Calliope Games Tsuro of the Seas

This is the second time that I’ve bought this game.My first copy was recently damaged by a spilled drink and the board had warped.You can learn it in under a minute and it takes around 15-20 to play, depending on the number and decisiveness of players. I can guarantee you won’t stop at one game. Its deceptive simplicity hides a multitude of permutations, meaning no two games are the same.There is an element of luck, but I don’t feel it impacts the game negatively. A skilled player will usually be able to optimise their hand and, if they don’t, the game is short enough that it won’t feel too punishing to lose.The components are solid and the art is attractive, evoking an East Asian theme akin to the classic game Go.It’s a bit more expensive than I remember, but it’s still good value for money. Your collection would be all the better for including this.

This game is a sheer delight to own and play! Both me and my partner fell in love with this the first time we opened the box! It comes BEAUTIFULLY packaged and presented with luscious artwork, and ALL components are of the VERY highest quality! To top all this, it's probably one of the most GORGEOUS, relaxing and addictive games you will ever play! No two games are the same!We played this game several times in succession, and we didn't really want to put it away then, (could quite easily have played it all night...) but we've got SO many games to get through and play having started games playing again after some considerable time, and having a collection that spans almost 700...!Each player takes a token (beautiful playing pieces to handle!) and places it to the edge of the board on the beginning of any pathway. In succession, players `play' tiles to the board which can send their pieces off in various directions - leading who know where... They then move their piece to the end of that particular tile. This continues until either no tiles are left, or a player forces another player off the board. Such a simple concept, but beautifully implemented!We could not find fault with this game. First we did think it a bit pricey - but just wait until you see it!Simply GORGEOUS!!

The first thing you notice with Tsuro is that it has lovely artwork. It's designed to feel like an ancient game, even though it's a modern concept (as far as I know).The gameplay can look a little complex at first, but is actually very simple. Each player has a stone which will follow a path through the board. On each turn, you put down a tile which extends your own path, and may (at some stage) affect other player's paths. The objective is to stay on the board as long as possible. If your path leads you off the board, or you crash into another player, you are out of the game.I've found that there isn't very much scope for strategy in Tsuro. However, it can engage your spatial awareness and your forward planning. In order to play well, you have to be aware of what tiles you have (or are likely to have in the future), and how safe it is to go a certain direction on the board. This depends not only on your own path, but on the paths of other players who could suddenly end up right beside you, making things much harder! Chance plays a big role too though.The game scales quite well, and is very playable with just 2 people. Increasing the number of players increases the challenge, as you have less margin for error, and more paths to keep track of. I've yet to try it with a full complement of 8 players, but look forward to trying that sometime.

Tsuro is an abstract tile laying game, basically you lay a tile and you follow the pathway hoping you won't fall off the edge of the board or hit another player. You do this till you are out or run out of tiles.It's simple to play for sure but is deceptively tactical too.The pacing of the game is fast no game should last long, perhaps 30 minutes at most for maximum player count.I can see it scaling well with player counts, there shouldn't be a lot of down time between turns.The more players involved makes the tension rises faster because in the later stages, players will start dropping out quickly, as there's less room to maneuver and the end will leave you wanting to play again, at least it did for me.A visually beautiful game with high quality components, should give you a couple of games per session if part of your games night.

At first sight, it did not seem to be an especially thrilling game, I must confess. Once we were into our second game and beginning to appreciate the brilliance of the concept, the brain-teasing strategies required and the the speed and fun of play, we were hooked! Our players ranged from 75 to 9 in age and the graduates were as enthralled as the the primary pupil! It is well-made, ingeniously-designed and entertaining. You will love it too!