“In the sphere of art themification (I made that word up, take that Shakespheare!), there is no higher praise in game art, than saying the art fits the theme, and makes the game better. Dodoresque does this perfectly.”
Publisher: Tetrahedron Games
Designer: NA
Artist: NA
Game Type: Set Collection, Hand Management, Push Your Luck
Initial Year of Release: 2018
Age Range: 8+
Expected Playtime: 15-30
Number of Players: 2-4
Theme and What is it?
If only there was an adventure games, featuring dodos… Come Dodoresque.
In this unique interpretation of a missions game, Tetrahedron Games has built a game that allows a sense of adventure, and push your luck dynamics. You play a dodo, building the best nest. Obviously, points are based on beauty, because of course, you are a dodo.
Gameplay Mechanics
You will be drawing from three adventure decks to build buying power, so that you can continue drawing from the adventure decks, and match symbols from dodo to resource, which allows you to build said dodo card. If unable to build a resource card, as you have not obtained the right dodo, you will lose of of your three hitpoints. Do not die, as we all know, Dodos never come back.
Some cards allow for special actions, such as taking the same action twice, or using one type of dodo, for a different type of resource.
All in all, you are building towards a unique nesting area, 2×3, or 6 in total. If you build with all the same type terrain you will score one way, if you have sets of materials, you will score another way. Whichever score is highest, will be your game points.
Initial Impressions
When I first saw Dodoresque, it only slightly intrigued me, and mostly for art. I wanted to see it, but the theme did not yet interest me.
Game Build Quality
The game is cards, and they are blue core cards, that are nice card stock, but slightly transparent if held up to a light. All in all, the game is functionally built well, and I have no hesitation in the game, based on build quality.
Artistic Direction
The really interesting part of the game is the theming of the art.
The harder the mission the darker the card. It just makes literal and figurative sense. Not all art in games is created equally. Some art, does not feel like a part of the game at all. In Dodoresque, the art feels as if it is the game.
In the sphere of art themification (I made that word up, take that Shakespheare!), there is no higher praise in game art, than saying the art fits the theme, and makes the game better. Dodoresque does this perfectly.
In terms of the satisfaction I get just looking at the art, it is fine, if a little over cutesy for me. But, with how it fits with the game, I cannot imagine other art.
Fun Factor
When I first played Dodoresque, I didn’t quite get the game. It seemed rather catty. It was not until I played it several times, that I realized how genuinely neat the idea is.
Age Range & Weight
8+. My 7 year old played this with me, and the only difficulty she has was building a point bearing nest. She understood the mechanics of the cards perfectly. So, with a bit of patience, I think she will, and other younger players will grasp the idea quickly.
Conclusions
You can rebuild your nest as much as you want until the last card is drawn. Once you make that final decision, you can look at your neighbor and more or less know who won.
The cleverness of this game, is like a dodo, at first glance, it does not appear clever at all, while hiding something that is quite unique underneath. The cuteness of this game, hides a deeper game. Do not be fooled.
Updates
Cherry Blossom on KS
Dodoresque on Amazon
Tetrahedron Games is currently running a new Kickstarter, for Cherry Blossom, which looks great.
You can find it here: Cherry Blossom
If you want to check out Dodoresque, you can find it on Amazon: Dodoresque
The dodos art it’s a little over cutesy for me too, but I’d sit at a table to try out the game 🙂
It was interesting and it has a separate box that adds more elements.
At last years SPIEL we had a lot of people playing a round of Dodoresque while waiting for a spot at our Valhal (not so cute) table to clear up. It was always a great time having families with kids alongside the big guys in heavy metal shirts competing for the nices nest.
it seems really cute!
It is, and a neat idea as well. Something about going by way of the dodo just seems humorous.
Cool
I can’t believe I haven’t heard of this game!
Now you know. And knowing is half the battle…
As a new publisher with just two games on the market, at the moment our biggest challenge is to even get noticed by the gaming community.
We are super happy if someone like Josh takes the time to check out our games and write a little something about them, so people like you get the chance to wonder how they have never heard of us before 😀
We enjoyed meeting you guys. It’s great to get you some exposure. Didn’t Cherry Blossoms Kickstarter begin?
We had a little delay here, but the Kickstarter is now live.
This is something completely new
Yes, and now they are bringing out Cherry Blossom
That is what we were going for!
nice
How old would a group of just kids likely have to be to play this “unsupervised”?
To understand the nest building, probably 10+
Nice!
I’m ingrigued.
I love when games have this level of attention to detail in their graphic design.
This is something that is very important to us. Of course the key element to a good game is its game mechanic, but with the right artwork you can add so much more story and emotion to a game, even if it’s just a quick and easy going one like Dodoresque.
Woah! Crazy game!
The gameplay doesn’t sound like my cup of tea, but the art is lovely! …and dodos!
We always try to make our games pretty enough, so you don’t even have to play them. You just could set them up in your living room instead of a wallpaper 🙂
You won’t believe how often I actually thought about doing just that. I had the kitchen wall in my old flat plastered with manga pages (you could actually do a full read through of various short stories) which looked really awesome. Have been thinking of doing something with old games I no longer play but find too pretty to get rid off and my walls but haven’t quite figured it out yet. Soon ™!
That manga wall sounds awesome. A friend of mine actually has a collection of menus from things like weddings, birthdays, new years and what not on one of her kitchen walls, which is really amazing, as it doesn’t just look great, it’s also a collection of memories and inspiration when cooking in that kitchen. I guess something made of board games would be really cool if you have a dedicated gaming/hobby room.
I love the art on this one
Happy to hear that.
Love the tiny epic games
Looks like a good family game.
Super cute – we don’t have enough dodo’s in this world.
Yes, it’s all just kittens and unicorns. Time for a change! It’s the turn of the Dodo!
whoa, love the art!
Unique theme. Looks interesting.
Yes, we are pretty sure that we have the only Dodo-nest-building-simulator out there.
Looks fun, and cute.
Those were the main points to cover when designing Dodoresque.
The Artwork is beautiful. I’m intrigued! And I also love Dinosaurs so win win!
The dinosaur is a bit of a bluff though, as it only appears on the cover, not in the game. The first idea for the cover was a huge sabercat that’s chasing the Dodo, but for whatever reason the artist delivered the dinosaur as first sketch to us, and we decided to roll with it.
For our new Cherry Blossom, which is currently on Kickstarter, we switched the roles, though!
Looks like these cards have some great art!
I love the art!
Great art!
Interesting!
The artwork is very pretty! Dodo’s and dinosaurs are a winning combination.
The artwork is really charming
Thanks, love to hear that you like it. Feel free to check out our running Kickstarter for some more material on gameplay.
Awesome
Glad you like it. The Kickstarter for Cherry Blossom is now live.
The theme in this game is interesting.
We pay big attention to finding good and fitting themes for our games.
I haven’t seen this theme before! Cool to see some dodo love. I really love the art, especially how the eyes were done. Fun and colorful looking builder!
We certainly are of the opinion that there are enough kittens and unicorns out there. It’s about time that the Dodos get their turn!
looks interesting
The second version is currently live on Kickstarter and Jungle Fever is also a pledge option. Feel free to check out the campaign page for more infos, we also have a couple of videos available.
This sounds like a lot of fun! I bet my daughter would enjoy it, too.
If she’s about the age of Joshs daughter, I’m sure about that. The game itself works completely text free, all you need are the symbols, and we have often made the experience that kids are actually way better at understanding the rules of board- and card games – even with our sort-of heavy weight Valhal.