BITOKU

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Goal

Bitoku is a board game where players compete for the title of the new Great Spirit of the Forest. To achieve this goal, they must make use of yōkai, kodamas, and pilgrims. The game consists of 4 rounds, each consisting of 4 phases.

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Game overview
Bitoku is a board game where players compete for the title of the new Great Spirit of the Forest. To achieve this goal, they must make use of yōkai, kodamas, and pilgrims. The game consists of 4 rounds, each consisting of 4 phases.

The first phase is the income phase, where players can take yōkai cards from their personal deck. Then players can play cards on their tableau and place dice on the game board to perform actions. Here they can take extra yōkai cards and Bitoku cards, make pilgrims move, collect crystals, build buildings, find itamas, make kodamas move and much more.

After performing actions, the new player order determines and the next round is prepared. The game offers many different actions for players to score points. The player with the most points wins.
Each round begins with the Spring Phase, in which players draw yōkai cards from their own deck until they have 4 cards in hand, then discard 1. Then the Fruit Picking phase is played, in which players receive income from purple crystals on their player boards.

In the Summer phase, players can perform actions by playing a Yōkai card, placing a die in the forest, or moving a die from the forest to a Hikaru hill. The symbols on the map or at the locations determine what actions players can take. To place a die on the board, it must first be unlocked by playing a Yōkai card to the left of the die.

In addition, dice placed on the board must have a value equal to or higher than the highest dice already there. The value of the die determines what action the player may take, such as taking resources, moving kodamas, or buying buildings and crystals.

In the Autumn phase, the new turn order is determined by the position of dice on the top action spaces of the game board, and in the Winter phase, players are prepared for the next round by returning their dice to their player boards and playing Yōkai cards. remove for points.
The game ends after the fourth round and players score points for purple crystals, turn order position, unique Bitoku cards, Lake Treasures, Iwakura rocks, dice values, point cards, and purple fish on their player boards.

Bitoku offers great opportunities for strategy and competition, and players must make smart decisions to be successful in their fight to become the new Great Spirit of the Forest.

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Review

Bitoku is an impressive strategy game, which stands out from other heavier euro games because of its beautiful design. While possibly overwhelming due to the amount of game material, game rules and game board, the overall gameplay is relatively simple. The challenge lies mainly in the numerous action options you can choose from and the competition, which is first come first served. This can be annoying for players with Analysis Paralysis, but it offers remarkably high replayability. So there is a lot to discover in the world of Bitoku.

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For whom?

For lovers of expert games, with a soft spot for beautiful artwork and high quality components.