In December 1982, the film E.T. The Extra Terrestrial was released in the UK – it was the first film I ever saw in the cinema and loved it, and still do today. It is a film about a visitor from another world that accidently gets left behind on Earth. He gets befriended by a young boy and forms a bond with him but all he really wants to do is phone home and be back with his family. 40 years later it is still a massive hit with audiences and Funko Games have released a new board game based on getting E.T. home and we couldn’t wait to play it.
In the box:
- Game board (based on Elliot’s neighbourhood)
- Kid Mats (x4)
- Kid Figures (x4)
- Mothership Figure with Base
- E.T. Figure
- E.T. Heartlight Dial
- Agent Movers with Bases (x5)
- Cop Car Movers with Bases (x3)
- Item Tiles (x21)
- E.T. Power Cards (x16)
- Candy Tokens (x6)
- Dice (x6)
- Reference Mat
- Instructions
E.T. The Extra Terrestrial: Light Years From Home is a board game for 2-4 players, age 10 and upwards with a playing time of around 30 minutes. It is a cooperative role-playing strategy adventure game where players can play as their favourite characters from the movie (Elliott, Gertie, Michael or Greg), but rather than playing as individuals, players must work together as Kids (taking turns rather than all playing at the same time) to bike through the neighbourhood, using shortcuts and ramps to avoid the local cops and the agents, and try to collect items to build a communication device so that E.T. can phone home and get safely to the clearing in the forest to join up with his family before his heartlight fades. If the players can safely get E.T. to meet the Mothership in the forest clearing before E.T.’s heartlight fades, then the Kids win! If not, they will be captured and lose!
Gathering Items, Dodging Agents and Phoning Home!
Setting up the game is fairly simple, although it does take a few minutes with shuffling cards, placing items tiles, agents and cop cars etc. The instructions are very well laid out and informative to help complete this and there is even a very handy video on the Funko Games website (I would recommend watching this before your first time playing, it shows quite well how to set up the game and how to play).
Once the rules on how to play have been grasped, and I think it will take several reads of the instructions and watching the video as there is a lot to take in, the game is easy to play and is lots of fun.
Overall, this is a really fun and enjoyable game once you get used to the rules and how everything works. It is so much better than just moving your playing piece around a board as you can move in different ways and have to collect items to construct a communication device whilst trying to avoid law enforcement. You can combine players to work together, take shortcuts through the neighbourhood and the variety of different moves that can be made makes it very interesting, engaging and fun. It is also a nice touch that E.T. fits in the basket of the bicycles so he can travel around the board with the Kids. And we loved the Mothership “hovering” around the board as we played.
The board is quite detailed and is made up of 25 zones, 36 spaces, roads and shortcuts. The figures are also very well detailed, matching the actors from the original film, and the cards are beautifully illustrated, depicting much-loved scenes from the film.
On the downside, it does take a little bit of time to grasp the rules and movements of agents and the Kids, but once you have it is an excellent game.
Whether you have seen the film or not, a fan of E.T. or have never even heard of it you will love this board game. As a co-op game it works extremely well as you take turns whilst having to work together and would make an excellent game for families to play over the Christmas period.
Rating: 4.5/5
RRP: £25
For more information or to buy, visit funkoeurope.com. Also available to buy from Amazon here.
