Comments on: Joraku Review https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2020/03/17/joraku-review/ Board Game Reviews, Analysis, and Strategy Wed, 10 Jul 2024 05:24:13 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 By: Sourceror https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2020/03/17/joraku-review/#comment-1106 Wed, 10 Jul 2024 05:24:13 +0000 http://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=2658#comment-1106 You called it right! Arcs is the most anticipated release of GenCon 2024, and SUSD is lauding it as “2024’s Best New Board Game” (sigh). At it’s core, Arcs is just trick taking plus area control. I’ve played Arcs only a few times, but it increasingly feels like a frustrating and overdone experience.

I like some of the ideas in Arcs, but ultimately, playing it makes me yearn for simpler times, when games like Inis and Kemet also combined area control with interesting action selection mechanics, but in far more streamlined packages. (Mechanically, not physically, those boxes are huge.)

I’m excited to try Jokaru because I feel like it’ll fill that niche for me: area control with trick taking, but without the bloat. Thank you for the review!

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