Family Games Cathedral Wood Strategy Tabletop Board Game Classic, 8+ Years

Easy game to pick up and play, build quality is good with the exception of some of the wood pieces being stained unevenly.

The game was easy enough to learn and very enjoyable. It doesnt take very long to complete a game although there is potential to build strategy for sure.1 less star because it is a bit annoying to store as you have to work out how to get all of the pieces sitting neatly into the board

This game has been around for decades. It’s well balanced. Good casual strategy game. No long complicated rules to learn. If your put off by the price; don’t be, this game is quality constructed and will be handed down through generations.

My husband introduced me to this game while we were dating 26 years ago. After having eight children, the pieces to our original game disappeared long ago. While browsing on Amazon I happened to find Cathedral again and popped it into my cart (much less expensive today than years ago too!).My older children remembered playing this through the years and were excited to have a complete set again. The younger ones are already hooked on on the game.Someone reviewed this game and said a cheaper version can be found in blokus, but I disagree as we have both games. Cathedral is smaller, 3 dimensional and takes more foresight to place the pieces (there are fewer pieces so you much choose each one wisely and not try and "make up" a bad placement later).Cathedral is also wood, which just plain feels better when you're playing with it compared to brightly colored, thin plastic tiles. I personally like the 3-D feel and look as I'm gazing down at the game - it gives a different perspective and it feels like your brain is very active while playing.Someone else mentioned it doesn't have the endless movements like chess does. I guess you could say that, but this game is not chess! You can't compare the two realistically as they are obviously very different. One game of chess can go on for long periods of time. Cathedral usually takes 30 minutes to complete which is ideal for most people and you don't feel bogged down in a game that never seems to end. For children or teenagers (who have a shorter attention span compared to adults) they enjoy this game because it can move quickly and they are often able to play several games in the time it would take to play one good game of chess.What I like most about Cathedral is that you must plan ahead, you must try and fit the pieces you have in your possession into specific space requirements which allows for critical, logical and abstract thinking all at once.

The rules are quick and easy to learn but there's so much strategy to it that you could play for hours. Kids and adults can learn it and the real wood pieces are beautiful.