Got this game at PAX Unplugged and love it! It really forces you to think about a general strategy but then still have the flexibility to make moves with each token draw you have. I can't wait to show it off to new people when they come over to boardgame night.
Seems pretty interesting, but I’m not so thrilled by the round robin 4-player mode; I’d think a free-for-all where the goal is to be the last one uncaptured would be more interesting.
1. Can a river snuff out multiple fire stones in its wake? 2. Can you stack onto a preexisting wind stone to make a whirlwind? 3. Can a wind stone(s) be used to cause an opponent's sage to jump (please make this a thing if not, because the gameplay implications are awesome)? 4. Can you place multiple stones of the same kind to resolve them all at once? --I realize it states this, "Effects from playing an Element Stone are resolved BEFORE the next Stone is placed..." but I'd still like clarification as it seems intuitive or simple enough to permit dropping multiple of the same type in a single 'action,' so as to chain wind effects or create a bigger river before you begin to cause it to flow.
1. Yes, a river can flow over multiple fire stones and extinguish them. 2. Yes, you can use pre-existing wind stones to build up a whirlwind. Once any element has been played it is open to all players to build off. 3. No, you cannot Force jumps from another player's sage. But you can use wind to block their ability to jump on a future turn - see our Advanced Strategies videos for more details. 4. Technically you can do this with Wind and Earth, but NOT with Fire and Water. Fire and Water you must perform their elemental action after each stone is placed. This will require some more strategic thinking with your Rivers because you have to flow the river each time you add a stone, which will drastically change where it ends up after several stones are added.
Awesome! Thank you!! One last clarification to #4 then... so with being able to place multiple wind stones down before utilizing their effects... do you mean only in the case of a whirlwind or may you choose to drop in different tiles even before using the effect? THANK YOU!!!
One question: how does replacing wind with fire apply to a whirlwind? Do you spend fire stones to remove wind stones from the whirlwind one at a time, and then can only replace it when it’s down to one, or can you just replace a whole whirlwind with one fire? 4:28 Wouldn’t it be easier to replace the water or earth behind the sage and jump backwards, using less tokens?
Hello! I'm being given the opportunity to demo this game for people at my local game store and was curious if you are allowed to stack stones in your hand or if you must play each of them during your turn.
Alright cool, thanks! I thought so. Is there anywhere I might be better of contacting you at? Thanks again, love your game! Another question- When playing a multiplayer game, do you remove captured sages from the game board or are they left alone? If not, Can they be freed again or are they simply considered an irreplaceable, immovable token?
We are active on the Boardgamegeek Forums for Element and you can always email us through our contact form or send us private messages on Facebook. :) As soon as the first sage is captured that is the end of the game. They do not get an opportunity to take another turn to try to escape. The person who was trying to capture that sage wins. You would reset the board and play a whole new game if you wanted to keep playing.
Water? What happens if you are moving a river of say four stones, but can only move three spaces? Does this mean you can not make that move, or you get to move the three available spaces?
You cannot make that move if you do not have room to make the full 4 space movement. Remember you can turn corners with the river and a flowing river can extinguish Fire if it crosses it, so there may be ways to take the full movement.
Many questions left unanswered here. If I grab four elements must I place them all or can I save them for another turn? Can I place them anywhere? If place a water stone between two separate water stones (creating a river of three with the one placed being in the middle) then which direction does the river move? I don't believe any of these things are answered here.
Hello! You cannot save Element stones for a future turn. The Water stone placed its always the "headwater" meaning it leads. In an instance where two areas of water are connected by the new stone, then you would choose which one to pull along, but not with.
One more Q... can you combo multiple whirlwinds side-by-side for a super long jump that doesn’t take many tiles of placement? Ex. My sage is in A1, I drop a 2 stone Whirlwind in both A2 & A3 (using a hand of 4 wind stones)... would I jump to A5? If so, then theoretically later in the round so long as there were a place to land... I could stack A2 up to 4 & A3 to 3 & leap from A1 to A8. As an extreme example lol. I’ll call it the Sharknado Strat if so xD
When you daisy chain wind stones like suggested, you jump the number of spaces equal to the total number of individual Wind stones used. In your example you put 4 Wind stones down (2 x 2-high Whirlwinds) which would jump you OVER 4 total spaces, landing in the 5th space away from your sage, so A6, not A5. You don't count the space your sage is currently in. It can be a very powerful way to escape a super tight spot. :)
Understanding that earth that has turned into a mountain range cannot be replaced with its superior element, can stacked wind Whirlwinds be replaced?? And if so, how many tokens are necessary to replace them? Thanks!
Hi! Whirlwinds can be replaced by a single Fire stone, regardless of how high it is stacked, through the Rule of Replacement. Mountain chain Earth stones are the only stones immune to the Rule of Replacement. Thanks!
Game just came in the mail and was coming on here to ask about fire replacing a whirlwind. Glad it was answered here. Awesome game guys! My 13 year old just trapped me. On to game two!
3:20 My friend and I are really fighting over this one. I guess I don't understand "blocks diagonal movement" if you're able to jump it diagonally. Never mentions it has to be between two mountains.
Your normal movement of your sage can be in any direction, including on the diagonal. Before the Earth was double stacked, the sage could have moved between the Earth stones on the diagonal. Once there is a double stacked set of Earth stones in a line, the entire line becomes a Mountain Range and normal diagonal movement is blocked. However, you can jump the chain, but you would need to have access to a Wind Stone (or multiples, depending on how many spaces you need to jump). I hope this explains it. If you have further questions, please ask.
so if you place a fire token and there was already fire tokens above , below and to the left and right of the newly placed token, the fire would spread in in all 4 directions?
Yes. But you can only make that move if the Fire CAN spread in ALL directions. If there is another stone, a sage, or the edge of the board blocking any of the fire spread, you cannot make that placement. Remember, the element must be able to fulfill its elemental property action to be a legal move.
GEEZ THIS SUCKS!!!! WHEN I FIRST SAW THIS VIDEO I THOUGHT "THIS IS SO BAD I SHOULD LITERALLY GO IN MY GARAGE GRAB AN AMAZON BOX AND MAKE MY OWN GAME!!!" WHAT'S FUNNY IS THAT ONE DAY I TOOK IT TO SCHOOL AND ALL MY FRIENDS LOVED IT!! IT'S CALLED ELEMENTZ
Stumbling through the internet looking at board games to buy at 5AM. Never would I have expected to see a former Ghost Hunter.
Hahaha awesome. I could have sworn I'd seen that guy...just figured it was on a video about a different game. Nope!
Thank you! I thought I was going crazy
Dandy Prime that s.... that s exactly what i am doing right now. I m feeling oddly satisfied by reading your comment
When I first came across this game, reminded me so much of The Last Airbender, bending the elements
Got this game at PAX Unplugged and love it! It really forces you to think about a general strategy but then still have the flexibility to make moves with each token draw you have. I can't wait to show it off to new people when they come over to boardgame night.
Wow this game looks great! I cannot wait to play it. Preordering now for sure
Seems pretty interesting, but I’m not so thrilled by the round robin 4-player mode; I’d think a free-for-all where the goal is to be the last one uncaptured would be more interesting.
where can i find this board game nowadays? are they still printing? :(
I really wanna see a 4 player game played. Element seems like it can become very strategic and intense, but fun.
1. Can a river snuff out multiple fire stones in its wake?
2. Can you stack onto a preexisting wind stone to make a whirlwind?
3. Can a wind stone(s) be used to cause an opponent's sage to jump (please make this a thing if not, because the gameplay implications are awesome)?
4. Can you place multiple stones of the same kind to resolve them all at once?
--I realize it states this, "Effects from playing an Element Stone are resolved BEFORE the next Stone is placed..." but I'd still like clarification as it seems intuitive or simple enough to permit dropping multiple of the same type in a single 'action,' so as to chain wind effects or create a bigger river before you begin to cause it to flow.
1. Yes, a river can flow over multiple fire stones and extinguish them.
2. Yes, you can use pre-existing wind stones to build up a whirlwind. Once any element has been played it is open to all players to build off.
3. No, you cannot Force jumps from another player's sage. But you can use wind to block their ability to jump on a future turn - see our Advanced Strategies videos for more details.
4. Technically you can do this with Wind and Earth, but NOT with Fire and Water. Fire and Water you must perform their elemental action after each stone is placed. This will require some more strategic thinking with your Rivers because you have to flow the river each time you add a stone, which will drastically change where it ends up after several stones are added.
Awesome! Thank you!! One last clarification to #4 then... so with being able to place multiple wind stones down before utilizing their effects... do you mean only in the case of a whirlwind or may you choose to drop in different tiles even before using the effect? THANK YOU!!!
Bought my copy yesterday! Can't wait to try it :D
One question: how does replacing wind with fire apply to a whirlwind? Do you spend fire stones to remove wind stones from the whirlwind one at a time, and then can only replace it when it’s down to one, or can you just replace a whole whirlwind with one fire?
4:28 Wouldn’t it be easier to replace the water or earth behind the sage and jump backwards, using less tokens?
I’m fairly certain a single fire stone can replace any size stack of wind stones
Hello! I'm being given the opportunity to demo this game for people at my local game store and was curious if you are allowed to stack stones in your hand or if you must play each of them during your turn.
As an aside, I love your game! =)
HI Steve, So sorry for the late response! You must play all stones you draw on your turn. You cannot hold any over for a future turn.
Alright cool, thanks! I thought so. Is there anywhere I might be better of contacting you at? Thanks again, love your game!
Another question- When playing a multiplayer game, do you remove captured sages from the game board or are they left alone? If not, Can they be freed again or are they simply considered an irreplaceable, immovable token?
We are active on the Boardgamegeek Forums for Element and you can always email us through our contact form or send us private messages on Facebook. :)
As soon as the first sage is captured that is the end of the game. They do not get an opportunity to take another turn to try to escape. The person who was trying to capture that sage wins. You would reset the board and play a whole new game if you wanted to keep playing.
What can I say, stumbled on this video, bought the game! 😅
Water? What happens if you are moving a river of say four stones, but can only move three spaces? Does this mean you can not make that move, or you get to move the three available spaces?
You cannot make that move if you do not have room to make the full 4 space movement. Remember you can turn corners with the river and a flowing river can extinguish Fire if it crosses it, so there may be ways to take the full movement.
Thank you. You guys are great! I just discovered your company and I can't wait to pick up more of your games!
Many questions left unanswered here. If I grab four elements must I place them all or can I save them for another turn? Can I place them anywhere? If place a water stone between two separate water stones (creating a river of three with the one placed being in the middle) then which direction does the river move? I don't believe any of these things are answered here.
Hello! You cannot save Element stones for a future turn. The Water stone placed its always the "headwater" meaning it leads. In an instance where two areas of water are connected by the new stone, then you would choose which one to pull along, but not with.
Seems like a really neat game.
One more Q... can you combo multiple whirlwinds side-by-side for a super long jump that doesn’t take many tiles of placement?
Ex. My sage is in A1, I drop a 2 stone Whirlwind in both A2 & A3 (using a hand of 4 wind stones)... would I jump to A5?
If so, then theoretically later in the round so long as there were a place to land... I could stack A2 up to 4 & A3 to 3 & leap from A1 to A8. As an extreme example lol. I’ll call it the Sharknado Strat if so xD
When you daisy chain wind stones like suggested, you jump the number of spaces equal to the total number of individual Wind stones used. In your example you put 4 Wind stones down (2 x 2-high Whirlwinds) which would jump you OVER 4 total spaces, landing in the 5th space away from your sage, so A6, not A5. You don't count the space your sage is currently in. It can be a very powerful way to escape a super tight spot. :)
Understanding that earth that has turned into a mountain range cannot be replaced with its superior element, can stacked wind Whirlwinds be replaced?? And if so, how many tokens are necessary to replace them? Thanks!
Hi! Whirlwinds can be replaced by a single Fire stone, regardless of how high it is stacked, through the Rule of Replacement. Mountain chain Earth stones are the only stones immune to the Rule of Replacement. Thanks!
Game just came in the mail and was coming on here to ask about fire replacing a whirlwind. Glad it was answered here. Awesome game guys! My 13 year old just trapped me. On to game two!
I absolutely loved playing this game. I just did a review of the Silver Expansion on my channel (shameless plug, sorry)
3:20 My friend and I are really fighting over this one. I guess I don't understand "blocks diagonal movement" if you're able to jump it diagonally. Never mentions it has to be between two mountains.
Your normal movement of your sage can be in any direction, including on the diagonal. Before the Earth was double stacked, the sage could have moved between the Earth stones on the diagonal. Once there is a double stacked set of Earth stones in a line, the entire line becomes a Mountain Range and normal diagonal movement is blocked. However, you can jump the chain, but you would need to have access to a Wind Stone (or multiples, depending on how many spaces you need to jump). I hope this explains it. If you have further questions, please ask.
Do you need to use all the elements you get on a turn?
Hi Chandler! Yes, any stones you draw on your turn MUST be played on the same turn.
so if you place a fire token and there was already fire tokens above , below and to the left and right of the newly placed token, the fire would spread in in all 4 directions?
Yes. But you can only make that move if the Fire CAN spread in ALL directions. If there is another stone, a sage, or the edge of the board blocking any of the fire spread, you cannot make that placement. Remember, the element must be able to fulfill its elemental property action to be a legal move.
"16*16 board"
It looks like 11*11 to me
16 inch by 16 inch, while the grid is 11x11. I had the same thought at first!
Isn't Grant from Ghost Hunters?
11x11 board not 16x16 as stated.
It sounds like I could win by making the wrong player accidentaly trap me.
This game is impossible to find and buy unfortunately
Yo !!!
It is not easy to understand
GEEZ THIS SUCKS!!!! WHEN I FIRST SAW THIS VIDEO I THOUGHT "THIS IS SO BAD I SHOULD LITERALLY GO IN MY GARAGE GRAB AN AMAZON BOX AND MAKE MY OWN GAME!!!" WHAT'S FUNNY IS THAT ONE DAY I TOOK IT TO SCHOOL AND ALL MY FRIENDS LOVED IT!! IT'S CALLED ELEMENTZ