Full disclosure: Floodgate Games sent me this game along with a couple of others (reviews coming soon). But trust me, if it was garbage, I’d be the first one to throw it in the volcano. Good news though—Landmarks is legit great. It’s a clever, chaotic, brain-bending, one-word-at-a-time journey through a cursed jungle, and honestly? It rules.
Think Codenames, but with a map, curses, treasure, traps, and a growing sense of “oh no, we’re all gonna die”—and that’s before you hit your second curse.
So, What the Hell Is Going On Here?
You play as a group of adventurers blindly stumbling through a hex-based island looking for treasure and an escape route. But there’s a twist: only one player—the Pathfinder—can see the map. Everyone else is wandering the jungle with metaphorical blindfolds on, hoping their buddy with the dry erase marker and God complex knows what they’re doing.
The Pathfinder gives one word per turn to guide the team to the next tile. That’s it. One word. The party then debates, panics, and picks a tile to move to, based on that clue. Once they commit, the Pathfinder tells them what they just stepped in. Could be:
💀 A trap (reduces your precious water supply)
😈 A curse (get cursed twice = dead)
💧 A water tile (good luck refilling that canteen)
💎 A treasure (what you’re here for, obviously)
⛔ The exit (don’t even try to leave early)
🧿 An amulet (needed to cleanse a curse)
🕳️ Or nothing at all (womp womp)
You only get seven attempts before your group dies of thirst. Finding a water tile will refill those attempts up to a certain point. If you’re cursed twice without recovering, you die. If you try to leave the island without finding at least one treasure? Yep—you die.
So yeah, Landmarks is a game about trust, teamwork, and saying “So apparently ‘spicy’ means ‘let’s walk directly into a magical death trap.’ Noted.”
What Makes It Awesome
The role of Pathfinder is stressful in the most fun way. You’re the only one who knows what’s coming, and every clue feels like a gamble between clarity and catastrophe.
For the rest of the party? It’s organized chaos. You’ll debate what “sharp” means for ten minutes, move to a tile you’re confident about, and then curse the Pathfinder for dropping you in a snake pit.
The component quality slaps. That cloth map? Gorgeous. Dry erase boards? Crisp and satisfying. This game looks and feels great on the table, which is more than I can say about most co-op games that make you cry in under 30 minutes.
Group Vibes Matter
This game hits best with people who love group puzzles and social chaos. It works with close friends and strangers, though it’s way funnier when you can call someone out for leading you into a sand trap after confidently saying “lush.”
And yes, someone in your group will absolutely try to alpha-game the Pathfinder. Let them. Watch them squirm. They’ll be the first to step on a trap tile.
Final Verdict
Landmarks is a smart, intense, and hysterically fun co-op game that manages to make one-word clues feel like life-or-death decisions—because in this game, they actually are.
It’s easy to teach, plays fast, and feels different every time. If you’re into Codenames, Forbidden Island, or any game where miscommunication leads to hilarity and horror, this belongs on your shelf.
Thanks again to Floodgate for sending it. You made a keeper.
