500 Games - 1 Year - Game #26 - Zura

 I have just spent some time this evening playing 'Zura' from Agie Games as part of my quest to play 500 different games this year. I am a big fan of small boxed, one deck card games, that can be learned easily and enjoyed by all. Zura ticks a lot of those boxes....

p.s. I am only reviewing games that are new to me on the blog, to follow the full series go to the Tiktok or Twitter Pages

 

The first thing I will say about Zura however is that the instructions in the game are some of the worst, most badly written and confusing I have ever seen. I almost gave up before I found this video from Dice Tower to explain things much more clearly. It is a really simple game, I am not sure how the rules writer made it sound not so….

 

In a nutshell, the game involves you using combinations of travel cards to discover friends along the way. 8 cards containing these characters are always face down on the path and you must use both your memory and hand management to find them!

 

You claim characters by matching what you play to the same colour (or terrain) of the card you unveiled. Hence, this requires remembering what cards are where in the path. This memory element makes the game feel a little fresh as not only do you have to think about building your hand, but you need to keep an eye on what cards are being taken and replaced.

 

Throw into the mix cards which can draw negative points if you pick up a pair of them, and special powers on your character cards and the game takes on an extra depth. Indeed, after a few play as you may even start targeting the cards you know give you additional powers (such as an additional peak or the ability to carry one extra card in hand).

 

The hand management aspect comes in, as the more cards you playing your combination, the more powers you have on your turn. This enables you to peak at and pick up more cards the better your combination is.

 

All in all, Zura is a fun short blast card game that is simple to pick up and play, feels fresh and has just about enough depth to warrant replays. I can very well see us playing this 2-playr at the start of game nights and if, like me you have a non-gamer partner who enjoys games like Jaipur, then Zura could be the one for you!