Tabletop_Gaming__Issue_27__February_2019

tabletopgaming.co.uk 75

TOKYO HIGHWAY

steady hands and slim ngers will

have an advantage.

It’s equal parts tactics and

balancing – and it’s a shame the

balancing is a little unbalanced,

because otherwise this is a delight

that you shouldn’t bypass.

JAMES WALLIS

30m 2-4 8+ £35

I

f you’ve heard of Japanese

publisher Itten it’s probably for

quirky games like Stonehenge and

the Sun, which requires a pendulum

suspended from your ceiling, or Yeti

in the House, where a yeti hides in

your actual house. Tokyo Highway is

its rst title to get proper distribution,

and the closest thing it’s done to a

normal game. at doesn’t mean it’s a

normal game.

Tokyo Highway is a rare hybrid: a

tactical stacker. Each player builds

a network of roads that rise up, dip

down and snake around. When you

place a road that crosses over or

under another player’s road without

touching it, you can put a car on it.

First player to place all their cars wins.

e game has plenty of emergent

strategy, as the table becomes covered

in a glorious and intriguing network

of roads and nding new places to

build and score becomes increasingly

challenging. e threat of running

out of building supplies encourages

people to build low, but the big points

come from soaring high.

It’s beautiful. With starkly

minimalist components, the grey of

the roads and columns oset by the

bright colours of the cars, it’s very

satisfying on an aesthetic level.

Where the game falls down is

where it falls down. If you dislodge

an opponent’s piece you have to

replace it, but the roads

become so interlocked

that it’s really

hard without

knocking over

other bits – not

to mention

remembering

what went

where. e

included tweezers are

some help, but those with

T

he Lost Expedition was one of

the small-box gems of 2017,

with Peer Sylvester’s compact

card game capturing the challenge

and beauty of surviving – and dying,

and dying again – in the rainforest.

Judge Dredd: e Cursed Earth,

themed after 2000 AD’s notorious arm

of the law, remains just as punishing

and visually breathtaking, swapping

lush plant life and colourful creatures

for brilliant comic-book artwork from

Dredd artists Rufus Dayglo and Dan

Cornwell, showcased magnicently

on oversized cards.

e core of the action remains the

same: players lay down cards from

their hands to collectively form a

row, hoping that their combination

of symbols to spend and receive

resources such as rations, ammo and

expertise – rearranged consecutively

in the ‘dawn’ round, left as-is at dusk

• can be survived in order by Judges

Dredd, Anderson and Giant. e added

complication of radiation that must

be balanced against health and the

potential to use psi powers, which puts

an interesting twist on the restricted co-

operation with your fellow players, feel

like natural additions given the setting

and give more to consider without

muddling the simple central gameplay.

e landscape takes on more of a role

here too, as locations that the team travel

to add one-o or ongoing eects, marking

them out against the relatively samey

forest cards of the Amazon. Applying

even more pressure and changing up the

pace is the fact it's a race against a game-

controlled gang of criminals to reach the

slightly randomised destination of their

target – the returning competitive mode

pits the players against each other.

If you’ve played e Lost Expedition,

it’s familiar territory but there’s enough

here to present a new challenge and

dierent feel. ough a few unlucky

draws can still leave you doomed,

you’ll be heading back out on the

hunt as soon as you can.

MATT JARVIS

JUDGE DREDD:

THE CURSED EARTH

30-50m 1-5 14+ £25

(^) PLAY IT? YES
PLAY IT? PROBABLY