Tsuro, by Calliope Games, is about a “spiritual journey”, where there are many paths to take. Unfortunately, some of those paths lead straight off the board, itself! Aspects of hand management, tile-placement and abstract strategy are at play, here. In Tsuro, 2-8 players’ starting pieces (a lovely dragon stone) begin on the edge of the board. This is a 6x6 grid. Everyone has a hand of square tiles, with two pathways on them. Your turn consists of you placing one tile down adjacent to your player piece. You then have to travel along the path. You can rotate this tile any way you want. All pathways always lead off the tile, at either 90°, 180°, 270° or 360°. All dragons that are next to this new tile have to obey the pathway in front of them. This could cause them to move along multiple tiles. They move until they reach a tile’s edge. There’s often scenarios where this means having to exit off the board! In which case, that player gets eliminated. The aim of Tsuro is to be the last person standing. It’s interactive on a sky-high level, which is brilliant. Almost every time you place a tile, you could force another dragon to move! And then there’s Franz Vohwinkel’s artwork, which is a thing of beauty. It almost feels sinful to cover up the board’s Asian background design with your tiles. Games of Tsuro are quick, lasting no longer than 20 minutes. It’s a wonderful ‘filler’ game – like an aperitif before the main course. Only this aperitif you’ll want to sample again and again! Player count: 2-8 players Time: 15 minutes Age: 8+
