Matthew BaileyJust a few days ago, I was confident that there weren’t many symbol-matching memory games worth playing. This belief was quickly shattered when we thoroughly enjoyed “Gigamons,” and recently, out of the blue, I’ve completely fallen in love with… (apologies, another recommendation coming your way).
Game 5 of our “Fantastically Festive Christmas School Holidays 2023 Marathon” is “Toko Island.”
Played with Jack(.8.) and Toby(5)
“Toko Island” is a cooperative family adventure memory game from Marie and Wilifried Ford designers of family games such as Dragomino, and Snail Sprint, where players aim to uncover treasures on an island. The gorgeously quadruple-layered board is set up, with all treasures placed face-down randomly in slots, some containing multiple layers of treasure.
Next, tool icons are randomly placed on your boat, and the treasure deck reveals what you need to find. The game’s book outlines different missions, determining the treasures to find based on the mission’s difficulty. This introduces a slight Legacy aspect, allowing players to unlock trophies with special abilities for more challenging levels.
Using the boat’s tools, players attempt to uncover a matching treasure using the rake for the beach, the shovel for the forest, or the pickaxe for the mountain.
Uncovered treasures are placed on a Museum board, making it easier to track what remains on the island and adding a layer of strategy to the game.
The objective is to find all treasures in the deck to win while using up all tools results in a loss.
On the surface, this may sound simple, but the layered aspect, the effective tool mechanism, and the overall beautiful production instantly made me fall in love with this game, echoing Jack’s sentiment, “I really, really liked that.”
From a production standpoint, “Toko Island” is stunning. The artwork is superb, the cardboard is of extremely thick stock rarely seen, and the quadruple-thick playing board is a joy to hold. Details like the treasure album and shelf board are equally well-produced. The holographic foil on the treasure cards, an uncommon feature in board games, adds a special touch. Even the manual exudes quality, printed on beautiful paper stock, and it comes with a lovely linen bag for token storage.
“Toko Island” wasn’t on my original Christmas review list, but I grabbed it on a whim due to its beautiful artwork, and I’m ecstatic that I did.
In case it’s not clear, I really like “Toko Island.” The gameplay is simplistic yet engaging, the Legacy aspect keeps it challenging, and production-wise, it’s one of the best games I’ve played in a long time. Perfect for families and younger gamers on game nights.
If you’re not a fan of memory-type games, this may not convert you, but for genre enthusiasts, it’s possibly one of the best games out there.
At the time of writing, it’s on sale in several places and absolutely worth the buy.
