Tatsu

The game is simple and fun. I'd especially recommend it to backgammon players who are looking for something a little different.

Great variant of backgammon where rather than a race to the end your pieces battle around in a circle and your goal is to hit your opponent's off the board.

The presentation is pretty barebones but the game plays fine and the AI seems to provide a decent challenge. The game is really simple though so check up the rules to see if you think it's something you might enjoy (it plays exactly the same as the tabletop boardgame version).

Many of the negative reviews are from people who complain that the AI cheats with favourable dicerolls; this is just confirmation bias (how many people have complained that the shuffler is rigged in Magic Online / Hearthstone for example...)

A faithful adaptation of the board game. Plays like expected, and even if we could be suspicious about dice values, it can be seen as a nice way to teach how to be wiser about decisions to make.

If you like backgammon its an ok game. not many players though.

Backgammon-like abstract by the creator of Hive. It takes the element of capturing pieces and cycling in backgammon and distils it into a relatively quick game.

I read a lot of people's comments that it is not as good as Hive (granted), too lucky and too long. Also I read someone argue that the dice are stacked in favor of the AI.

So starting with luck and bias -
I have played 24 times and have at time of writing a 62% win record - if the dice are biased, then they are towards the player! In the lower AI levels, certainly up to hard where I played most of those games, it does not seem biased towards the AI. I am a little suspicious of the Dragon Master AI level because in my two games at that level the AI was astoundingly lucky. CRAZY lucky. I still won one of the games... my rolls were not as good... but it seems that even with the AI cheating (if indeed it was cheating) it may not be able to parse out the tree far enough that bias is a sure win.

Is it too long? Sometimes the game can be long and a bit degenerate. an evenly matched attrition game is a bit long. overall, it is relatively fast to play. I mind less the time to play than the possibility of forced moves over many moves. i.e. it is possible to roll several rounds in a row where you have no decision to make - and so every move is forced. That can be annoying.

Is being less good than Hive a problem? Hive is very good, but woe to a beginner playing with me. Sure I can hold back the best moves but it is hard to know what to play in that context. The luck in tatsu and its relative simplicity make it an easier game to introduce to people and losing is less painful when it is obvious that luck plays a big role.

All in all, I wanted to try this game and steam offered me a nice affordable way to try it out. I enjoyed it. Your mileage may vary, no game is for everyone.

I only played two rounds, I lost and won once. There seem to be no strategy involved, just a complicated version of Ludo. Vine dragons are so weak they might be as well used as fodder, water dragons unreliable. I was bored the second I clicked play. Might consider playing it again if there are strategy guides for it.

I have to cosign some of these negative reviews.

I bought this game because I'm a fan of Hive (the physical game, anyway), and Tatsu was designed by the same guy, and has won awards.

I bought Tatsu solely for the aforementioned reasons, and ignored the reviews because I paid less than $5. However, even at that super cheap price, I still wish I hadn't bought the game.

I played vs the lowest CPU difficulty maybe 5 times in a row after reading through the tutorial (it's non-interactive, which is fine, but it's hard to conceptualize what it says about the board when it doesn't show the board during that tutorial, which is pretty dumb). The first time, I didn't really know how to play, and lost almost immediately. I thought that was weird, as any game set to its lowest difficulty should basically be like playing vs a potato, IMO, but maybe my lack of understanding of the game rules really was that bad.

The next four games, though, as I thoroughly learn the rules and some strategies, I start to realize that I'm losing because not only am I not realizing my mistakes as I make them, the CPU is frequently rolling exactly the dice they need in order to fully punish whatever mistakes I make. If I see a juicy target lined up for my fire dragon, and I destroy it, then on their next turn, the CPU will roll the exact combination of dice to spawn their own fire dragon and eat mine. The "1-turn spawn and kill" or "sudden snipe from the other side of the board" move has happened so many times over the course of just those few games that I can't recommend this at all.

They don't even attempt to even the power levels by giving you the option to move with both dice at once. You have to use them one at a time. That means you have to manually count how much spaces, rather than the game simply saying "hey, you can go here, there, or if you wanna use both dice, there or over there."

You have to manually click the "roll" button every turn. There doesn't seem to be a hotkey for rolling the dice. No option to make it automatic.

It's just kind of a mess, and I don't feel the love an indie game should get. It should be a love letter to Tatsu. It plays like it was made by a dude who developed a template for implementing a certain type of board game, then used it to meet the requirements he received from his client. If it was his baby, like indie games tend to be, then maybe the production quality and usability would be a little better.

To be clear, it's not a bad game per se, and I might actually recommend it simply because it has a slick interface and technically lets you play Tatsu on your computer. But if you're trying to play primarily vs CPU, because you aren't coordinating the purchase with a friend to play online with, then forget about it. Look into games made by companies you recognize.

It's a sad commentary on a game's randomizer when I can predict with over 90% accuracy what the A.I. player will roll on any given turn (e.g. 9 out of 10 times it will roll EXACTLY a number it needs, especially when a red dragon has an opportunity to eliminate one of your dragons. It cheats worse than the computer version of Talisman.).

I gave the physical version of this game a pass because of the abysmal packaging. I wish I'd given the computer version a pass and bought Small World 2 instead.

ADDENDUM: Purchased today, requesting a refund tomorrow. It's a Small World after all.

After playing 10 games, I never managed to win one. Even on Easy! The dice roller is hardly random, the AI ALWAYS gets what it needs to take your pieces. I do NOT recommend this game, If I could get my money back, I would. This is not a fun game or even challenging, it's ridiculous how the AI cheats.

Game could be really cool but has one fatal flaw. Creating fire dragon "towers" on both sides can lead to a mexican standoff with both sides waiting for the oponnent to open up, with absolutely zero reason to do it first and no way to flush opponent out of his ambush.

*PLEASE READ TO THE END*

From what i've seen the game is based on a boredgame, which i love and is why i bought it. I've been playing vs. the AI on medium dificulty and have noticed two very annouying things. The first of which is that the AI sometimes jumps spaces full on the inner and outer ring, giving it an extra move. The game is young so glitches or mistakes are bound to happen. The second being the AI seems to get just the right rolls to stay one step ahead of you. In my opinion i think the strategies of the AI should become increasingly difficult, not how lucky it gets. I also noticed the same in turn for the player facing the AI, always one or two numbers short or too many to make any kind of a decent move.

I know some out there arent going to like that fact that i'm downing this game based on this, seeing as it's luck based, but i feel like the AI just gets too perfect of moves too often. Best thing i can say is incorperate a log players can go back to reference too that shows what piece does what per turn. A lot of digitalized boredgames do it so i was actually suprised to not see it here.

Lastly i'm NOT asking for my money back. I'm not saying i wont play. the game has a great concept to it and what i've mentioned above could be adressed in the future. Oh, and the please read to the end is just for people who only like to pick and choose what they read beore commenting and yelling.

Thanks for the game!

If you like backgammon look no further. Very nice concept for a board game.Thinking to buy a physical version as well. The only problem is that the AI is way too easy even on hardest level. High difficulty level should be more about optimal play than hostile rng. But it is a casual game with endless replayability and serious depth. At the moment the players database is small -though you can always find easily an opponent- but this is a quality classic board game that will eventually be recognised. It is relaxing to play and it takes same approach as backgammon: One should play lots of games and with better players than him/her self in order to become better.

I like this game so much after playing a few hours that I bought the physical version. It's a nicely designed game, most similar in concept to Backgammon, but with a few twists. In Tatsu you have three different types of counters each having a different effect if they land on an opponents counter. You travel infinitely around the board attempting to "take" all of your opponents counters of one type. Either that or place your opponent in a position where they have no tiles to move on the board. It's as simple as that.

The interface serves its purpose, but has a very basic feel. There's no flashy dice roll graphics, the sound effects are slightly annoying and the game could do with a serious amount of polishing. BUT, it all works as it should.

It's a fun casual game with a similar balance of luck and strategy to the aforementioned Backgammon. You might need friends that play it if you want to play online as the playerbase seems fairly small. I've tried to find an online match a couple of times without success. The game is cross-platform, so maybe I was searching wrong? There is the option of async but I'm not sure how well this will work compared to live play.

Tatsu is good. Single-player gets a bit dull after a few games but multiplayer is more what it's about

After more than 100 hours playing this game, I owe it a review. Blueline developed this digital version of the game, but it was a board game first. I believe it came out last year (2016), and it's from the mind of John Yanni. He also designed the very very fantastic Hive. Blueline also developed the digital version of that game.

I know Tatsu won't appeal to everyone, but I really dig it. It's my come home from work, turn on some music/podcasts, and relax game. As much as I love Hive and other abstract strategy games, they can be very stress inducing at times. Tatsu certainly rewards strategy and skill, but it's much more chill for me.

The first thing to know about this game is that it's kind of like Backgammon. Rolling the dice and moving the pieces works the same way (except there is a limit of two pieces per space), and the opponents are moving in opposite directions. Tatsu has some very clever twists that make it feel unique and modern, but also like something I'll be playing with my grandchildren years from now. There are two ways to win the game: eliminate all of one of your opponent's color or get all of their pieces out of play. Your pieces or *dragons will continue to go around and around the board; they don't leave play like in Backgammon. There are three color dragons, and they each do something different. The green pieces trap your opponents piece underneath (they can free it by using only the lower of the two values rolled), blue pieces wash your opponent’s pieces out of play, and the red pieces eliminate your opponent’s pieces from the game. To bring a new piece into play, simply end your movement on a green, blue or red space and the matching color piece will enter the ready mat. It can be brought into the game on a 1, 2 or 3. There are a few other itty bitty rules, but that's really all there is to it. You can learn everything you need to know in just a minute or two.

The AI isn't that tough (I've won 68% of my games against the hardest AI), but I enjoy playing against it. It tends to make suboptimal moves now and then, and there's a certain tactic that it doesn't seem to know how to handle. When I've created games to play asynchronously, someone always joins. There have been a few bugs here and there, but the developer has been pretty good about updating the game and responding to feedback from the players. The game looks just like it's physical counterpart although I kind of wish it was 3D like Hive is.

*The theme of the game is about dragons and a Japanese legend. I like the dragon patterns on the pieces and "Tatsu" is a pretty cool name, but it has about as much theme as Backgammon. I'm perfectly OK with that; I just thought it was worth mentioning.

OK so if you like Backgammon, definitely give this a try. If you discovered it because you're a fan of Hive or maybe checking out digital versions of board games, this is a very approachable abstract-strategy game that has some real depth but can be played on a chill level because the luck of the dice kind of takes the edge off compared to something like Hive or Chess. But make no mistake, just like in Backgammon, the more skilled player will win most of the time.

I am not a big fan of boardgames, but this game worths every cents it charges.
Ok, gotta admit it: I am writing this now cuz when I wrote on the forum yesterday about a bug after new patch, and the developer fixed it in no time. Now now, my support ain't that cheap since the game itself is fun.
I am not going into detail about the gameplay. It's simple and easy, yet with lot of depth. One thing you need to know, it's RNG. Many time I set up the perfect formation only to be abbandoned & forsaken by the Dice God.
Currently, the multi-player part is a bleak. If you are reading this, Tatsu wants you.

Tatsu is a great old style game. It has flavor, is easy to learn (5 mins), and has deep strategy.

Players have an even amount of pieces, like a chess match. You move by dice and place your pieces depending on the spaces you land on and the dice you roll. Once on the board, you move in one direction and your opponent the other. The goal is simple, destroy your opponents dragons.

This game is comfortable and relaxing and has a variety of skill levels for single player, but also supports online play with a friend.

I highly recommend this game to those who like strategy / chess / board type games. The game is reasonably priced, the DEVs are quick and CARE about their products. This is the same company who made the PC version of Hive, another FANTASTIC game (check it out on Steam too!).

Very thinkful game it is. It has truely more of Senet and Backgammon than to Chess and Stratego in 66% to 33%, meanwhile it has tendency to strategy of chess playing because of the three different colors in ranks. I have found a new game ot these combinations and the intelligence of computer works fine with me on the level "harder". I give this one into my favorites a long time!

The guys at BlueLine games have done an amazing job with my new game Tatsu (I'm the designer of the board game).
The graphics are wonderful, the animated dragon stones look fantastic and the AI is now quite aggressive on the hardest level, it's beaten me 5 times in the last 12 games I played with it. That is really good, considering I beat it 64 times in a row before it was updated. Really looking forward to seeing the community grow with this game, as it has with my other game Hive.
The physical board game is going to launch in the USA in about a week, so I'm really pleased to see that BlueLine games have managed to release the Steam version in time for that. A lot of hours, hard work and love has gone into this version, you can really see that when you play the game.

Well done guys.

John Yianni

The stuff that needs to be covered:
The controls are good (obviously), it's point and click.
The visuals are pretty, easy on the eyes. I like the theme. The "roll" box looks a tad out of place as just a green box, perhaps a little bit of style on that and the dice, but not a complaint just a suggestion.
The music is good, decent variety.

The game itself:
I'd never heard of this boardgame but it looked pretty fun, so I got this. The "how to play" tells you what you need to know; how to move, what does what, how to win (or lose :P), and it all became clear after a game or two.
Pass and play works fine, haven't tried online multiplayer but I suspect there's a small community at the moment (whatever could tell you that, oh single english review?)
The AI is, from what I can tell, good. I played against the easy AI and lost twice then started beating it and noticing where it could've done better moves and moved on up the chain. You pick this game up pretty quick. I like the probabilistic element, some may not; the dice can screw you or give you the win, you have to play risk management but that's any dice game.
I still, however, despite the dice felt ultimately skill is in control of how the game plays out. A few times I completely missed a really good move. As they say, easy to learn, hard to master.
It doesn't take too long to play a game, certainly well under half an hour.

If you're a fan of different sorts of boardgames, I'd go ahead and give this a shot. It's a tad like backgammon, but it's got a better theme and has more elements to the gameplay, not as dice-dependent. The dragon theme is nice although I personally would make the dice and some of the other elements fit said theme a tad (the board itself and pieces all have an excellent easy on the eyes look though), the visuals feel ever so mildly miicrosoft ships-with-windows-y, but it is early access after all and I would rather they improve the AI (not that it needs it from what I can tell, but the AI can *always* be improved) or something than a silly little thing like that.
Oh one suggestion would be to add a way to undo what you did with your first dice or undo your move or something, I frequently made a rash decision with my first dice and then saw a much better move. I could, alternatively, just learn to take my time so perhaps I shouldn't have that button :P

So yeah, go ahead and try it out. If the only (ever so mild) complaint I have is a knitpicky one about some visuals, that's a good thing. A fun boardgame to add to my list to pass and play with friends for something different or relax with for an hour or so.