Indie Boards and Cards | Kodama 2nd Edition | Card Game | Ages 14+ | 2-5 Players | 30 Minutes Playing Time

Product Information

At the start of the game each player gets 4 Kodama cards that ask you to build your tree in certain ways. Despite the game being abstract, there is still a thematic sense about it in growing trees over a few seasons. It is also a game that is very easy to teach and learn, opening it up to a wider audience, but without making it feel too simple and boring for more experienced players. However, the art and the ability to place cards anywhere, in any orientation, as long as the branch of the new card touches a branch on the tree, makes Kodama a lot more satisfying and almost tactile.

First, my nephew, who is 8 played with 4 adults and he finished the game roughly 14 points behind the 2nd and 3rd place players in a group of five players.

The rules for placing are simple yet restrictive: the new card is placed partially over the top of an existing card, so that the branches pictured join up. The contiguous line of cards continue down towards the trunk or until the shared feature icons do not appear on a card. My nephew liked placing the branch cards, but said he did not understand all of the Kodama cards he was dealt so we helped him some during the game to select the best card to play for the first two seasons, but he selected and placed all of his own branch cards amd chose his final Kodama card. There have been more Kodama games in the series since the original game, all exploring the same world in different ways. The best part of Kodama: The Tree Spirits is the balance the game has between immediate strategy and long term strategy.

I suppose Kodama: The Tree Spirits speaks very much to the gardener in me, but I think many of us feel a lot of satisfaction and a level of creativity, maybe even an element of being in control, when we adjust each branch card to create the perfect picture. Also, in the village of Mitsune on Hachijō-jima, whenever a tree is cut, there was a tradition that one must offer a festival to the tree's spirit "kidama-sama". Some of the technologies we use are necessary for critical functions like security and site integrity, account authentication, security and privacy preferences, internal site usage and maintenance data, and to make the site work correctly for browsing and transactions.

I had noticed the increasing mentions about the rise of fascism in other countries (1930's) as the show went on, with the usual talk of not needing to worry about it. I often find that during each play-through, there is plenty of friendly discussion between players about their strategies as play progresses. I feel that this review reflects my own, independent and honest opinion, but the facts below allow you to decide whether you think that I was influenced in any way.