arts / 8

Chairman of the Board:
Zen and the art of boardgames

» ‘Tokaido’ game review

Ed Appleby

,, ustrator

4 Millustrator
@theotherpress.ca

 

1 played a lot of games that
involved subtle espionage,
brutal conquest, and betraying
my closest friends. So who
would have guessed that I

lovely stroll?

Tokaido is a family board
game for two to five players,
designed by Antoine Bauza
and published by Funforge
Games. In the game, players
travel Japan’s Eastern Road
by foot collecting souvenirs,
taking in vistas, eating local
dishes, and trying to have the
most interesting and amazing
journey possible.

One of the most unique
features I found in Tokaido

: was its movement mechanics.

: Rather than rolling dice, the

: player in the position farthest

: back moves to any place along

: the road that they wish and

: then takes the action indicated

: there. This allows players to

: move as fast or slow as they

: desire. Most of the strategy

: involves jockeying for position

would have so much fun playing : ™ order to complete sets of

Tokaido, a game where I go fora cards or cards that specifically
: benefit the character you chose

: at the beginning of the game.

The similarities between

: Tokaido and another game

: designed by Bauza, 7 Wonders,
: are obvious and delightful.

: Both games allow players to

: score points in vastly different
: ways, letting them choose their
: own strategy based on their

: character and own gameplay

: style. I’ve found that this

: levels the playing field a bit for
: experienced and new players.

: Tokaido is its score-tracking.

: It’s very easy to add up your

: points at the end of the game

: and see who won, but Tokaido

: felt the need to add a European

: style score track that is both

: unnecessary and cumbersome,

: with small pieces that zig-

: zag instead of traveling ina

: straight line. Every time I have

: played the game, all the players

: forgot to use the scoring track

: and instead had to add up the

: points at the end. Without the

: track, like in 7 Wonders, I think
: the players would focus more on
: their game than who is in the

: lead.

So if you are looking for a

: beautiful and fun game, I would
: recommend Tokaido as a main

: event game or as a nice palate-

: cleanser between more intense

: games. Play with the windows

: open ona hot summer day for

: the best effect; just don’t keep

theotherpress.ca

 

    

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The one issue have with —: track of the score. Photo of the board game Tokaido // By www.shutupandsitdown.com

Comic Corner: X-Men
goes melodrama

» 'X-23 Volume 1: The Killing Dream’ review

: volume, has taken particular

: interest in her.

; When | first saw the
cover art, it reminded me of

e e yr) ey yr) Empowered, a mix of North
: American and manga style. But

: the actual novel art by Conrad
: is more traditional with heavy
: inks. The use of fully saturated
: colour updates the aesthetic

: feel, making the art more

: vibrant and modern.

5 Written by Marjorie Liu,

: the novel features seven pages
: of text for backstory that Liu

: could have worked into the

: narrative, but chose not to.

: After overcoming that, which

: isan annoyance unto itself, the
: first two-thirds of the novel

: is just plot-point after plot-

: point of depression that seems
: to meander around Laura

: leaving—until she finally does.
: The last third of the book after
: Laura leaves with Gambit is
actually good, but the effort it
: takes to get to that point just

: isn’t worth it.

I would say avoid this title,
: unless you're a diehard X-Men
fan with nothing better to do.

Brittney MacDonald
Senior Columnist

graphic novel written by
woman that features
amazing art by Will Conrad
should be impressive, but it
couldn’t make me see past
the large issues I had with the
narrative of X-23.

X-23, a.k.a. Laura, is the
teenage clone/daughter of
Wolverine who was raised in a
lab to be the perfect assassin.
She escapes and becomes a
prostitute, so naturally she has
a couple issues. Unfortunately,
after some bad leadership
decisions from Cyclops, she no
longer feels like she belongs
with the X-Men. Wanting to
come to terms with her past
as a killer, as well as discover
the identity of the being that’s
possessing Wolverine, Laura
leaves the X-Men’s new island
home. She teams up with fan-
favourite Gambit, who, for
reasons not revealed in this