Walking in Burano and Getting Carried Into a Game World
Decorate a street scene with colorful shops, houses, features, inhabitants, and cozy cats with Walking in Burano.
I always enjoy solo games that capture a certain atmosphere and sort of transport me into a cheerful realm. Walking in Burano does that amazingly well! The bright houses take on personalities of their own with little shops and people, along with some of the cutest cats atop rooftops or near windows. Off to this summery world I gladly went!
Game Overview
Game Name: Walking in Burano
Publication Year: 2018
Designer: Wei-Min Ling
Artist: Maisherly
Publishers: Alderac Entertainment Group & EmperorS4
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
The goal is to plan out how to decorate a row of 5 houses. Matching colors are encouraged, yet the decision of what to take each round is quite interesting! Different tourists and inhabitants help guide the path to victory points… Yet they slowly disappear to make the last choices important!
First Play
May 31, 2023
Complexity
2
Latest Play
October 7, 2024
Expansions
1
Setup Time
Almost None
Lifetime Plays
8
Play Time
15 Minutes
High Score
83
Game Area
26" x 18"
Low Score
48
An Afternoon Cat
Continuing on my trend to tie in some of my childhood books, The Old Man and the Afternoon Cat seemed perfect!
I also mixed in the mini-expansion, which includes new inhabitants… Including a fisherman who enjoys cats!
This story is very much about enjoying some quiet time in a town, although it takes an unexpected turn when the afternoon cat goes missing. Wherever could he have gone?
Not too much thought went into this pairing… It was the one that definitely called to me! And as you’ll see below, it has a very happy ending that ties the town together.
Different Inhabitants
In the base game, 7 of 7 inhabitants are used each play. That means practically no variety, although there are still unique choices with the way the house cards appear.
This time, I mixed in the new mini-expansion inhabitants. Only 7 of 10 were used with each play, which made a huge difference. Lots more to consider as I planned my houses!
For instance, I usually keep the shop owner around until the end as a surefire way to score most of the time.
Yet he didn’t show up all the time, so when I discarded a card at the end of each round, it felt a lot more impactful.
Pretty Painted Houses
It took a little effort to keep the cards neatly aligned, yet I absolutely loved seeing the street come to life! The final tableau always looks so lively and cheery. Beautiful!
My choices weren’t as optimal as I got back into play. Not every house was completed by the end, which resulted in lots of lost victory points. Not to worry! I had many plans.
Figuring out how to make the most of the available house cards and scoring cards was a lovely sort of puzzle.
Many times I wanted to use the ability to break the matching colors… Yet I held steady for a cohesive look.
The Best Score Yet
Out of the blue, I managed to reach my highest score with this wonderful scene! Lots of luck was involved with all of the matching houses, along with the tourists.
It sometimes pays to try to clear out some cards to find the right ones, as the rightmost ones are discarded and replaced at the end of each round. I did fairly well!
The spread of my scores has also been pretty consistent. Getting just a few more victory points will be very hard.
It was a little while since I last played this one, and I had such a wonderful time working through the decisions!
Capturing an Experience in Game Format
A lot of my solo game enjoyment comes from sort of falling into the depicted world. This isn’t always the case, like with very abstract titles or war games. Yet with a lot of games, I love that feeling of being transported into a cozy place! This one does it so well with the scenery and artwork. Every single play results in me appreciating the little elements.
Here, the sky is always summery blue with a few fluffy clouds to float in front of a warm sun. There are people passing by on the streets, excited to admire the local shops and smile at each other. Cats lounge or leap in the comfiest spots. The smells of freshly baked pizza, specialty coffee, and fully bloomed florals mingle on the gentle breeze.
Yep: I love it! Not every game will achieve this sort of experience, and that’s not a problem. The joy is finding the ones that seem to speak to me. And when I find the ones that transport me somewhere delightful… So much happiness!
Home for Good
This book starts out talking about how grumpy the old man is, yet every day, he stops in the park and waits for the afternoon cat to curl up for a nap with him.
But then the cat disappears, and it’s clear that he’s not such a grumpy, angry person. After tracking down leads, he finds the cat at the local shelter and adopts him.
The tag is the best: “This is not a stray cat. He belongs to the old man and the old man belongs to him.” So cute!
And then he makes friends with the cat’s friends all over town, and everyone is happy. A delightful little story!
Tailored for Success
In my previous plays, I never could find a way to utilize the tailor in the best way. Having a bunch of curtain pairs has never seemed possible, nor a source of victory points.
Yet with some planning and lots of luck, I managed to earn a whopping 20 victory points from this single card!
It was only slightly less thematic… I should have placed her under the dress shop next door. Ha ha! Next time.
Figuring out which bonuses to work towards makes each play unique, and never have I felt like a single inhabitant or tourist is always better than the rest. Just a lovely time!
Session Overview
Play Number: 5-8
Expansion: Walking in Burano: New Inhabitants
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Outcome: 57, 83, 75, 48 (1 Win & 3 Losses)
I was on a roll near the end! Unfortunately, I got a little too excited about the painter inhabitant. I had all of the level 1 and 2 pink house cards I needed… And then I milled through the top level for ages. Want to know what cards were at the bottom of the deck? All of the pink ones. Ha ha! So this resulted in a terrible score, and all I could imagine was the painter’s very confused look over my choices!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
9
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
6
Quality
Components & Rules
7
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
9
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
9
+ Pros (Positives)
- The final tableau creates a beautiful, bustling street scene filled with a very cheery and welcoming atmosphere.
- Figuring out which 5 tourists or inhabitants to score is a very interesting puzzle with plenty of thought.
- Scaffold cards seem like basic elements at first, but can be vital to building a rooftop early on.
- Planning how to paint the houses evolves over the course of gameplay and provides plenty of interesting choices.
- With the mini-expansion inhabitants, the variety is excellent and removes any guaranteed options.
- Managing the solo mode is very easy with the way the cards are discarded at the end of each round.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Keeping all of the cards neatly arranged can be a little bit of a struggle, but is worth the effort for the scenery.
- A fair amount of luck is involved with the highest possible scores in the order of the cards and inhabitants.
- Some of the features can be difficult to spot on the house cards, as they’re a little small and blend in very well.
- Most of the inhabitants are explained well on reference cards, but the iconography takes a little time to memorize.
Victory Conditions
Score 80+ Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Score at least 70 points.
Win at least 1 game with 4 unused regulatory tokens.
Score at least 80 points.
Continue the Conversation
What do you enjoy about Walking in Burano? Have you achieved a high score you’re particularly proud of? The whole experience is a wonderful one that always brings me in to appreciate the little elements of the artwork. I’ll need to make sure I play more often… Such an excellent little solo game! Just need to keep an eye out for the afternoon cat. Ha ha!
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