DODO – REVIEW

Favouritefoefunlearning score 9/10

*Co-operative * Real Time * Race * Memory * Dexterity * Fun * 3D * Variant * Fast * Family *

Have you ever brought a game to the table where the box alone makes your mini gamers squeal with delight? Well, when DODO landed in our house, the attraction was instantaneous!

Published by KOSMOS, UNO is a co-operative game where you are trying to stop a glittery dodo egg from rolling off the top of the mountain. It incorporates real-time racing, memory and dexterity, and a whole heap of fun! In fact ,Mini-meeple enjoyed it so much from the get-go that he transformed himself into @minimeepleuk just so that he could tell other gamers about it!

Egg and Bridge Race!

So how do we save the egg in DODO? Well, the egg itself is pretty amazing. I don’t know the science behind it but it is a WIBBLY WOBBLY EGG. And by that I mean it moves itself down the mountain at varying speeds…..sometimes slow…..sometimes fast. It is unpredEGGtable!

But to actually stop it wobbling its way off the top of the mountain, the race is on to build bridges to slow its descent down to a (hopefully) awaiting boat in the harbour down at the base.

At the start of the game, somebody pops the WIBBLY WOBBLY EGG in its nest at the top of the mountain and pivots the protective yet clumsy(!) dodo bird so that it releases the egg and sets it on its descent.

To build a bridge, one player rolls a custom dice showing a number of different tools – axe, bamboo, wood, nails, rope, or leaves. That player then picks a random face down token located around the mountain. If the tool and the token match (or you flip a super helpful Hagulaminapitopasi tribe wild token), it gets placed on an empty space on the reverse side of the first bridge. When all the spaces are filled on the bridge (#1 only has one space to fill), the player flips it over and places it into position on the mountain. The used token is then dropped into the slot at the top of the mountain.

If the dice symbol and the flipped token don’t match, you have to flip the token back over and the next player rolls the dice. All the players can try to help the active player remember where matching tokens are located around the base of the mountain. But time is always ticking!!!

This continues until all the bridges have been built, the spaces at the harbour have been filled, and the egg has been safely deposited into the waiting boat – in which case you win! Or, until the WIBBLY WOBBLY EGG crashes off the end of an unconnected bridge and it’s time to try again!

Scrambled or Hard Boiled?

@minimeepleuk loved this game from the moment he and daddy started building it. And for them, the component construction is always part of the fun! I have to admit, I was getting very excited when I saw the sides of the mountain come together and the colourful dodo appear on the top!

And all the elements come together really well. The real time race created by the unpredictable egg speed and the need to find matching tokens works brilliantly. Minimeepleuk is on the edge of his seat when he knows where a matching token is located and one of us just isn’t reaching for it fast enough! His running commentary about the location of the egg is hilarious as it approaches the edge of a disconnect bridge. And when we get another added to the mountain just in time, the relief is palpable! And with extra spots to fill on the bridges and at the harbour for a little more challenge, it works well from the smallest to even the biggest of gamers!

But the great thing about this game is that even when we lose, he loves it! For him (and us!), it’s just another chance to try again. To work better as a team. And the acknowledgement that, if we communicate and co-operate more effectively we are likely to win, is a real developmental milestone.

Ultimately, DODO is a wonderful family game. It’s colourful, it’s silly, and most importantly it’s fun! The tension of the race is always light and playful, and it is a game that everybody around the table will be able to play and enjoy. And given that it has inspired another next-generation gamer to give back to the community, this is definitely staying in the #favouritefoefunlearninglibrary

 [Please note that a copy of this game was kindly provided by the publishers for review. I am not paid for my comments, however, and all opinions are my own]. I am also not affiliated to or sponsored by any retail store.