Mikado and Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island

Two games about collecting wood!

Mikado

Probably more commonly known as "pick up sticks", this competitive dexterity game is a simple one. Starting by bundling all the striped sticks and letting them drop like uncooked spaghetti noodles, all you need to do is collect them one at a time... without moving ANY other sticks than your selected target because doing so immediately ends your turn. Once all the sticks are collected you score based on the stripes and whoever is highest wins.

While there is a notable advantage in going first (because if you are super good you can just clear the field), having steady hands is what will win this one for you. Ultimately it might be too cheap and simple for some though.

Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island

This heavy box sees up to four players cooperatively try to win all eight scenarios which always puts them on isolated islands with varying degrees of danger. In it, you'll need to collect resources to build things and feed your people because if just one of you dies it is game over.

I won't lie. While a players turn is as simple as electing two things you want to try to do or just one thing that you really want to do, mechanically it is headache inducing complexity and will require a few goes before you get the hang of what happens when. It is also kind of tough, but in the "because you don't know what you're doing" way. By that I mean we lost the first scenario a few times before winning it, but the next few have all been wins albeit with some really close calls.

My setup is never this neat.

This is because once you understand how the gears of the game work, you'll have a good idea of what to leverage for each scenario, when to rush, when to go slow, when to avoid rolling the dice (almost always) etc. It's a decent cooperative game, but it lacks excitement in combat (because most of the game is just math) and usually hits a climax too early before a scenario ends - at some exciting point you'll know if you've won or if you have no chance of winning, then play out the next few rounds to dot some i's and cross t's to seal the deal (which you would have accurately predicted earlier unless an event card really screws your plans).

Ultimately, its not one I'd end up recommending - especially for newer board game hobbyists, not because it's bad but just because it's a bit messy and quite overwhelming at the start.