Tabletopper Friday - Tokaido (2012)

I had thought I had played Tokaido (2012) once before but once we got to playing it this time, I was no longer sure I had.  I'm guessing now that I just saw a video on Tabletop and got confused, which happens more often than I'd care to admit.  I recall being confused over that whole Temple of Doom thing as well.  I've never ridden in a mining car at high speeds!

The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:

In Tokaido, each player is a traveler crossing the "East sea road", one of the most magnificent roads of Japan. While traveling, you will meet people, taste fine meals, collect beautiful items, discover great panoramas, and visit temples and wild places but at the end of the day, when everyone has arrived at the end of the road you'll have to be the most initiated traveler – which means that you'll have to be the one who discovered the most interesting and varied things.

The potential action spaces in Tokaido are laid out on a linear track, with players advancing down this track to take actions. The player who is currently last on the track takes a turn by advancing forward on the track to their desired action and taking that action. So, players must choose whether to advance slowly in order to get more turns, or to travel more rapidly to beat other players to their desired action spaces.

The action spaces allow a variety of actions that will score in different, but roughly equal, ways. Some action spaces allow players to collect money, while others offer players a way to spend that money to acquire points. Other action spaces allow players to engage in various set collections that score points for assembling those sets. Some action spaces simply award players points for stopping on them, or give the player a randomly determined action from all of the other types.

All of the actions in Tokaido are very simple, and combined with a unique graphic design, Tokaido offers players a peaceful zen mood in its play.

It's pretty clear after one play through that this game requires a diverse strategy to be in the running.  Pick one main pursuit for victory points but be sure to have a hand in most, if not every, avenue to get the top spot.  It's a good game that I'd gladly play again.

Tabletopper Friday on MFWARS.com 

Mostly about card games and board games,
unless they have a decidedly wargamey feel.

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