Ziggurat Review – A High-Stakes Legacy Adventure (For 7-Year-Olds)

Disclaimer: Ziggurat was provided for free by VR Distribution, although the writing and opinions of this article are my own.

When legacy games exploded onto the board game scene, it was thanks to Rob Daviau and Matt Leacock’s Pandemic Legacy. After delivering three seasons of that franchise, the duo has teamed up again. This time for Ziggurat, a legacy board game based on Leacock’s lesser known, kid friendly co-op title Mole Rats in Space (also known as Space Escape).

Unlike Pandemic Legacy, Ziggurat is not a sprawling, high stakes campaign built for veteran gamers. Instead, it is a family friendly adventure designed to introduce younger players to the magic of legacy games.

And that is perfect, because I have a seven year old ready to put it to the test.

How to play

As a legacy game, Ziggurat evolves over multiple plays, but it begins with rumours of fire spirits wandering a nearby ancient ziggurat. Naturally, as wannabe heroes, you and your team decide to investigate.

Before the game even starts, the legacy elements kick in. Each player picks a character card and permanently applies a sticker to it. If the thought of altering components makes you cringe and sends shivers down your spine, consider this your fair warning. Legacy games might not be your thing.

Once everyone has picked a character, given them a name, and placed their standee at the base of the giant 3D ziggurat, it’s time to start climbing. The temple acts as the game board, standing six levels tall. Each level contains spaces to navigate as you search for ladders to climb higher.

On your turn, you play the single card in your hand, which consists of two parts.

The top half provides a movement action, such as “Move your hero two spaces” or “Move all heroes three spaces”. You carry out this part first, and any affected players choose their direction, left or right. That small choice gives everyone a little control over their fate.

The bottom half moves the fire spirits already placed on the ziggurat. Because, surprise, the rumours were true. These spirits circle the ziggurat in a similar way, creating a constant threat.

If any player collides with a fire spirit, they get singed and everyone loses. The same goes for ending your movement on a pit. Except in that case you fall to your doom instead of being burned. Otherwise, movement interacts with the board in a very Snakes and Ladders style way.

Land on a ladder? Climb up a level.

Land on a chute? Down you go.

If all players manage to reach the top of the ziggurat without meeting a fiery or sudden end, you win the scenario. Simple enough for now. However, the rules you need to remember only grow with each game you win.

Oh, and before I forget, my seven year old insists I mention the titles you can earn. Each scenario awards achievements like The Swift for reaching the top first or The Charred for being the first to run into a fire spirit. These are stickers you add to your player board. They do not grant any gameplay advantages, just bragging rights. But according to my son, those matter more than actually winning.

A chill climb to the top

From the moment you open the box, Ziggurat draws you into its low stakes, easygoing world of colourful characters, friendly enemies, and simple mechanics. Everything about it screams “family game night”, from the charming art to the approachable gameplay.

But like a Transformer, it’s more than meets the eye. Yes, you got me. I just watched Transformers One, so the theme song refuses to leave my head.

For instance, your turn often comes down to a simple choice. Move left or move right. But because you will be making that decision again and again, each time with a different movement distance, you need to plan carefully to land on the spaces you want. At the same time you are dodging fire spirits, pitfalls, and chutes, which makes it essential to check everyone else’s cards and coordinate your movement.

This level of strategy is perfect for casual players and kids. If you have played and enjoyed heavier board games before, you might wish there was a little more bite. For me though, one of the biggest joys of Ziggurat has been seeing how much my son has latched onto it. He asks to play almost every night, which is a big win in our battle to reduce his screen time.

However, the real draw for him is not just the gameplay. It is the stickers.

Titles like Hex-Caster or Scroll Gatherer mean very little in terms of gameplay. That did not stop my son from chasing them so hard he nearly put the whole scenario at risk!

At times it left me pulling my hair out as he happily abandoned all sensible strategy for the chance at one more title.

Yet that was also where a lot of my enjoyment came from. Watching him engage with the mechanics and make his own decisions was a big part of the fun.

Stressful? Yes. Fun? Also yes.

Legacy lite: Sweet but short-lived

When it comes to campaign progression, without diving into spoilers, Ziggurat does not shake things up too drastically. The legacy elements are not as extreme as tearing up cards or permanently altering the board. Instead, the game gradually ramps up its difficulty while sprinkling in new obstacles along the way. Including, somewhat bizarrely, malicious cupcake toppings.

Each new scenario introduces both a perk and a challenge, giving you a sugar cube in one hand while smacking you with the other. That said, I often found the sugar was sweeter than the smack. With the added perks, the game sometimes felt a little easy for me, but it landed perfectly for my son.

There is also an ongoing story about the ziggurat and the fire spirits haunting its steps. Do not go in expecting some narrative masterpiece though. The story acts more as a backdrop for the mechanics rather than a gripping tale. Though if you are looking for something more story driven, Lands of Galzyr might be a better fit.

Now, while Ziggurat is a fantastic family game, it is not without its frustrations.

Almost every session I would find myself caught in a loop where I was one space away from where I needed to go, only to draw movement cards that sent me two or three spaces past it. When this happened several times in a row, it felt ridiculous. Like a golfer repeatedly missing a tap-in putt, I felt trapped in an eternal game of “almost there”.

Annoying? Absolutely.

A dealbreaker? Not really.

Luck is an intrinsic part of Ziggurat’s gameplay. So for every fortunate draw that saves the day, there will be another that leaves you frustratingly close but not quite close enough.

A bigger concern is longevity. Being a legacy game, once you complete the six scenario campaign, that is it. Our family finished it in about two weeks, and while the core gameplay is still enjoyable, there is very little reason to revisit it once the adventure is over. That said, for the price, the amount of content still feels like a solid deal.

In the end, Ziggurat is a fantastic choice for family game night. It offers an inviting mix of strategy, teamwork, and lighthearted fun, with enough surprises to keep things fresh. At least for a little while. It may not be a game you come back to again and again, but for the time it lasts, it is a journey well worth taking.