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Parks
MatagotHenry Audubon2019
- players
- 1–5
- minutes
- 60
- years
- 10+
In the box
Trail tiles · Illustrated Park cards · Equipment cards and Season cards · Wooden hikers · Resource tokens: mountain, forest, sun, water, wildlife · Canteens and camera
Official rules (PDF, publisher's site)
Box details
- Designer
- Henry Audubon
- Artwork
- Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series
- Publisher
- Matagot
- Mechanics
- Worker PlacementTrack MovementSet CollectionObjectivesSolo Play
- Expansions
- Parks: Nightfall · 2021
- Parks: Wildlife · 2022
Where to buy it
Near you and online
In a shop
Within 50 km.
Online
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The basics
Each player hikes through four seasons to collect resources and trade them for visits to national parks. On your turn, move one of your two hikers forward as far as you like along the trail, without stopping on an occupied space (except with your campfire), then apply the effect of the space: resources, a canteen or a photo. At the trail end, reserve or visit a park, or buy gear. After the fourth season, parks, photos, your Year card and the first hiker marker make the total, and the highest wins.
Checked against the official rules · October 2026
The rules, step by step
Setup
2 hikers each, 1 canteen, 1 Year card, Trail of 6 or 7 sites
- Each player takes the two hikers of their colour, placed at the trailhead, and their campfire, lit side up.
- Each player receives a canteen card, face up. The other canteens form a draw pile.
- Each player receives two Year cards and secretly keeps one: it is their personal goal. For a first game, deal only one.
- Three parks and three gear cards are laid face up, next to their draw piles.
- The first player takes the first hiker marker; the player to their right receives the camera.
- The first season's trail links the trailhead to the trail end: five basic sites (forest, mountain, valley, ocean, vista), plus the waterfall with four or five players, and one advanced site drawn at random, shuffled together. That makes six sites with two or three players, seven with four or five.
- Reveal a Season card: it shows which weather tokens to place on the sites, one per site from the second onwards.
How to play
Move a hiker, Apply the site, Trail end: visit a park
- The holder of the first hiker marker goes first, then play continues clockwise.
- On your turn, move one of your hikers to any site further along the trail, then apply its effect. You can only stop on a site whose action you can take.
- You cannot stop on an occupied site, even one occupied by your own hiker, except by putting out your campfire. It is relit when one of your hikers reaches the trail end.
- The first hiker to stop on a site with a weather token takes it.
- The basic sites give tokens: 1 forest, 1 mountain, 2 sunshine in the valley, 2 water at the ocean, 1 sunshine and 1 water at the waterfall. The vista lets you draw a canteen or pay 2 tokens for a photo.
- The advanced sites: wildlife trades 1 token for 1 wildlife token; the lodge trades 1 token for any other, wildlife excluded, and you may do it twice; the lookout lets you reserve or visit a park, or buy gear; the river, for 1 water, copies the action of an occupied site.
- At the trail end, relight your campfire, then choose: reserve a park, visit a park by paying the tokens shown on its card, or buy gear by paying sunshine.
- You never keep more than 12 tokens at the end of your turn.
- When only one hiker is left on the trail, its owner moves it to the trail end. The camera holder may then take a photo for one token, then canteens are emptied, hikers go back to the trailhead, and a new trail is laid out, one advanced site longer.
Scoring
Park points, 1 point per photo, First hiker marker 1
- Each park visited scores the points printed on its card.
- Each photo scores 1 point.
- Add the points of your Year card if its goal is met.
- The holder of the first hiker marker scores 1 point.
End of the game
4 seasons, Highest total, Tie: most parks
- The game ends at the end of the fourth season, after the last photo.
- The highest total wins.
- If tied, the player who visited the most parks wins; otherwise, the win is shared.
House rules and pitfalls
Parks is a game by Henry Audubon, published in 2019 by Keymaster Games, for one to five players…
- Parks is a game by Henry Audubon, published in 2019 by Keymaster Games, for one to five players, aged 10 and up, in 30 to 60 minutes. Its artwork comes from a series of posters devoted to the American national parks, Fifty-Nine Parks. The Nightfall expansion came out in 2021.
- A wildlife token replaces any token to visit a park, take a photo, buy gear or pay for the river, but not to fill a canteen or at the lodge exchange.
- With the camera, a photo costs one token instead of two. Taking a photo at the vista brings the camera to you.
- With three players or fewer, the first hiker who buys gear at the trail end pays one sunshine less; with four or five, the first two benefit.
- Common mistake: forgetting the point of the first hiker marker. It can change hands every season: whoever is first to stand on the park reservation at the trail end takes it.
Going further
Frequently asked questions · In the same family
Frequently asked questions
Can you stop on a site that is already occupied?
No, except by putting out your campfire. The rule also applies to a site occupied by your own hiker. The campfire is relit when one of your hikers reaches the trail end.
How many tokens can you keep?
Twelve at most at the end of your turn. Beyond that, discard down to twelve.
What is the first hiker marker for?
It decides who starts the next season and scores 1 point at the end of the game. You take it by being the first to stand on the park reservation, at the trail end.
Where do you visit parks?
At the trail end, or on the lookout advanced site. You pay the tokens shown on the card, and the park joins your points. A park you reserved earlier can be visited the same way.
How many seasons does a game last?
Four. The trail grows by one advanced site each season: in the fourth, all the advanced sites are in play.
Can you play Parks solo?
Yes. Solo, you play your two hikers against automated rangers, driven by the gear cards. The rules suggest judging your score in tiers: 30 points or more is the best.
Who wins in case of a tie?
The player who visited the most parks. If the tie remains, the win is shared.