Tulikko Board Game Review

Tulikko

Players: 2-4

Play Time: 30 minutes (much less with lower player counts)

Ages: 8+

Gorgeous artwork, a mystical firefox and tile laying meant I absolutely wanted to play as soon as I heard about Tulikko

Overview
Players adopt a Tulikko or other spirit animal, gain its corresponding board, tiles and tokens and then try to be the first to place all of their animal and river tokens. To explore your forest, you slide one of your forest tiles into the central board, taking the tile that comes out the opposite side. Then you place that tile on a corresponding symbol on your board. Placing two tiles of the same color next to each other lets you place an animal token and placing different tiles next to each other lets you place a river. 

Completing arrangements on various goal cards lets you place a couple extra tokens on them. Being the first to play a minimum number of tiles of the same color earns you an aurora tile, which each grants a one time bonus power.

Thoughts
The artwork is beautiful, especially on the iridescent cover. I loved the whimsical style on the trees and boards. The tiles are sturdy, the tokens are chunky and it is all put together with care. I had fun to learning the legend of the Tulikko and I would have loved to learn the lore behind the other spirit animals as well.

Gameplay is faster and simpler than expected. The central board definitely adds a new element over just straight drafting. Since there are only 12 turns, it is impossible to fill your entire board, meaning you have to be strategic as to which objectives you try to complete. Some of the aurora tiles grant pretty powerful rewards, so they’re pretty important to chase.

Our first game was over in about 15 minutes, so we reset and immediately played again. I like that there are a variety of objective cards, adding some variety while keeping it easy to learn. I was even able to teach my 7 year old, who enjoyed it (although we played without aurora tiles for the first game).

Overall, I think it is a lovely, family weight game for when you want something a little lighter or to be able to play multiple games in a night.

Game gifted by the publisher but all thoughts are always my own.

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