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Trails of Tucana
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Description
Trails of Tucana is a flip-and-write game from the creators of Avenue and Doodle City that is quick and easy to play, but has enough depth to entertain gamers.
Each player is given a map of the island Tucana, showing its villages and important sights. The positions of the villages are randomized for each player, so every game will provide a unique puzzle.
Each turn, one player flips over two terrain cards. Each player must draw on their own map a trail between two neighboring spaces of the shown terrains. Gradually, the trails will grow into a network of roads. Players score points by connecting matching harbors, and by connecting sights to harbors. Being the first to connect a pair of harbors provides bonus points.
To add depth to the game, there are varying distribution of the different terrain cards. Mountain cards are for instance rarer than desert cards, so it would be harder to build a trail through a mountain range or over water than through desert or forest. Players need to take this into account when planning their routes. And they should maximize the probability that they will be able to make use of any combination of terrain cards that may come up.
An archipelago filled with ancient sights and creatures just waiting to be explored. The question is; will we find our inner Indiana Jones or will we be forever lost to the island’s unchartered terrain? Let’s grab our compasses and find out!
La Isla Bonita
By way of introduction, Trails of Tucana is a colourful, fun addition to the increasingly popular flip and fill genre. Players take on the role of intrepid explorers who have found themselves on a tropical island. Creating trails to link up villages, archaeological sights, and exotic creatures.
Sun, Sand, And Set Up
First players decide whether the game is going to be set on the easier “Isla Petit” or the more challenging “Isla Grande”. Each player takes a single-use double-sided paper map and a pencil. After somebody has been declared “the Mayor” of Tucana, the setup cards are shuffled, and one is selected at random.
Each player then prepares their own map by filling in the village hexes with the letters as set out on that card. Going in a clockwise direction. They’ll be starting from a different point so that every map has a unique layout.
After the maps are prepped, the setup cards are discarded. The terrain cards are then shuffled and placed in sight of all players. The blue village bonus cards are also laid out. This is done by only using only those marked #1 for a game with 2-4 players but all for 5 or more.
Thereafter, with the fate of your trails in the Mayor’s hands, the game is on!
Toucan Play At This Game
Played over two rounds, on each turn the Mayor flips over two terrain cards – these will depict either water, mountains, desert, or forest (note that there are a few wilds too!). Each player must then draw one section of their trail across the revealed combination (from centre hex to centre hex). The line drawn can be anywhere and need not link u to previously drawn trails. If a player’s map doesn’t have the combination available, they’ll be checking their water supply and energy bars until the next turn!
As the aim of the game is to link up as many villages and sights as possible, players will need to be aware of the positions of the villages on their own maps as they relate to each other and the printed sights and creatures.
Given the number of villages and sights, however, scoring starts happening quite early on in the game. Points are awarded for linking villages to sights as well as bonus points for matching village to village connections.
The first round ends when only one card remains in the terrain card deck. Once that happens, players total their village to sight connections points for round one before shuffling the terrain cards and beginning the final round.
Importantly, sights are counted in both rounds. So, whenever a player links a type of sight to a village, they circle the no.1 next to the corresponding sight icon in the scoring box. If the second sight of the same type links to any village later in the game, then the higher score value is circled and that player also gets to draw a bonus trail segment across any two adjacent terrain hexes on the map.
Village connections and bonuses only score at end-game, however, and the extra blue village bonuses are only available to the first player who achieves the relevant connection.
Fun Flip and fill-er
Trails of Tucana is a fun filler level from Kristian Amundsen Østby and Eilif Svensson, the designers who brought us the meaner Kokoro; Avenue of the Kodama and the founders of the publisher, Aporta Games.
This game has easy to understand rules and a mixture of instant scoring gratification and delayed bonuses. It also has the ability to play just as well over video conferencing as around the table. this makes Trails of Tucana a great fifteen minutes of fun. It also has a great price point.
With luck of the draw determining terrain availability, replayability is high. This is amplified by the use of asymmetrical maps, different islands, and extra special red cards. Plus the presence of a beat-your-own-score solo mode is a great bonus.
Now, admittedly, this game isn’t going to give your brain serious sunburn. But I don’t think it is meant to be that kind of game. The box states a suggested age range of 8+, our 5-year-old son was able to pick it up quite quickly. Players with a colour vision deficiency may also find differentiating between the desert and mountain terrain types tricky. Although there are unique patterns and printed symbols. Bear in mind these are also quite small.
The race to secure one-off bonuses does mean tactics can come into play. The unequal distribution of terrain types is interesting for more experienced players.
Overall, Trails of Tucana is a fun game and a great option for when you have a wide range of ages and experience levels around the table.
Trails of Tucana is a flip and write game all about making paths between matching villages across an island whilst also trying to score points by connecting villages to the sights. It is one of my favourite games and I teach it to new players whenever I can. If you haven’t played it before this blog will help you to get ready for a game quicker than you can say ‘oooh what’s that over there?’
Set Up
Give each player a player sheet and they must all be facing the same way up (Isla Petit for a quick game or Isla Grande for a longer game). Shuffle the terrain cards and form a stack face down. Shuffle the set up cards and draw one.
The lead player (called the Mayor) reads out the letters in the order they are written on the set up card. Each player starts from a different position on their map (the mayor in village 1, the next player in village 2 etc) and they write the letters as they are called out in a clockwise order. This way no two players will have the same villages in the same position.
The final part of set up is getting the correct set of blue bonus cards laid out. For a 2 to 4 player game you use the cards with a number 1 in the corner. For a 5 to 8 player game you take the number 2 cards and place them under each of the number 1 cards so they match their destinations (A-A, B-B, etc).
You are now ready to discover these beautiful islands and map out some paths.
Let’s Play
Each turn the mayor will reveal 2 terrain cards (desert, forest, water, rocks, any) and lay them on the table for all players to see. Then all players simultaneously draw a straight line from the middle of one of these terrains to a neighbouring terrain matching the other card.
After everyone has drawn their line another 2 cards are revealed and placed face up for players to draw another line. You may draw your lines anywhere on the map as long as they meet the current terrain cards. In the very unusual case that you cannot use the current terrain cards then you skip a turn, however this has not happened in any of my games I have ever played (over 100).
You continue like this until there is only one card left in the draw stack which indicates it is the end of the round.
So Much To See
On the map there are numerous sights to find (obelisk, books, toucan, body building cat?, sea dragon). When you connect one of these sights to any village you circle the points next to its picture in the top right of the player sheet. If you connect 1 more of the same type in the Isla Petit or 2 more for the Isla Grande you get a bonus of drawing 1 free road using any terrains.
When you connect two same numbered villages across the island (so a continuous path between A and A as an example) you announce this to the group and then circle the blue points next to the connection. If you were the first person to connect these two villages you also take the bonus blue card and note the points in the yellow box (in a 5 to 8 player game there are also points for achieving this in second place)
Round End & Final Scoring
When the draw pile has only 1 card left the round ends. All players then look to see how many points they scored for their sights up to this point and add the total number in the top orange box (bottom right of the player sheet). You then shuffle the cards and play 1 more round for the Isla Petit or 2 more rounds for the Isla Grande. At the end of each round you score your current sights totals again so grabbing those sights early to score them numerous times is the way to go.
Once the game has finished you total all of your scores noted in the sights boxes, blue village to village bonuses, any bonus scores for reaching the villages first and then the player with the highest score wins. In the event of a tie the tied player with the most bonuses wins.
Variants & Options
Trails of Tucana includes an option to include a special scoring objective. The red bonus cards give extra points for connecting two of the same sights first (example an obelisk to an obelisk). In a 2 to 4 player game you use one of these and with a 5 to 8 players you use two.
The game also includes options for a more random set up of villages or a counter clockwise set up or even a symmetry where everyone’s villages are on the same space on the map.
Finally there is a solo variant where there is a score table you are trying to beat and during the game some of the bonuses for pairing villages are reduced (you also use the number 2 blue bonus cards).
Conclusion
I hope this has helped you to learn the rules and how Trails of Tucana plays. Obviously I would always recommend people use the official rule book to learn the rules in depth but this blog should give you a really good flavour of how the game flows.
I really enjoy the game and if you want to find me on twitter to discuss how brilliant Trails of Tucana is please do @boardgamehappy.
Zatu Score
You might like
- Asymmetrical game play is a fun twist
- May appeal to a wide range of ages as well as non-experienced gamers
Might not like
- Might not be the best choice for players with colour vision deficiency
- Pencil marks are hard to see on the paper maps