Just in time for summer, Deep Print Games released the family-friendly tile-laying game "Lumicora". The rules are easy to learn and with a manageable playing time, it seems to be the ideal companion for a relaxed afternoon of gaming in the sun. We tested how well the coral puzzle works with the unusually shaped tiles.
Coral reefs are among the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. However, they are increasingly threatened by climate change. In Lumicora The players are tasked with building a new coral reef. They build this using the Luminos tiles. The Luminos show both numerical values and different animal species with which the players score points.
Placing Tiles in Three Dimensions
Unlike the habitat of corals, the rules of Lumicora not really deep, but are on a relaxed family game plus level. Over 10 rounds, the players make one move each and can then trigger a scoring if they want to.
Each turn in the action phase consists of four steps. First, you place a Lumino from your own display into the central display (atoll). Then you can choose whether to take as many limestones as the value of the discarded tile shows, take up to three Luminos of a different color from the atoll, or take a Lumino from your own display.
Once the atoll has been filled, any Luminos taken are placed on the personal game board. In addition to the “usual” rules for placing tiles, Lumicora a few more special features.
If you place a Lumino, it must be adjacent to another Lumino of the same color, if one is present. In level 1, this rule only applies to a limited extent, as new colors or colors that cannot be placed adjacent to one another can be placed anywhere. If you occupy free water fields, you must spend one limestone per field.
If you cannot place a Lumino you have taken, you discard it and lose a point.
Once everyone has completed their turn in the action phase, the scoring phase begins. After everyone has filled up their personal display, you can decide whether you want to score a color. The sooner you do this, the more limestone you get.
When scoring, only the Lumino with the lowest value of the corresponding color on each level counts. After scoring, the marker of the corresponding color is turned to the jellyfish side. In the action phase, you can discard these to exchange your personal display or the atoll.
At the end of the game, the animals and colors are scored. Depending on the side of the game board, points are awarded for the number of animals of the corresponding species or for certain constellations around these animals. For colors, there is a simple majority scoring. If the points for remaining limestone and jellyfish markers have also been awarded, the person with the most points wins.
Information about Lumicora
| Number of people: 2 to 4 people Age: from 10 years Playing time: 40 to 60 minutes Difficulty: expert game Long-term motivation: average Mechanics: Placing tiles, drafting Game idea: Rita Modl Illustrations: Annika Heller Publisher: Deep Print Games Official Website: Lumicora Year of publication: 2024 Language: German Cost: 35 Euro |
Conclusion
The optics stand out Lumicora immediately catches your eye. Illustrator Annika Heller has done a great job here. The game material is also really convincing in terms of feel. For the price of a good €35, you get a really well-equipped game.
Unfortunately, the game didn't convince us beyond its appearance. Classified as a family game by Pegasus, it actually comes with a set of rules that fits this classification. It was only the rules for laying that kept making us hesitate at the beginning. The restriction with the obligation to lay out pieces in adjacent colors seems quite unnatural due to the exceptions.
Otherwise, the rules are well written, even if I find the layout by Deep Print Games to be mediocre, as always. Everything is written very densely and closely and despite or perhaps because of the constantly changing background color, it is not very clear.
The total of 10 rounds are over far too quickly and at the end the build-up feels somehow unsatisfying. In many games, the extreme limitation of actions is a great incentive, but in Lumicora it doesn't motivate us to bring the game out again. The B-sides of the central game board and the personal boards also offer little variety.
The game just doesn't get going properly. The possible scoring phases after each action round cause the game to stall again and again and there is simply no pleasant flow to the game.
Putting the Luminos together is quite tricky, as there is always a lot to consider, but overall this doesn't mean that we would prefer the game to other tile-laying games. There are simply enough other representatives of the genre (including three-dimensional ones) that are more enjoyable to play.
Overall, Lumicora doesn't stand out from other representatives of the genre and is a bit clunky in places. Unfortunately, it doesn't manage to support the beautiful artwork with an equally beautiful game.
