Thames & Kosmos - "Dodo"

Photo above is property of Thames & Kosmos

Company: Thames & Kosmos

Game: Dodo

Country: USA 🇺🇸

Language: English

Type of Game: Tabletop Games (Cooperative Game) 📬

Genre: Strategy

Date Played: August 28, 2024

Difficulty (based on 3 players): 3/10

Size of Team: 2-4 ppl

Time: Approximately 10 Mins.

Price: $34.95

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It’s that time of year again for the Hagulaminapoitopasi tribe, where the legendary and sacred Dodo bird lays their egg on top of the highest mountain in Mangalopanesia. Unfortunately, the Dodo bird is clumsy and knocks the egg out of her nest, sending it tumbling down the mountain. The tribe is always prepared though to build as many bridges as possible to get the “wibbly-wobbly egg” down the mountain safely. Can you keep ahead of the egg?

Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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Looking in the box, there are plenty of pieces that need to punched out, lots of plastic parts, instruction manuals and more.

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Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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First thing to point out is before the first play, there will be a lot to punch out and assemble to make the mountain. It took us about 20 minutes the first time around to get it set up. After the initial set up, there are a lot of pieces that stay assembled so it would only take about 5 minutes to set up in the future.

The rules of the game are simple. As the Dodo egg rolls down the mountain, we must build bridges along the way. How we do that is roll the dice that has different building materials on it. We then flip over a circular tile. If the tile material matches the one on the dice, hurrah! Place it on the storage of the next bridge piece and pass the dice to the next player. If it does not match, flip the tile back over and simply pass the dice to the next player. If the storage is complete, then you get to install that bridge piece. Continue building the bridges to stay ahead of the egg and finish with building the boat to get the egg to safety.

What is this magic egg?! When we first encountered the “wibbly-wobbly egg”, we were not sure how the egg was supposed to move down the mountain on each turn but this is a real time game and the egg will roll down the mountain on its own. We am still not sure how this “wibbly-wobbly egg” works but it was definitely the highlight of the game to check out.

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Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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This was a simple game with minimal strategy. The instructions mention this strategy, which is we are all on the same team and should help each other out. If you remember where a tile is that your teammate needs, say something. Another tip we learned was to keep passing the dice and move along, even if someone is installing the bridge. Granted, the kids were having too much fun laughing and giggling in between so it was still a win.

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Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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"Dodo" was a simple game with a lot of great components and design to build the mountain with. The “wibbly-wobbly egg” was a standout feature of the game and blew us all away. The game is designed for 6+ making it easy to learn, especially for the kids. If after a few plays, you find this too easy, there are some advanced options that include adding more storage for each bridge piece or removing some of the wild card tiles. If you do take it out to play though, have a couple of plays in mind, since it does take some time to set up. This is a fun family friendly game that will get everyone excited to save the Dodo egg.

Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of the game:

https://youtu.be/-hqyXup64t0

Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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(If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)

Disclosure: We thank Thames & Kosmos for providing us with samples of the game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.

#MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #OneOffs #Strategy #ThamesandKosmos #USA