Following the current trend of building games, the publishing house Board Game Circus has also brought a genre representative to the German game market with the game “Buntes Burano”. The game is aimed at one to four players, ages ten and up. In the following review, our author Nicole reveals whether a colorful backdrop and lots of cats are enough to turn colorful Burano into a good game.

Burano is an island in the north of Venice. It is one of the most densely populated islands in the Venice Lagoon. Burano consists of a group of four islands connected by bridges. Similar to that Board game postage this island is also known for its colorful house fronts. Here, too, it is about building a bright and colorful row of houses.

The playful construction of a charming fishing village

The game consists of floor cards, which you can use to build houses, and character cards from guests and locals. Optionally, you can purchase a play mat for this game, which is highly recommended. The floor cards are divided into three piles according to their floor and laid out face down in ascending order. With them you create a display of 9 to 15 cards depending on the number of players. There is a display with four to seven different locals and four different guests.

Each player receives four bonus markers and four coins as starting capital, as well as two scaffolding cards. The starting player receives the cat token. The game starts with the starting player in clockwise order. The player whose turn it is may choose one to three cards from the display. Players may only take cards from one column per turn and only from above or only from below in this column. No cards may be skipped. If the player takes a card, he may also take two coins, with two cards still one coin and with three cards no coin. The hand card limit is three cards. After picking up cards, the active player may lay down cards. Every house must start with the ground floor. The scaffolding parts serve as placeholders here. If you lay out a card it costs one coin, two cards cost three coins and three cards cost five coins.

If a player completes a house in his turn, he may take a character card from the display as a reward and place it under his completed house. Then it is the next player's turn. When all players have made their move, the card display is refilled. The remaining cards in the display are shifted to the right and new cards are added from the left. The starting player marker always changes clockwise at the end of the round.

So we play round after round. The game impresses with its simple rules and beautiful colorful cards. The cards are illustrated in great detail. We find shops, houses, cats, flowers and much more on it and all of these details are incorporated into the game. The game runs quickly, the waiting times are short and it's really fun to watch the rows of houses grow.

The building rules are also simple. If possible, houses should only be built in one color and no two houses of the same color should be built next to each other. If you want to break one of these rules you have to give up a bonus marker. These bring you victory points at the end of the game if you don't give them up. No floor is allowed to hang in the air, it is always built from the bottom up. The game ends immediately when someone has completely built 5 houses. The winner is whoever has the most victory points at the end. The character cards give victory points for different card features, for example yellow flowers in the house above the character card or all passers-by in front of the shops in the row on the ground floor.

You should therefore think carefully about how quickly you can finish your houses, as each character card is only issued two or three times and other players could snatch a card away from you. Since the display is always refilled at the end of the round, it often happens that a long-awaited floor card is taken away by another player before it is your turn. Closed shutters give minus points at the end of the game, for which the most of them are blocked. You should also manage your money well. You are always in a quandary as to how many cards you should take. If you take a lot of cards, you have more house parts to build in again. If you prefer to take fewer cards, you can add coins and have money available for building again.

Infobox

Number of players: 4 players
Age: from 10 years
Playing time: 20-40 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Long-term motivation: good

Publisher: Board Game Circus
Author: Wei-Min Ling
Illustrator: Maisherly Chan
Year of publication: 2019
Language: German
Cost: 15 euros

Conclusion

Colorful Burano has a high replay appeal and is also suitable for inexperienced players. The simple and short rules allow you to get started quickly. But even with frequent players, the game keeps coming up on the table.

As an introduction to a game night or a nightcap, it's always fun. The only flaw in the game is the cat marker, which is very shaky because it wasn't cut far enough and the pieces don't fit together well. Otherwise, the game material is valuable and pretty.