Later today we are participating in 816 Day, a River Market wide event lasting from 6 PM until 10 PM. Join us to play some lawn games and sign up for a board game giveaway! We have Tonari on the demo table this weekend as well, so stop inside the shop to play a few rounds. Tonari is the newest abstract strategy board game from IDW games, with its release earlier this week!

Tonari supports 2 to 4 players, and is fairly simple since it only takes a few minutes to learn the mechanics. In Tonari, players are fishermen on the same boat, sailing around the island of Kuchinoshima. Each player takes turns moving the boat across the sea, catching fish and ability tokens. The amount of fish you catch determines your score at the end. For instance, the more of one kind of basic fish you capture will multiply your skill further.

There are also special fish that will score you a high amount of bonus points, but do not stack. There are also ability tokens that you may collect, which will take action before your turn is over. For example, one token allows you to remove any token from the board. Another allows you to swap one of your fish for one of your opponents'.

At the end of the game, points are totaled from the number of fish you have collected. However, in a 3 or 4 player game you take the score of the player to your right and add it to your own. After that, the player with the most points wins the game! In cases of two player games, you do not add any additional points.

Although Tonari is fairly simple, the point system makes it interesting enough in strategy. Not only do you have to make sure your haul of fish is plentiful, but you want to watch for what the players next to you are doing. Such as, deciding whether or not to help another player because at the end of the game, you'll get to add those points to your own score. It is interesting to decide how to help yourself, while simultaneously planning for the players sitting next to you.

Tonari makes a great light strategy game for the family and beginner players. Tonari would also be a great addition if you are looking to add a simple, quick game to your collection. The components are high quality, and we really like the box and board art, illustrated by Kwanchai Moriya.