Tokaido

This was another game we learned about from TableTop, but we kept getting it confused with Takenoko because the names are so similar. We finally had an opportunity to play this at a convention we went to. There was a little confusion when we were organizing the pieces because the person who owned it also had some sort of expansion for it. We had extra character cards and pieces that were not explained in the rules. We set those aside and focused on what was in the rules.

Game play is fairly simple. Whoever is last on the road moves even if this means they take several turns in a row, so one strategy is to always try to be behind the other players on the road. You choose the space you want to move to and take the appropriate action (drawing a card, taking money, donating money, etc). There are a lot of ways to get points and different achievements to focus on. It can be easy either to spread yourself too thin by trying to get everything, or to be too focused on one goal. The key is balance and flexibility. For example, I may want to collect all the panorama cards, but I’m not going to pass up an opportunity to go to the hot spring. At the same time, it might be unrealistic to buy items from the village, donate to the temple, and buy food, especially if someone else is on that farm space, and you can’t replenish your money supply.

Chubby Unicorn: Sasayakko the geisha – In the Village, if Sasayakko purchases at least two Souvenir cards, the cheapest Souvenir is free.
The Professor: Kinko the ronin – Each Meal card purchased by Kinko costs one coin less. (Meals that cost 1 are therefore free.)
Space Cat: Zen-emon the merchant – Once per Village, Zen-emon can purchase one Souvenir for 1 coin instead of the marked price.

Sometimes your traveler’s special ability just doesn’t work out. Mine certainly didn’t the first time we played. I actually ended up winning because I had visited so many hot springs!