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With Thurns und Taxis being the only Euro I've managed to get my parents to understand and enjoy, I thought I'd bring something different home this weekend. They liked it, and figured it out by the end, despite what the picture shows. :)
A spider made a web between my 2 yellow towers!
The guardian of The Red Empire
Sun shining through the humid tropical air of "Taluva", the multi-colored island that rises from the glassy ocean waters below :)
The Game - Close Up
Taluva
The board in play
Taluva
Taluva
Taluva, Ferti, 2012 (image provided by the publisher)

Taluva (2006)

Players
2–4
Best: 2
Playing time
45–45 min
Age
8+
7.13
Average rating
9,184
Ratings
2.25/5
Weight
#804
BGG rank
Top 1,000
Alternate names:拉瓦岛
Designer:Marcel-André Casasola Merkle
Artist:Marcel-André Casasola Merkle, Manuel Casasola Merkle, Xavier Gueniffey Durin, Julien Le Faucheur, 杨静雯 (Yang Jingwen), 谢有鑫 (Xie Youxin), 陈杰 (Chen Jie), 郭紫颖 (Guo Ziying)
Publisher:Rio Grande Games +5 more
Average rating, ratings count, weight and rank are sourced from BoardGameGeek (BGG).
Game DNA
  • This game: Strategy 7, Luck 5, Interaction 5, Complexity 4.5, Theme 3
Strategy7.0
Luck5.0
Interaction5.0
Complexity4.5
Theme3.0

This game's strategy, luck, interaction, complexity and theme.

Abstract StrategyTerritory BuildingTile PlacementHexagon GridPattern BuildingStatic CaptureRaceSudden Death EndingChainingLayering

Overview

In Taluva, players attempt to successfully settle a South Sea island slowly emerging from the ocean waters as volcano after volcano erupts.

Each turn, players decide to either have a new volcano erupt along the shore, increasing the size of the island, or to have an existing volcano erupt again, increasing the height of the land around it (and possibly destroying parts of existing settlements). They do this by placing a new tile, consisting of one volcano and two other types of landscape. A tile must always touch at least one other tile, when placed at sea level, or be placed on top of at least two other tiles (without any gaps under the land being created), with the volcano being placed on top of an existing volcano. Next, the player will place one or more wooden buildings; huts, temples or towers. Settlements must always start at the lowest level, by placing a single hut. From there on, existing settlements may expand by placing huts on all hexes of a single type of terrain around the settlement, with temples once the settlement takes up at least three hexes, or with towers, placed at level three or above.

The game ends when all tiles have been placed. At that point, the player who's placed most temples wins. Ties are broken by towers, then huts. Ultimate victory - and an immediate end to the game - waits for the player who manages to place all their buildings of two types. Immediate defeat is also possible, when no buildings can legally be played during a player's turn.

A lot of strategy results from the various placement rules. Volcanoes may never fully destroy a settlement, so single huts can block volcano placement, protecting other settlements. Alternatively, a well placed volcano can split a large settlement in two, creating the opportunity for both to expand more rapidly than a new settlement would. Limiting your opponent's growth potential is at least as important as preparing the terrain for you to expand upon...

Expansions

Taluva: Deluxe Game Board
Taluva: Starting Tile Expansion
Taluva: Extension
Not available yet

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