Walking in Burano: Roll & Write
Publisher: EmperorS4
Player Count: 1-4 Players
Game Length: 30 Minutes
Complexity 2/5
Set on the island of Burano in Venice, players will work to decorate their home with plants, curtains, chimneys as well as the ever-present house cat in an effort to appeal to the frequent tourists and local inhabitants. Meet their high demands and earn their adoration in this dice drafting roll and write game.
ON YOUR TURN
Walking in Burano: Roll & Write is a new version of the original board game, Walking in Burano from the same designer. I haven’t had the opportunity to play the original so there obviously won’t be any direct comparisons.
In this version, players will serve as decorators taking turns drafting dice and adorning the local homes with flair and enhancements to appeal to the local community. Burano is a vibrant tourist destination and visitors will often stop to admire the brightly colored real estate.
On your turn, you’ll place one of your boats on the canal next to one of the 6 available dice. Each round, the 6 uniquely colored dice are rolled and placed in their respective spots. Each dice reflects a specific home on your player sheet and the value determines how you can interact with that home if that dice is chosen.
There are 5 different ways to interact with each home. While each home is unique in its decorating opportunities, you can generally address any of these areas as long as you meet that decoration’s “mini-game” requirement. Planting flowers requires you to label the plant with a die value equal to or lower than any previously planted plant in that home. Cats can be added as long as the die value equals the floor the cat is on. Red or blue curtains can be added depending on the die being odd or even. Each streetlight has a specific number. Finally, chimney’s across the street will need their own unique number.
Each player will receive 2 die actions per round. There isn’t a ton of interaction aside from the general race to the finish and choosing a die previously chosen by an opponent. The penalty is a coin to the original resident of that dice space.
After all players have chosen their dice, they have the option to invite a guest. There are 10 unique guests all looking for a unique pattern present in all the houses. For example: inviting the photographer scores points for all the cats in a single house. The tailor is looking for a pair of red and blue curtains throughout the entire block. Santa Clause (yes, Santa Clause) scores points based on the total value of all the chimneys at the time he’s invited. You’ll score points in a variety of ways with some based on an individual house, while others would score an entire floor.
The game ends when a player has invited their 5th guest, so the push and pull of the game is in the balance between maximizing your scoring goals and actually activating those goals. When you invite a guest you score that goal immediately, often forcing you to leave points on the shelf in your pursuit of 5 goals before your opponent. Ultimately, the player with the most points wins the game… and that may not be the player who finished all 5 invites first.
ARTWORK & COMPONENTS
While the artwork is colorful and fun, this is a pretty basic production. The publisher’s creatively tied in the canal/dice holders to fit nicely in the box and still provide some dimension to the play area. Unfortunately, like the majority of the game, the paper quality isn’t the best and everything feels kinda cheap. I’d like to think the components don’t diminish the game experience, but it was definitely something I noticed with each play.
The rulebook is simple and clear. The different requirements are easy to find making it easy to jump right in on your first play.
PROS & CONS
➕ This is a quick and simple game that works for a broad audience
➕ The rulebook is clean and clear making it easy to learn and teach
➕ The theme is enticing on its own. While it doesn’t shine through intensely, there are going to be those who appreciate the personality and setting.
➖ While production quality will likely keep the cost down, it is a bit of a disappointing production.
➖ Turn choices ultimately aren’t that interesting. While you’re at the mercy of the dice, pursuing certain objects may or may not pan out. I wasn’t that excited or distraught no matter the outcome.
➖ This is going to sound funny given that this is a game of luck, but everything felt a little deterministic. While some are going to win out and often win big, I’m just hoping I choose the right objectives to pursue. It may work out… it may not, but there didn’t seem to be a lot I could do about it once I was committed to a strategy. You can mitigate the dice by spending coins, but that’s even limited.
WHY WOULD YOU LIKE THIS GAME?
Walking in Burano comes across as a less refined version of Welcome To, but there are still some interesting choices and personality in the box for serious fans of roll and writes. The complexity level is just there enough to create an interesting experience for someone new to gaming or roll and writes in general.
WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS GAME?
The best thing about the game is the tourist personalities. They are each searching for something different and willing to score in their own way. This does add some diversity and replayability.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you’ve made it to this point in the review, it’s pretty clear that I’m not jumping up and down for Walking in Burano: Roll & Write. It’s not that it’s a bad game, but rather a bland game. The turn choices aren’t that exciting and it all feels so random. The game’s production doesn’t do itself any favors either.
I mentioned briefly that this feels like a watered down version of the game Welcome To. It’s not nearly as refined and clever and the choices just don’t get me excited. There just isn’t a whole lot here that’s memorable.
The solo mode may be the way to play this. It’s super easy to implement and you can play at your own pace. In fact, the game as a whole is really easy to get into. It does play quickly, giving it some virtue under the right circumstances.
As a fan of roll and writes, I’m willing to give these types of games a little extra grace, but this isn’t one I’ll likely revisit. Perhaps if you’re a fan of the original game this might be something to check out out of curiosity.