Tacoloco, a delightful addition to Helvetiq's small box range, challenges players to stuff tacos and pass them off to others in a frantic race. Is this game a culinary masterpiece or a recipe for disaster? Read on to discover our thoughts and opinions.
I am always on the hunt for small box games to either take on days out or to play when meeting up with friends out and about and the games from Helvetiq are always on my watch list. It was while browsing their website when I noticed this new game and thought this sounded fun and would be great to try.
First Impressions
Upon receiving the game, I was immediately struck by the fun and impactful cover design, with its bright colors against a dark background catching my eye. The name on the front is easy to read which I really liked. The back of the box provides a clear breakdown of what to expect from the game, featuring the components included. This makes it one of the best in Helvetiq's small box range. It also shows the age, player count and play time clearly both on the back and side of the box. Which is a plus for me when working out if I have time to fit in a game. Inside the box there is the cards for the game and the instructions both of which are well produced. The art on the cards is very fun and the cartoon ingredients have so much character I thought made them really engaging.
Game Play Overview
In Tacoloco, your goal is to end the game with the fewest cards by stuffing your opponents full of tacos. To set up the game, shuffle the deck and deal a hand of three cards to each player. Place the deck in the center and flip the top card face up. The last player to have eaten a taco goes first.
Players take turns in a clockwise order, choosing a card to play and then drawing a new card. When playing a card it is added to the face up pool of cards in the centre called the Taco and the active player calls out the total sum of the cards in the Taco. If the sum is less than eleven the Taco is not ready yet and play continues to the next player, if the sum is equal to eleven the perfect taco has been made and is served to a player of the active players choice though if the sum exceeds eleven the Taco has split and all card go into the active players stash.
There are two special cards in the game that help shake up the game as you play, The Legendary Taco and the Lonesome Taco. The Legendary Taco is played like any other card and when it's played it makes the sum of the Taco equal to eleven automatically. Though if you play this card you must watch out for the Lonesome Taco. The Lonesome Taco is an interesting card that can be used in two different ways, firstly it can be used in response to a Legendary Taco card negating its effects and then the player who played it draws back up to three cards or it can be played on any Taco resetting the total sum to zero allowing the Taco to become dangerously large.
The game comes to an end once all cards have been played both from the deck and the players hands. The players then count up their cards and the player with the fewest cards is the winner.
Pros and Cons
This fast-paced game is easy to teach and quick to play, making it perfect for on-the-go fun. The game is very satisfying to play resulting in feeling fulfilled even if you lost as the game is still anyone's right up until the final round. The only potential downside is the unique card size, which makes it hard to find sleeves. However, this just means ensuring the table surface is dry before playing. On the positive side, I enjoyed using the cards because they are easy to read and feature fun, characterful ingredients that made me smile with each draw.
Final Verdict
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this game. It's fun gameplay and low barrier to entry make it a family favorite that we will play time and time again. This game makes a perfect addition to those travel games or pocket games in a collection as well as a starter game for an evening of gaming, due to its lightweight nature. If you are someone who does like to travel with a game in you bag or pocket I would highly recommend checking this one out.
In conclusion, we rate this game a 9.6/10
You can find out more about Tacoloco and see how it plays below:
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