Takenokolor – Hold The Panda Press!

The cuteness factor of our favourite panda just levelled up! Takenoko is coming to tables in roll and write form early next year in TAKENOKOLOR!

Details are sketchy (haha!) at this stage, but a photo of a prototype on BoardGameGeek shows a very cute looking pad, four symbol covered pencils, and some very colourful bamboo!

So far, we know that in Takenokolor we will resuming our roles as gardeners. And in true to Takenoko form, we will need to grow and water delicious bamboo for the fabulously  furry wonder to nibble. But, unlike the base game, we will also be seeking to attract fish and ladybirds along side the hungry bear.

And in a novel twist, the pencils appear to be doubling up as the dice themselves! Drafting the pencil you want, other players will then pick in turn. When everybody has chosen, players simultaneously cross off a section of bamboo that matches the colour and symbol of their pencil on their sheet.  It’s not currently clear what happens if you can’t fill anything in on your turn, and this prototype could change dramatically between now and production. But all should hopefully be revealed in Q1 of 2023!

For age 6+ and an estimated play time of around 20 mins, Antoine Bauza appears to be moving towards a simpler, more accessible, portable version of the original. Whether there will be extra scoring objectives in play each game or not isn’t clear right now. But it definitely looks like a quick, cute and fun, entry level game that my 7 year old and I are going to love playing together!

If you like fast playing roll and writes like Lost Cities Roll and Write or Patchwork Doodle then this is one to look out for in a few months’ time! I’m just hoping they have extra durable graphite centres in those pencils because this game looks so sweet they are going to get rolled around a lot!