OUR REVIEW

TRAVELLIING IN JAPAN

TOKAIDO

Ryokans, WOODCUTS AND CHERRY BLOSSOMS

Tokaido, which means Eastern Ocean Passage, was one of the most important mail and trade routes in ancient Japan. In the Edo era (1603-1867) Tokaido connected the seat of government in Edo (today's Tokyo) with the Imperial Capital of Kyoto.

The translation of the name is a bit misleading, because this important trade route went overland, along the eastern coast of Japan. Along the round 53 trade posts had been built, so-called Shukuba (Posting stations). Today the track of Tokaido is the busiest and most-used traffic route in Japan, connecting Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya and Osaka.

From an artist's point of you one must mention a cycle of wood cuttings by Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige, the 53 trade posts of Tokaido. The game designer has immortalized the artist as a character in the game. The cycle portraits life and events along the trade route wonderfully detailed views. The coloring is a feast four your eyes and if you are interested to see more you can find information on the Internet. But enough of raving about Japanese art, let's take a look at the game.

A square white box, decorated with a very colorful image, which is not at all brash, this is the package of the game. When you open the box you realize immediately that it was important for the graphic designer, Xavier Gueniffey Durin - Naiade is his pen name - to carry on this color multitude in the Japanese style without having it jostling to the front or influencing the game.

The rectangular elongated board shows the Tokaido trade route, featuring inns, villages, hot springs and many other locations where you can spend time during a trip to enjoy culture and countryside. Players take up their starting positions in the first of five inns.

The order in which players take their turns is easily determined. The active player is always the player whose marker is the last one on the road, or, as the rules tell, is farthest away from the journey's destination. In the inns the player who is farthest away from the road goes first.

Each player draws two out of ten traveler tiles, chooses one of them and is representing this character during the game and can enjoy the advantages of this character. The traveler tile also tells you with what amount of money you begin the game. Players now move in direction of the nearest inn and choose the locations they want to visit.

In the village you buy souvenirs and try to assemble sets of up to four different symbols. You draw three cards and buy up to three of those cards. The sets you assemble score you 1++3+5+7 points for 1/2/3/4 different cards. At the farm a player receives three coins from stock.

There are three different images of panorama areas. Those images consist of three, four or five segments. Each segment earns you points to credit your score with. When you arrive at the Hot Springs, you draw one face-down cards and can credit your score with two or three points.  

On the Encounter areas you take an encounter card and thus meet a character from the game who gives a once-only advantage. You might receive points, money, panorama cards or souvenirs or might be given money for the temple.

If you arrive at the temple area you are allowed to donate gold coins to the temple. For each coin that you donate you score one point. The coins you game are stored in the temple on a spot that is marked with your color.

The first player to enter the nearest inn puts his marker onto the position that is nearest to the road. The other players take the consecutive positions in order of their arrival. The first player picks up one more meal than there are players, chooses one of them and pays the price. The other cards are set aside face-down for the other players. This selection is made by each player upon arrival at the inn. For the meal a player is awarded six points, and it is important to remember that you may only taste each delicacy once during your trip.

Then players continue on their journey, the player who has entered the inn last is the first to depart. In this fashion all players move their markers along the Tokaido from one inn to the next. When all travelers have arrived at the last inn, the game ends and the last score is calculated.

The player who is first to complete one of the panoramas, scores three additional points, the same amount of points is awarded to the player who holds most souvenirs, encounter cards, Hot Spring cards and Meal cards. In case of a tie all players involved in the tie score three points.

Finally, the player who did donate most gold in the temple, scores ten points and the players in second, third and fourth place score seven, four and two points. When five are playing the last one does not score, in case of a tie each player involved in the tie gets the full number of points. If this then leads to leaving out of positions - no third rank in case of two in second place - is not discernable from the German rules, but I would assume it to be that way.

There are special rules for two players and you also find three variants of the game in the rules .The Journey of Initiation gives you easy access to the game, in "Return Trip" you travel along the Tokaido in opposite direction and in the Gastronomy variant you draw fewer meal cards so that arrival at the inns becomes even more important.

In Essen 2013 the Crossroads expansion for Tokaido was published. It introduces new characters and the opportunity to choose between two possibilities on each square - You do the same as in the basic game or:

At a panorama square take a cherry tree instead of a panorama and score money and points; at the Hot Springs you can pay one coin and receive a Bath House card worth four points.

At the Farm you can visit the Casino, risk two coins and gamble using a die; in the temple you can - instead of making a donation - acquire an amulet card that offers special abilities and in the villages you can acquire Legendary Objects which either upgrade collected cards or yield additional points.

On an encounter square you can pay one coin and take a Calligraphy card, which gives you advantages with money and points.

Antoine Bauza is not unknown to us! Both his designs 7 Wonders and Bakong have won awards in the framework of the Austrian Games Award. Last year we very happy with Takenoko when we planted bamboo shoots for a Panda bear. In Tokaido he again stays within the genre of family games and demonstrates again how to transfer flair, atmosphere and especially lots of fun to a game board.

The game plays fluently and easily, the moves and their implementation are clear and easily understood, also for younger players. Of course you "are played" by the game to a certain extent, because can you calculate a move when a nine-year old insists on beginning the "beautiful" panorama despite being better of when choosing the Hot Springs. But that’s how it goes when playing with children, so you cannot let that weigh against the game.

The rules are well-structured, and if you are able to read French you find more lucidity and more direct wording there. The German rules are only available from the Internet. We have not tried out any of the versions offered in the rules, because the direction in which you walk along Tokaido does not change anything much in the game and to reduce the number of meals in the inn would only have been a disadvantage for the younger players.

The components are adequate for the price of the game, I only had problems with the tiny markers, but there are smaller children's' hands and so the children hat the opportunity for once to work as the bank. Should a hobbyist feel like it, he can download the instructions for how to furnish the money for the game from wood and thus upgrade his personal copy of the game.

Talking about the graphic design I have arrived at the fact that in my opinion defines the game. I must admit that I am fascinated by Japanese art and am thus prejudiced. Naiade hat managed to create a magical graphic event on the game board with his multitude of colors. Those graphics provide a lot of flair for a simple traveling game and you really feel like being in the village and buying souvenirs or choosing a dish in at the inn. Several times after playing Tokaido we went for a meal at a Japanese restaurant.

There is not much to tell about strategy and tactic in the game and you cannot really plan it. The tactic emerges during the game, because you depend to quite some extend on what your predecessors are doing. After a few games you have found out what the big mistakes are and avoid them. For me, with the full complement of players, the game takes too long to play, we felt the four players is the best number for Tokaido.

The topic has been well transferred to the game, you are walking on foot through the Japan of the Edo era and are in no hurry. It is very nearly a sightseeing tour when you visit Hot Springs, meet artists on the road and have a meal in the nearest inn. You must not eat a dish a second time, which you would not do anyway on a trip learning about people and country, and I consider the mechanism of the last player who enters the inn last and thus has the smallest selection to choose from, leaves first to avoid being last next time, to be very well done.

All things considered, we have liked the game very much and I have rarely seen a game that was played that often in our family, because in Tokaido flair, amount of luck, level of difficulty and tactical opportunities are well balanced and thus provide fun for the whole family.

Players: 2-5

Age: 8+

Time: 45+

Designer: Antoine Bauza

Artist: Xavier Gueniffey Durin = Naiade

Price: ca. 40 €

Publisher: Funforge 2012

Web: www.funforge.fr

Genre: Travel

Users: For families

Version: fr

Rules: de en fr it

In-game text: no

Comments:

Fantastically beautiful graphic design

Plays best with four players

Circuitously written but basically simple rules

Compares to:

Basically all travel games, but in design and mechanisms first game of its kind

Other editions:

Asterion Press, Hobbity.eu, Hobby World, Jolly Thinkers, Mindok, Passport Game Studios,

My rating: 5

Kurt Schellenbauer:

If you are traveling you can make a lot of experiences - the best description of the game and an invitation to come along! Tokaido is worth a trip!

Chance (pink): 0

Tactic (turquoise): 1

Strategy (blue): 1

Creativity (dark blue): 0

Knowledge (yellow): 0

Memory (orange): 0

Communication (red): 0

Interaction (brown): 2

Dexterity (green): 0

Action (dark green): 0