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Game Info
Year
2019
Collection
Mechanic profile
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Vibe profile
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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.
—description from designer
AWARDS AND HONORS:
2021 Finnish Game of the Year (family) WINNER
2020 Norwegian Game of the Year WINNER
2020 Norwegian Game of the Year NOMINEE
2019 The Dice Tower SEAL OF EXCELLENCE
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 9
This page: 9
Sentiment:
pos 8 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 1 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–9 of 9
Video IC48Oa1NJrU
Allies or Enemies Discussion at 17:23 sentiment: positive
video_pk 66112 · mention_pk 160701
Click to watch at 17:23 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- draws on map-building appeal; strong replay potential
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- flip_and_place — draw maps with terrain and bonuses and reveal as you progress.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Arc Nova was our most played game last year in terms of the length of time that we played it.
- the audio bit is holy cow nine days it's such a difference
- I love cats Explore and Draw every single day of the week
- it's just it's great to have a framework for fun
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video PK4wXieDPEI
Allies or Enemies Top 12 List at 6:55 sentiment: positive
video_pk 66020 · mention_pk 160400
Click to watch at 6:55 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- instinctual and flowy play
- double-sided boards offer varied setups
Cons
- teaching could be needed for new players
Thematic elements
- map-drawing and route/connection scoring
- island map-building course
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- race-like progression — players race to complete routes and expand their island maps
- simultaneous map drawing — players draw routes on their own maps based on card prompts
- tile placement — connections between features score based on routes to the outer edges
- tile/line placement — connections between features score based on routes to the outer edges
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- there are three things that we consider make really good Gateway Games: easy to learn, looks good, replayable
- learn a quick play it over and over again and you're not going to be embarrassed to show it to your friends
- two great co-op games next up is Pandemic Iberia
- it's always interesting to see how people react to the clash between strategy and luck
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video ZJ7SCPAIDE4
Allies or Enemies Top 100 List at 2:34 sentiment: positive
video_pk 65961 · mention_pk 160193
Click to watch at 2:34 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Simple and satisfying flip-and-write experience
- Fun social drafting vibe (callouts of terrains)
Cons
- End-game scoring can be heavy in some setups
Thematic elements
Comparison games
- Isle of Cats
- Other flip-and-write games
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- flip-and-write / drafting — Reveal two cards and draw lines on a map to connect terrains; draft and claim bonuses.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This is like our comfy time game.
- the coziest of cozy games for me.
- Surprisingly terrific two-player game.
- This is one of the games that was responsible for the resurgence of roll and write games.
- Cooperative games is one of my favorite types of games.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video pO5E40vN8rU
Allies or Enemies Top 100 List at 21:42 sentiment: positive
video_pk 65828 · mention_pk 159755
Click to watch at 21:42 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- satisfying route-building puzzle
- engaging card/flips with a strong 'bingo' element
Cons
- some players may want more variability
Thematic elements
- path optimization and route-building
- terraforming map with varying terrains
- playful, puzzle-like
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Bingo — Hopeful draws that determine scoring opportunities; strategy depends on terrain availability.
- bingo-like element — Hopeful draws that determine scoring opportunities; strategy depends on terrain availability.
- flip two terrains / draw lines — Shuffle/flip terrains and draw routes across the map to connect cities.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- we suck at drawing oh our cats are terrible
- it's a flip and write version and they did such a great job of turning the big game into a flip and write
- resting is like the most exciting because when you rest you bring all of your people back
- asymmetry is phenomenal
- this is my most played solo game
- it's a brain burner
- it's a little interactive but a step removed
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video blO-qyzLxho
Allies or Enemies Top List at 13:22 sentiment: positive
video_pk 61123 · mention_pk 153606
Click to watch at 13:22 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- the bones of the game are so simple
- I love bag Builders
- the tracks are so continuously rewarding
- you can see so much of kind of the DNA of Clank
- it's so satisfying to slide those workers into that Mech
- this feels like a Dungeon Crawler but with Euro systems
- I love horror movies
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video KIZqclBZVjI
Allies or Enemies Top List at 17:29 sentiment: positive
video_pk 61084 · mention_pk 153534
Click to watch at 17:29 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- very satisfying flip-and-write experience
- clear and quick to teach
- two maps (front short, back longer) offer variety
Cons
- some might want more depth beyond drawing
- scoring can feel puzzle-like
Thematic elements
- roll-and-write with map-drawing flair
- space exploration on a map-drawn world
- satisfying, tactile drawing and placement
Comparison games
- Welcome To...
- Doodle City
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- flip-and-write map drawing — two cards dictate landscapes to connect; you fill lines on a map
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's a race to points when someone breaks through that point barrier they win the game so it's really fast it's really tight
- it's a game about magic that feels a little bit like magic
- the tension of when do I take a dice to actually move a camel thus giving other people information
- one of the smartest ways dice are used in any game at all
- it's so mean but it's still so lovely
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video s7z-PF9khY0
Chairman of the Board Discussion at 6:39 sentiment: positive
video_pk 11139 · mention_pk 32756
Click to watch at 6:39 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Good pedigree designers; accessible roll-and-write
Cons
- Speaker notes limited familiarity; rules unknown
Thematic elements
- Adventure, exploration; light roll-and-write
- Hex-based, tropical archipelago exploration
- flowing, game-arc driven
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- roll-and-write — simple roll-and-write with hex-grid connections
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- "Caesar sees Rome in 20 minutes"
- "this is like the spiritual successor or at least a sister game or a partner game to paulo maurice blitzkrieg"
- "I believe you're investing in these companies these companies can merge with each other so it's just all about making profit"
- "Detective Club and the expansion"
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video AC0OZsvhWXg
Foster the Meeple Top List at 21:08 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 8303 · mention_pk 24412
Click to watch at 21:08 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
- Toucan on front
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Network building
- Tropical island
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Flip writing — Flipping right to create the most efficient network on the island of Tucana
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- We love trick taking games
- This game is so much freaking fun
- I adore GMT games, they are becoming one of my favorite game publishers
- If you remember Vast Crystal Caverns is in my top five games of all time
- We bloody love it
- We can't stop playing
- It's a blimp game not a train game
- That's just work
- I don't think I want to play it
- I'll get it eventually
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video WJ2tBQ8bVUY
Board Game Geek Podcast Top 5 List at 27:21 sentiment: positive
video_pk 25 · mention_pk 71
Click to watch at 27:21 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- high variability between plays
- well-suited to streaming with chat interaction
- visually appealing components
Cons
- availability and ongoing cost may be a concern
- teaching can be challenging for new players
Thematic elements
- abstract route drafting and lines-based scoring
- fictional island landscape used for route-building and scoring
- strategic abstraction
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Compound Scoring — points are earned by creating specific line connections across the board
- line-based scoring — points are earned by creating specific line connections across the board
- tile-drafting — players draft tiles to place on a personal board, influencing scoring lines
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The spiel was different for me and yet felt familiar because it is not a playing con.
- Code Names is such a great team game where you create teams and then you have a spy master going to give codes that has to do with this spread of words on the table.
- Isle of Cats was a game that we were able to play through that I would put a grid on the table where people would draft a column or a row
- Trails of Tucana is a great game and a friend of mine introduced me and I really enjoy it.
- White Castle Duel from Dier for two players only, designed by Isra and Sh.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–9 of 9