TeDoKu
- Board's Eye View
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
There are roll&write games where you roll dice and fill in a sheet, and there are flip&write games where you flip cards and fill in a sheet. TeDoKu combines the two but in a game that's super-easy to play, making it an ideal 'gateway' introduction to the roll&write/flip&write mechanic that's used in games that otherwise vary widely in their complexity.
TeDoKu is designed by Sandro Blasich, and it's published by Ares Games. For its recording sheet it uses a Sudoku-style grid, so numbered 1-9 and A-I on its axes and with an identifying shape beneath each of the nine 3x3 sectors. Each turn a card is flipped to reveal either a letter, number or sector, and a custom six-sided die is rolled to show that round's four-square polyomino. Players all draw that polyomino anywhere on their grid but so that at least one square is in the indicated sector, letter row or number column. The polyomino can be reversed or mirrored but obviously it must be contained entirely within the grid and it cannot overlap a polyomino that's already been drawn.
As your grid fills so the prospect increases of a round coming along where you are without a legal placement, in which case you simply miss that turn. You play for 20 rounds (ie: 20 card flips and die rolls) and you score for completed rows, columns and sectors. There are some free squares you can choose to mark off to help you fill a gap, albeit at a cost in foregone end-game bonuses.
The simplicity of TeDoKu makes it a great easy-to-play small-box travel game. You can play it solitaire or with any number of players - the only upper limit being the number who can comfortably see the cards and die.