Matthew BaileyGame 47 of the “Now & Then Summer Marathon 2024” is “Morris the Dodo” played with Toby(6).
Morris the Dodo is a sweet, logic-based dexterity game where you are trying to save as many eggs as possible before the explorer reaches the dodo’s nest.
The game is set up using the box as the island, which is a nice touch. You place the wooden dodo figure on top, along with a water slide ramp leading down to the table below. You then spread out the various nests, which have different coloured eggs.
The game is cooperative, but on your turn, you choose an egg, place it on top of the dodo (either on its back or wings), and then slide the dodo down the ramp. The egg will inevitably fall off the dodo. If it lands face up, you’re all good; if it lands face down, showing the broken side, unfortunately, the egg is broken.
If the egg is intact, you place it onto one of the nests, and if you complete a nest, you get to move the explorer by a number of spaces corresponding to the number of eggs in the nest you’ve just completed.
If you break an egg, the explorer then moves to the next stone of the colour of that egg around the edge of the map.
This adds a small element of strategy, where you need to think about which egg colour is the most sensible to choose, considering that if it breaks, the explorer will move the minimum number of spaces.
The game ends when you either win by completing all of your eggs or the explorer reaches the nest before you.
Now, let’s talk about the positives. It’s a sweet little game. I played it with Toby, who enjoyed it. I didn’t get a chance to play it with Henry, but I actually think this game would work better with a much younger child, probably around the ages of three or four. The small element of strategy is a nice touch, as it encourages you to think about whether you should focus on one colour to complete a nest or choose a different colour to reduce the penalty if you fail.
Toby and I played this a couple of times, and on all occasions, we completed it easily. At no point did the explorer even get to the far side of the board. I don’t know if it’s something about the physics, but the eggs seem to land the right way up much more often than it seems they should. I know it’s supposed to be 50/50, but based on the physics of how the dodo moves, I’m not sure that’s the case.
That’s about it. If I’m honest, this game has “board game café” written all over it. Toby really enjoyed it and It’s got decent table presence, and it was quite fun to play, but I can’t see this getting repeated plays, especially since, from everything I’ve seen, it’s really easy to win
