Tabletop Game Review: Tanto Cuore: Oktoberfest

Tanto Cuore: Oktoberfest

Japanime Games

Players: 1-4

Play Time: 45-60 Minutes

Trying to maintain a house full of maids can be stressful, so maybe it’s time for a break. Luckily, Japanime Games has a lot of beer to share in Tanto Cuore: Oktoberfest. Japanime Games is celebrating Tanto: Cuore’s 10 year anniversary, so let’s grab a drink and take a look at the deck-building franchise’s third expansion.

Tanto Cuore is a competitive deck-building game for 2-4 players. Players will take turns filling their house with their favorite maids as they race to earn the most victory points at the end. I won’t spend much time talking about the rules of the base game since I covered them in my review of the original Tanto Cuore, but I will go over the new mechanics that Oktoberfest brings to the table.

Tanto Cuore: Oktoberfest embraces the fall season with new maids, a warm color palette, and of course, beer! In Romantic Vacation, the big new mechanic came at the cost of private maids, and Oktoberfest is no different. The private maids are replaced by beer cards, which give players a new chance at earning victory points. Each type of beer awards points differently, and players will need to balance the acquisition of maids with drinking beer to win.

Of course, beer isn’t the only new thing that players will see in Oktoberfest. There are tons of new general maids, some with the new “Barmaid” archetype. Barmaids interact with beer cards, adding more strategy to the game. The barmaids are some of my favorite new maids and are often exciting to play with. In addition to the new maids, there are also new building and event cards that interact with both the beer and the maids.

While there are tons of new things in Oktoberfest, there aren’t really a lot of new ways to play. The beer cards mostly only act as a victory point condition, and the maids don’t really add any new styles of play. The tweaks they make to existing styles are welcome, but those who are wanting a wildly different experience may find themselves disappointed.

One thing that Oktoberfest absolutely nails the theme. The art in this expansion is wonderful, with quite a few new artists making an appearance. All of the art features the maids having fun, drinking, and doing fall-related activities. A few cards don’t look as great as the others, but overall this is a great looking set. The beer cards look nice and the chibi maids that join them are adorable. There is somehow even more fanservice in Oktoberfest than Romantic Vacation, so if you aren’t a fan of that, you might want to pass on this expansion.

Like Romantic Vacation, Oktoberfest holds up as a standalone game quite well. The beer cards feature just a bit too much luck, but that doesn’t stop this game from being an entertaining experience. The maids are fairly balanced, and most combinations of general maids will be enjoyable. The game also scales well with all player counts, but the sweet spot seems to be three players.

Oktoberfest is another hit for Tanto Cuore. The theme is fun and the new mechanics are simple but enjoyable. I would have liked to see a few more new things here, but I still had a good time drinking with the maids.

Click For More Tabletop Game Reviews