Wouter & Ymke 
Immerse yourself in the delightful world of Venice with ‘Walking in Burano: Roll & Write,’ where each player transforms into a decorator, breathing life into houses with an array of colors using dice. The more appealing your creations are, the more points you garner from locals and tourists. As the final die is cast, the player with the most points is crowned the winner.
👥 1-4 players, ages 10+
⌛ Playing time: 30-45 minutes
📝 Designer: Wei-Min Ling
🎨 Artwork: Maisherly
🏢 Publisher: EmperorS4
https://en.emperors4.com/game
🎲 The game evolves over several rounds, each with three key phases. It begins with the roll of the dice, which opens up a spectrum of decorating possibilities. This is followed by a drafting phase that involves strategic decision-making. Here, players choose dice and the corresponding decorations for their houses. Creating appealing decorations is crucial, yet sometimes, accruing coins by taking a step back from decorating can alter the game’s dynamics in your favor. During this phase, players also strategically place boat tokens, which are used for selecting dice. According to the placement rules, a player cannot put their boat next to the same die twice in one round, and placing a boat token next to a die chosen by another player yields that player a coin.
💌 The round concludes with an invitation stage, providing an opportunity to invite a character to admire your decorations at the cost of three coins. Alternatively, players can decide to save coins, thereby gaining an extra one. As the game progresses, the decorated houses start to come alive. Players have the freedom to use the dice to create attractive combinations of decorations such as plants, cats, curtains, and chimneys.
💰 Coins are the lifeblood of ‘Walking in Burano: Roll & Write,’ with players earning them through various means like crafting specific decorations, strategically placing boat tokens, or opting to skip actions. These coins, in turn, can be spent to modify die values or invite characters, which is a crucial part of the game. Each character rewards points based on their preferred decorations, but remember, you can only invite each character once and only one character per round. This element brings a tactical angle to the game, requiring careful consideration of which character to invite and when.
🏆 As a player invites their fifth character, the endgame is triggered. After one final round is played, players calculate their points based on each character’s scoring criteria. The player with the highest points emerges as the victor, having proved their creative brilliance in the vibrant setting of Burano.
‘Walking in Burano: Roll & Write,’ crafted by designer Wei-Min Ling, offers a delightful gaming experience in a bite-sized 30-minute playtime. This easy-to-understand game is accessible to players aged ten and above, offering a pleasing mix of strategic gameplay and spontaneous decision-making.
🏠 The heart of the game lies in your strategic use of dice, each color representing different buildings on your game sheet. You circle symbols on buildings corresponding to the die outcome, displaying plants, cats, curtains, streetlights, and chimneys. Each decoration comes with its unique rules, such as circling a cat symbol on different floors depending on the dice number, or circling chimneys with unique numbers underneath.
🚣 The dice selection is an integral part of the game, shaping your strategy and choices. A keen eye on the dice available, as well as those chosen by opponents, can impact your game significantly. You need to strike a delicate balance between selecting dice that suit your decorating plan, while preventing opponents from collecting too many coins. Occasionally, dice rolls may not align with your strategy, especially towards the end, and here the game’s flexibility shines through. You can adjust dice rolls by +1 or -1 by spending a coin. But do remember, these coins are also required to invite characters, the core element of scoring.
📸 Inviting characters is a critical part of your strategy. With each character favoring a different set of decorations, your choice can make a significant difference in your points. Whether it’s the female tourist who rewards points for plants or the tailor that prefers a set of red and blue curtains, your strategic invitations can turn the tide of the game. The game offers a choice of ten characters, but at best, you can invite only six during a game. It’s convenient to choose a direction early on and invite characters that will help you score the most points. The beauty of the game is that there’s no blocking, allowing each player to invite any character.
🎨 On the component front, ‘Walking in Burano: Roll & Write’ is hard to fault. It comes with 40 game sheets divided into four different types, offering a good variety. The game’s artwork, done by Maisherly, is vibrant and colorful, perfectly capturing the essence of Burano. The dice are solid with beautiful colors, and the box insert doubles as a dice stand, neatly holding six dice.
💡 Lastly, I haven’t had the chance to play the original Walking in Burano, so I can’t draw comparisons. But, the dice version of the game stands firm on its own, presenting a solid and enjoyable puzzle that is simple to learn and play.
🙏 A big thank you to publisher EmperorS4 for providing us with a review copy of ‘Walking in Burano: Roll & Write.’
