by bane221
The Succinct Review – TokaidoOverview
Tokaido is a move and act game with a great look and a bit of set collecting.
What It Feels Like
At first read of the rules, it feels like you’re about to play an old move around the board type game. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The game provides decisions on every turn (that get more interesting with the addition of The New Encounters). This decisions avoid AP while offering real choices. The set collecting is basic in appearance and that is truly deceptive. It almost reminds me of Seven Wonders wherein a larger collection may have more face value but may be sacrificing positional or strategic power.
F.U.R.B.Y. (Fun – Uniqueness – Replayability – Bits – [no] Yawning)
F [Fun] 4/5 – The visuals of the game combined with the lighter feeling of the choices makes this very enjoyable for me. It fills an odd gap between heavy and light games. While I definitely don’t feel the weight of choices I do in Agricola or others, I still know my choice has importance and long term implications. Further, the board movement is not stale and the theme is present though, if stripped down, may feel bland. I find the time commitment here to be perfect. The game never feels to run long, there is little downtime as turns are short, and I’m not playing multiplayer solitaire.
U [Uniqueness] 4/5 – Sobek, Seven Wonders, even Stone Age, I could name many games with set collecting but the way Tokaido plays it out has an easy going approach. I enjoy that you could invest in set collecting or avoid it but still be making optimal plays. The choice of travelers at the beginning of the game may set a tone for your play style but also does not lock you into the choices you make.
R [Replayability] 3/5 – I haven’t had too many opportunities to play Tokaido in a series of games. I’m not certain I would bore quickly in a row but the cards, at least, would be played out rapidly. I do know, however, it is a fun game to try out different paths and to focus differently on your journey. I also, however, have found many of my journeys end up being similar. While that doesn’t make me lose interest in the game, it does reduce the replayability factor slightly.
B [Bits] 3/5 – This is an odd category for Tokaido. The pieces themselves are nothing to write home about (but write home anyway, someone will thank you), there is an atmosphere created by the presentation of the game. It has a great look and feel that one designer even commented it was a “peaceful” game. Considering his love of zombies, that’s a tall order. The contents are of good quality even if the tiny circles are crying out to be lost the first time you drop them.
Y [No Yawning] 4/5 – You don’t have time. By the time you finish your yawn it will be your turn again and you’ll be asking someone if they took an achievement or how much did they place on the temple. There is little downtime and while waiting you may not be tactically plotting the conquest of Europe, you are still looking at choices that will be offered shortly.
Three Things That Stood Out
1) Choices
I love that each move offers me a handful of choices and all of them could be valid parts of a winning strategy. I also love that each choice has its own little private world of scoring. The temple, sceneries, souvenirs, and so forth all have their own system of scoring and collecting. There’s also the choice of gaining and spending money for big swings or traveling the path frugally.
2) Atmosphere
Seriously, this game is borderline serene! I love the look and feel of the components and setup. It creates a tight game without ever feeling like you fear the Tundra in Dominant Species or stressing area build-ups in El Grande or Rattus.
3) Game Weight and Time
I mentioned earlier that Tokaido scratches that medium weight itch perfectly for me. A lot of people I game with call it a light game even which just contributes to the brilliance of the choices topic. A learned group of players can play rapidly and even new players won’t be sitting in confusion world for very long. One stop at an Inn and I usually get the light bulb moment from first time players.
Final Thoughts
Tokaido does not provide the heavy, world conquering/saving feel that many other games provide. It does, however, fill a great slot of light to medium games and avoids brain burn. If you can acquire it with the expansions, I feel The New Encounters adds a great layer but the vanilla version is phenomenal as well.