Tokaido [Board Game Review]

Nomally one does not evaluate a boardgame simply on aesthetics.
Then there is Tokaido.

That is just beautiful.

This game is art.
It is stunningly beautiful.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Which is why I'm sad to only give it three and half stars. However this rating is based on only two plays with two players. To me this game is not meant for so few players. So few players removes some of the critical decision making that one must do. I think he game is probably best at four or five players. So for once, I may do a revised rating after I've a few more larger games under my belt.

So artistic.

However, I want to talk about the gorgeous game.

This game is done is a simple pastel on white motif. It reminds me of gorgeous Ukiyo-e (wood-block print) art from the Edo period. Which makes sense. The game is set in the Edo period, based on traveling the Tōkaidō road from Shogunate's capital in Edo (Tokyo) to the Imperial capital in Kyoto. 

Along the road there were 53 way points, stations, representing 53 Buddhist saints. On his first travel of the road, Utagawa Hiroshige carved his famous work 東海道五十三次 (Tōkaidō Gojūsan-tsugi), The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō.

The game is about traveling the road, appreciating art, food, and hot springs. The game is almost meditative. It is not very competitive, instead it is relaxing.

I want to play again, but with more friends... and maybe some nice sake.