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Literally, Seikatsu is the Japanese word for “life.” It might be a bit ambitious of a title for a tile-laying game of building a garden, but that depends on your point of view...and so does the game. While Seikatsu has a few familiar elements in its play style, it’s the final scoring of the game that renders it unique. It’s also one of the few games that comfortably seats three without being awkward, suboptimal, or rendering a kingmaker effect, and that alone would earn it space on my shelf. Seikatsu begins with an empty board and a bag of tiles. The three players' pagodas are equidistant from the koi pond in the center of the garden, and each player's goal is for the final garden to be the most aesthetically pleasing, from his or her own point of view. Each tile contains a combination of a color of a bird and a flower. There are two of each bird/color combination in the bag, plus four koi (wild) tiles, for a total of 36. On your turn, you’ll have two face down tiles in front of you to choose from. You place one on the board, adjacent to an existing tile, score it, and then replace it from the bag.
If the tile you placed has a bird of the same color as at least one tile adjacent to it, you score one point for it, and for each adjacent matching bird. This will score you anywhere from 2-5 points. Koi fish tiles count as whichever color bird you want when they are played, but don't count as any color for future plays. The game ends once all tiles have been played and the board is completely full. You then score for flowers. Each player scores for the rows of flowers in the garden, based on the perspective from their own pagoda. You score points based on whichever color flower you have the most of in the row, ranging from 1 for a singleton, to 21 points for a complete row of six of the same color flower.
Seikatsu plays both simply and elegantly, but it’s the varying perspectives that make it unique. Having to view the optimal plays from your opponents' points of view means that your board position is inextricably intertwined with theirs...but, indirectly. Strategic planning is a must, but the short term gains from placing matching birds can't be overlooked. While Seikatsu plays well, it is definitely a light game, and is easily approachable for casual or non-gamers. Adding to the appeal is the production quality of the game: the tiles are heavy acrylic, with embossed kanji on the back (so that you can reach into the bag and replace tiles face down without looking at them), and the art is gorgeous. The bag is heavy cloth, and the board is well laid-out. That said, there are a few minor flaws: players are clearly expected to go over 50 points, but the scoring track ends at 50. The instructions tell you to simply take another lap with your scoring marker, but a “+50” token would have been nice. This is a minor issue, though, and we had no trouble tracking scores.
Seikatsu includes a solo mode and team mode, so that groups from 1-4 can enjoy the game. Even your first game should be finished in under a half hour, and it can be played by kids as young as 8. Fast Facts:
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