Designed by: Marcel-André Casasola Merkle
Taluva is an uncommonly beautiful tile-laying game for two to four people – the theme is discovering and settling a volcanic landscape, but really, this is at heart a very original and intriguing abstract game- a sort of 3-D tropical Go.
Each player has a pile of wooden pieces; 20 huts, 3 temples and two towers, in their colour. The goal is to be the one to have placed most pieces at the end of the game. Alternatively, if you manage to place all of two types of piece you win immediately; but be careful – if you can’t build on your turn you’re eliminated from the game.
On a game turn, a player takes one of the very chunky cardboard tiles, in the shape of 3 hexagons joined together, and places it adjacent to, or on top of, the already placed tiles. The tile will show a volcano on one hex, and two of five possible field types (jungle, clearing, rock, lake or sand) on the other two. In laying the tile, they hope to create opportunities for placing their pieces, and might also be able to squash another player’s (or even their own) pieces, removing them from the board. The player must then place one of their huts, temple or towers, according to slightly convoluted rules; or ‘expand’, which essentially allows them to place a larger number of huts. This may sound prosaic but the strategies are subtle, and the visual result is really quite beautiful. A tropical island emerges from the playing surface, it’s gentle contours studded with little huts and temples, and tiny towers adorning the highest peaks.
The rules of Taluva, once learned, are simple enough; but the combination of jewel-like prettiness and intriguing strategy really make this game feel like an original experience.
I enjoy this immensely as a two-player game - with more players it will become chaotic and virtually impossible to plan ahead. Then again it's quite a tactical experience. One of the prettiest games I own.
This is confrontational in the same way as Draughts or Chess - nothing unusually spiteful here.
Simply place a tile and piece/pieces. However, the possibilities for those two actions can be myriad, and towards the end of the game can be the difference between winning or losing, so expect a bit of chin-scratching. Less so with two players, perhaps.
There's no maths at all, but trying to time your placements to ensure playing all of two types can require a bit of forethought.
You can play a two player game in 20 minutes (shorter if you're not careful!), and it's as re-playable as classic games like Chess or Backgammon - that is to say endlessly.
2-4
Players
10+
Years
15-30
Mins
Sam says
Like Aton - but much prettier - this is a game I've played and enjoyed whilst being fairly diabolical at it. The way the game functions is pretty abstract really; it's all about patterns and like Joe I feel it's at its best as a two-player - as such it's an enjoyable challenge. Very similar to Bullfrogs in that the more players you have the less strategic the game feels.