2024Kevin Ellenburg
- Videos
- 8
- Creators
- 7
Mainly reviews
1 - 2 players15 minMedium weight
Death Valley
2021Kevin Ellenburg
- Videos
- 20
- Creators
- 17
Mostly playthroughs and reviews. Death Valley is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 6 reviews, 6 how-to-play guides, 7 recorded sessions, and 1 other video.
1 - 2 players
15 min
Light weight: Learn it in minutes
From BoardGameGeek
Sunlight glaring through the windshield. Your favorite songs blasting through the speakers. Candy bar wrappers piled next to a warm drink in the cheap plastic cupholder. Your companion riding in the passenger seat, snapping pictures of landmarks as you settle into the hypnotic rhythm of the road. But be careful as this fun road trip could get dangerous as you drive through Death Valley. Death Valley is a pocket-sized, push-your-luck, tableau-building game for 1-2 players, with each traveler striving to assemble the best mix of cards in their journey and scrapbook in order to win the game. Each turn, players choose whether to assign a card to their journey, or move cards from their journey to their scrapbook. Cards feature stars (points), special abilities (which affect the value and position of cards), and some interesting facts about Death Valley. Each card also lists a hazard: heat, terrain, flood or animals. Having three of the same hazard visible in their tableau causes the player to bust and lose all the progress in their journey. At the end of the game, players sum the stars in their journey and any additional points from card abilities to determine who wins. Death Valley was a top-three finalist in Button Shy's 18-Card Challenge: Design a game about a real life location.
Watch first
Which Death Valley video should I watch?
Death Valley has 20 videos from 17 creators: 6 reviews, 6 how-to-play guides, 7 playthroughs and 1 other video. They date from 2021 to April 2025.
To learn the rules, start with "Death Valley - Button Shy November 18 Card Challenge (prototype pitch video)" by Kevin Ellenburg, which runs 3 min.
For an opinion before you buy, start with "Death Valley Review - with Zee Garcia" by The Dice Tower. 6 creators have reviewed it. To see it played, watch "Solo Playthrough | Death Valley (Button Shy Games)" by Sir Thecos, one of 7 playthroughs.
If you like it, try Death Valley: Highs & Lows, also by Kevin Ellenburg, or Flip 7, Flip 7: With A Vengeance and Quartz, which share several of its mechanics.
All videos
8 of 17
Creators who cover this
Sir Thecos
3 videos of this game
Button Shy
2 videos of this game
Bits & Biology
1 video of this game
Board Game Bonkers
1 video of this game
Board Game Science
1 video of this game
Brettspiel-Zimmer - Guru erklärt
1 video of this game
cliquenabend
1 video of this game
eNVy Board Gaming
1 video of this game
Games like this
2024Eric Olsen
- Videos
- 134
- Creators
- 108
Mostly reviews and how-to-play
3 - 18 players20 minLight weight
2026Eric Olsen, Alyssa Swatek
- Videos
- 36
- Creators
- 33
Mainly reviews and how-to-play
3 - 28 players20 minLight weight
2015Sérgio Halaban, André Zatz
- Videos
- 25
- Creators
- 21
Mainly reviews and how-to-play
3 - 5 players45 - 60 minLight weight
About Death Valley
From BoardGameGeek:
Sunlight glaring through the windshield. Your favorite songs blasting through the speakers. Candy bar wrappers piled next to a warm drink in the cheap plastic cupholder. Your companion riding in the passenger seat, snapping pictures of landmarks as you settle into the hypnotic rhythm of the road. But be careful as this fun road trip could get dangerous as you drive through Death Valley. Death Valley is a pocket-sized, push-your-luck, tableau-building game for 1-2 players, with each traveler striving to assemble the best mix of cards in their journey and scrapbook in order to win the game. Each turn, players choose whether to assign a card to their journey, or move cards from their journey to their scrapbook. Cards feature stars (points), special abilities (which affect the value and position of cards), and some interesting facts about Death Valley. Each card also lists a hazard: heat, terrain, flood or animals. Having three of the same hazard visible in their tableau causes the player to bust and lose all the progress in their journey. At the end of the game, players sum the stars in their journey and any additional points from card abilities to determine who wins. Death Valley was a top-three finalist in Button Shy's 18-Card Challenge: Design a game about a real life location.