Disclaimer: Sent for review by Pandasaurus.
In Tullikko by Pandasaurus you and your friends/family gather around the table to see the seasons and environment change as the titular “Tulikko” flies through the sky and, in doing so, manifests the aurora borealis. The theme of the game is both natural and magical and the two become mythical in its storytelling.
Tulikko is a tile laying game with a unique central board that allows you to push tiles in while pushing out another in its place that you will use on your turn. Gameplay is pretty simple and is broken down into 3 steps (you can read the rulebook for the specifics), but they boils down to: 1. Draw your own tile and place it in the central board, taking the tile that is pushed out (which is very fun to do). 2. Place your new tile on your board based on the symbol on the central board, taking into account scoring conditions. 3. Place a token between any adjacent tiles (a river or animal token depending if the tiles are the same or not). There are a bit of more nuances there, but take a tile, place a tile, place a animal/river token.
The game also has numerous scoring cards for varying scoring conditions which ensures that no playthrough of the game is exactly the same. That is unless you end up playing the game A LOT, which you likely will because it’s great and plays in only about 20 minutes. The symbols are easy to read and they are colorblind friendly without being awkward. There are no special patterns colorblind players have to look for or any letters that they have to look for. Each tile type, token type and symbol are all very different from one another and you probably won’t even notice it’s colorblind friendly unless you are looking for it.
The game is easy to setup and every color token comes in a bag so it’s easy to hand out colors to players. Each color token also has a cute/magical animal from foxes, to owls, deer and rabbits! River tokens are also included in their own bag but for faster setup you can include six river tokens in each bag so you can just divvy out a small bag instead of having to count them up.
Tulikko is a very enjoyable game and is going to be in our regular rotation for a while.
Have we played any other titles by this publisher?: Yes, we have played numerous titles by Pandasaurus including Machi Koro, The Mind, The Game and we reviewed Pixies. They have a large assortment of whimsical games and some offbeat themes that are a blast!
First impression: The first thing we thought was that the central board was a strange component to the game. It seemed like a gimmick that wouldn’t work properly or require perfect precision when using. When reading the rulebook there are also a few points that let you know why the tiles may get stuck or what to do if the tiles do get stuck. After playing the entire first game, the movement was fluid and we never got a piece stuck a single time. There is a single tile in the center of the cross, which leaves a bit of mystery every turn (unless you have a very good memory and are paying attention the entire time it’s not your turn, which we all know you’re not). The game’s “gimmick” is actually critical to gameplay and a very well put together piece of durable high density cardstock. We loved the motion of the tiles so much that after we played we messed around with the pieces and tried to get them stuck. It’s pretty hard to do and if you do, there’s a hole in the bottom to wiggle the piece out. We ended up really enjoying the central board component.
How often will this game return to the game table?: Fairly often. This will probably be in our regular rotation for a long while. It’s easy to set up, teach and plays very quickly. You can get it on the table and play a full game in less than 30 minutes.
Language Barrier Playability: Excellent! The game relies solely on symbols for gameplay. The scoring condition cards also rely on symbols so once translated, they can easily be referenced.
Storage: Excellent! The whole game fits in the box and actually comes with dividers to organize tiles. The only downside is that it takes a bit of extra table space. For a four player space you’ll need a decent amount of space as you’ll need room for a row of three tarot sized cards, a row of four tarot sized cards, the central board for tiles, a player board for each player and room for your tiles and tokens. For a two player game you need at the very least approximately a 3 foot by 3 foot playing area.
Artwork: Charming, cute, whimsical. It’s beautiful and features thoughtful nature theming, the northern lights, and mystical animals. The box art is especially gorgeous and holographic.
Instruction Manual: The instructions are well written and you can easily learn to play the game without too much reference. The components are labeled, set up is easy to follow and the fine details of scoring cards and their symbols are all covered in a small but detailed index at the end of the manual. There is one small typo on the word “succesful” at the end of the book.
Who would we recommend this game most for?: For anyone who likes family friendly abstract, light strategy games. It is a quick starter game, something to whet the appetite before a more intense game, or to wind down at the end of a long night. You can set up and tear down easily and you can teach it to new players in a few minutes. There is a small element of luck in this game and you don’t start off on equal footing, so if you’re opposed to that it may not be the best choice. You don’t have to be five steps ahead of your opponents, so if you’re looking for an intense strategy game where every choice has an enormous impact then look elsewhere. Your choices matter but you will probably be fine if you make a wrong move and sometimes an accident leads to a good outcome too.
Favorite moment while playing: The end of the game feels like it ended too early if it’s your first time. You want to keep going and keep filling your board. The game ends a lot faster than you think it will and you’ll end up wanting to play more. It’s hard to come by a game that you immediately want to play more of on the same night, but this game does just that! It’s easy enough to play a couple of times in one go and we really appreciated that at the end of our day.
Sushiball Games 