The enchanted forest of the kodama is flourishing. But with so much growth, the ancient paths to the sanctuaries within have become overgrown and lost. Now the forest guardians call upon you, their loyal kodama, to restore these paths. Help your kodama build these paths, gather offerings for the guardians, and win their favor.
Kokoro is an exciting family game that can be played with up to eight players! Each player has a forest map to draw their paths and turns are simultaneous so the game plays quickly. Connecting your sanctuaries to offerings will gain you favor. Choose wisely because you never know exactly when the sanctuary will score. And you shouldn't be too greedy, if a sanctuary is not connected to more offerings than your previous sanctuary, you lose points!
- quick, devilishly simple
- great with any number of players; family-friendly
- high tension from near-misses and elation on good draws
- box is small; may feel limited in scope for some
- can require a few playthroughs to grok optimal pathing
- path building with cards to connect a sanctuary
- cozy sofa-based forest-path puzzle
- light, family-friendly strategy
- Scythe (not directly),
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- shared puzzle — all players influence a single evolving board
- Simultaneous action resolution — players place cards to create and connect a map, aiming for optimal paths
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the answer to every question is a color
- it's basically a game of listing things
- you have to come up with a fake definition for an obscure word cockalorum
- the cards are way more interesting than a hat full of TV chefs
- it's great fun trying to convince them that you can be trusted whether you're good or bad
- write fake acronyms and laws
- the original Christmas party game is the Hat game or Celebrity where you all write famous names on strips of paper
- Kokoro isn't just a great sofa game it's a great game every card flip brings elation or frustration
- it's like reading from a Sherlock Holmes novel as you meet with witnesses