If you've been inspired by the exploits of Indiana Jones or Lara Croft, then Post Scriptum's Legend Raiders could be just what you need. Designed by Dario Massarenti and Francesco Testini, Legend Raiders is a light family-friendly set collection game for 2-4 players where you are embarking on archaeological expeditions with the aim of amassing the most coins. Among the character options you can play as are Lana Soft and Lin Diana Jones, so no IPs were infringed in the making of this game :-)
There's a central display with four columns, each of which contains a random expedition tile and two tool tokens drawn from a bag. Turns are super simple, making this a game that even quite young children can play. On your turn you either Prepare an expedition by taking the tile and tools from a single column and placing them on your personal board; or you Go On an expedition, taking a previously Prepared tile from your personal board and meeting its cost by using the tools shown on the tile. If the torch token on your board is showing its lit side, you can flip it to unlit to use it as a wild tool token. When you Go On an expedition, you score all the coins showing on your personal board, and you take an expedition card. These show icons that can be found on the flip side of your expedition tiles; you'll earn end-game bonus coins for cards where you can match all their icons.
There's the option to incorporate a custom stickered six-sided die that players roll at the start of each turn: a map symbol let's them draw a tool token from the bag, a torch symbol requires all the players to flip their torch icons (a boost if you've already used your torch but a pain if your torch token was on its lit side) and a coin symbol will add to the reward for any expeditions you Go On this turn. The die rolls are a fun feature that children will enjoy but they up Legend Raiders' luck factor. If you choose to play without rolling the die each turn then everyone is guaranteed a single use of their torch and the only way an unlit torch can be 'rekindled' is by choosing that option if the die appears on one of your expedition cards.
Legend Raiders is an easy-to-play family game with attractive art from Matthew Mizak. If your family settles down to watch one of the Indiana Jones movies over Christmas, we can pretty much guarantee that there'll be a clamour to break out Legend Raiders for a game as soon as the end-titles roll.