If you like the collectible card game style, great anime art, and easy to learn tile placement games, then keep reading (or don’t, and leave disappointed… up to you…). Zu Tiles: Hime is a combination of CCG and tile placing, with a strategic nature, a great look, and a promise of more to come! Let’s check it out!

What Is It?

A strategic tile-laying game for two players where players are able to build their tile decks (CCG style) and use their Zodiac creatures, actions/reactions, and more to outwit their opponent! It’s quick and cute, so could be a good beginner game in this realm, but it’s also “thinky” and tense at times, making it great for experienced gamers as well. The starter set provides players with 2 completely constructed decks, but with more sets coming, players will soon be able to customize their decks to their own play style.

Who Is It For?

  • Wide range of gamers (non-experienced to experienced)
  • Ages 10 and older
  • CCG fans who want to try something similar but unique
  • Fans of strategic games
  • Fans of tile laying
  • 2 player fanatics
  • Those who are okay with/fond of anime art (this art is not risque like others sometimes are though)

Components / Quality

The tiles are really nice quality, very thick, and have adorable, colorful art. The compatibility symbols on tiles are clear and easy to see and most text is easy to read, but some can be a bit small on the action and reaction tiles. The rules are well written, pretty easy to learn from overall. They’re black and white, which was surprising, since everything else is very colorful, and it just made some of the examples a little harder to look at while learning. Finally, the box (this is for Starter Set 1 specifically) is a perfect fit, no wiggle room, so you’ll need another storage solution if you want to sleeve the tiles or buy more tiles in the future. Speaking of sleeves, I was also provided with some Zu Tiles sleeves, which are really nice quality and a perfect fit for the tiles.

PROS

  • Nice art and overall quality
  • Variable strategies
  • Starter set is 2 decks, ready to go, little set up needed!
  • Plays smoothly

CONS

  • Feels like it’s missing something. Since it’s just a starter set, there’s not a lot of replayability with just this, and it feels like it’s missing that CCG element that it should have. I think once there is more available for the game beyond starter sets it will fill that void quickly.
  • The Neigh Tile was weird to me. If you picked your opponent, you give them a free point, or say they didn’t do well and you played the action for nothing. If you pick yourself, you get a free point without trying… it just felt like a pointless tile.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I love the art and I think the gameplay is really smooth and easy to get into. I think it’s really interesting how the battle and action stacks are played and resolved, and how neighboring tiles interact in both battles and scoring squares. The starter set is good if you’re looking for a simple yet strategic 2 player game, but I’m definitely interested in seeing what more comes out for this so that I can see how the full CCG experience works with it, because it shows a lot of promise in their realm.

My Final Ratings (based on Starter Set 1) :
Overall Game – 6/10
Replay Value – 5/10
Difficulty – 3/10
Aesthetics – 7/10

Addtional Information:
Designer – Joshua Bakken
Artist – 53C
Publisher – ZU Studios
MSRP – $29.95 (Sleeves $6.95)
BGG
BGA

*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*

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