it with a deck of cards. I tested it on some friend’s middle-school kids, and it was a major success. So, I made some rules to share! |
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Lego Treasure Quest, with a deck of cards
What you need:
Setting up:
- A deck of cards
- 4 Treasure Rooms (well-defined areas, like “bathroom” or “the front yard”)
- 1 central Home Base (somewhere you can’t see the Treasure Rooms)
- 1 Treasure Hider
- 2, 3 or 4 stir-crazy kids (or energetic adults)
Setting up:
- Decide which face cards the players want to use to mark the Treasure Rooms -- King, Queen, or Jack. Let's say they pick Queen.
- Pull out the Queen, Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of each suit. Sort them into groups like this: Q, A, 2, 3 of each suit, and then all twelve of the 4, 5, and 6 cards together. Set the rest of the deck aside.
- Take all four Queens and walk the players around to the four Treasure Rooms. Place one Queen in a highly visible spot near the entrance of each room/area. Leaning against a door frame works well. As you go, call out which room is the Hearts, which is Diamonds, etc. Take everyone back to Home Base.
- Give all the Ace, 2, and 3 cards to the Treasure Hider (a parent or someone who isn't playing that round).
- The Treasure Hider goes to every Treasure Room, takes note of the Queen, and hides the Ace, 2, and 3 of that suit.
- All three cards must be completely inside each room.
- Cards must be within reach of the shortest player.
- Players must be able to see and grab each card without having to move anything other than themselves around the room. This prevents tearing the rooms apart. Other than that, make the hiding spots a good challenge for the age of your players.
- While the Hider is hiding the cards, shuffle all of the 4, 5, and 6 cards, and place them face down in the central Home Base area.
- Determine card draw order. Players will draw from youngest to oldest.
- The number of players determines how many treasure cards the winner will need to find.
- 2 players – 6 treasure cards
- 3 players – 4 treasure cards
- 4 players – 3 treasure cards
- Make sure everyone knows the player card draw order and number of treasures before you say “go!”.
Playing:
Winning:
Whoever finds the right number of Treasures and returns to Home Base first, wins!
Once you have a winner, call everyone back. If needed, the winner can prove their victory by showing the right number of pairs of each suit. Each 4, 5, or 6 in their hand will have an Ace, 2, or 3 in a matching suit.
After the victory dance, lay out all the cards to see if any weren't found yet. All the players can then go from room to room together to help find the missing treasure.
To play again, pick someone to hide the treasure. If they all want to do it and can’t decide, then the winner of the last game is the Hider. That mixes it up.
To add a challenge after several games, you can switch up the Queens so the suits in the rooms are different from last time.
Have a great time playing Treasure Quest!
Scott Moehring
April 12, 2020
- Make sure the pathways are clear, and then “3, 2, 1 go!” The youngest player draws the top card, then immediately heads to the room with that suit. The next oldest player immediately draws the next card and heads to that room. All players should be off and searching within a few seconds of each other.
- Each player has to find one card in the room that matches the suit they just drew. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Ace, 2, or 3, but leave the Queen! As soon as they find one, they grab it and head back to the Home Base.
- At Home Base they immediately draw a new card, and then head to the room with that suit to find another card. It’s possible to be sent back to the same room several times. Each room gets harder as the cards gradually get found.
- Players should keep all the cards they draw and find until the end of the game.
Winning:
Whoever finds the right number of Treasures and returns to Home Base first, wins!
- 2 players – 6 treasures
- 3 players – 4 treasures
- 4 players – 3 treasures
Once you have a winner, call everyone back. If needed, the winner can prove their victory by showing the right number of pairs of each suit. Each 4, 5, or 6 in their hand will have an Ace, 2, or 3 in a matching suit.
After the victory dance, lay out all the cards to see if any weren't found yet. All the players can then go from room to room together to help find the missing treasure.
To play again, pick someone to hide the treasure. If they all want to do it and can’t decide, then the winner of the last game is the Hider. That mixes it up.
To add a challenge after several games, you can switch up the Queens so the suits in the rooms are different from last time.
Have a great time playing Treasure Quest!
Scott Moehring
April 12, 2020
| lego_treasure_quest_with_deck_of_cards.pdf |