by edytwinky
My friends purchased Tokaido and really enjoy the game for what it's worth.I gave it a go over the weekend for my first time and my opinions were a little different.
Don't get me wrong, the game's art is beautiful. From the cards, to the mat, to the player boards, everything is well designed.
From there it takes a different turn. For as easy as the game is, it does take a bit to explain because there are so many different ways to get points. Once you get going, the game is easy to pick up.
I wasn't too fond of the game mechanics. It felt like players were limited into just how much freedom they had to make decisions in the game. You really couldn't jump to far ahead in the board or else it would put you behind. Nearly all the time, your game piece was limited only to 2-3 options on where to be placed. I took some aspect away from total strategy.
As for the actual gameboard, everything was kind of crunched together. Sometimes, you would miss a spot where your player could go simply because some spaces were so close together. The scoring part at the top of the board was also very crammed.
Overall I just left a little unimpressed with it.