I love it when games aimed at 4+ enchant big gamers. And we are certainly fans of this little box of technicolour tentacles despite two of us needing a zero adding to that age range! In Tentacolor, we are each trying to photograph a mysterious creature hiding in the ocean depths. The only clue as to its identity is its amazing and colourful tentacles. The game involves drafting cards and matching patterns. Create a tentacle that has 5 cards showing one consecutive colour, you win the game!

Playtime

The main board comprises the body of the creature divided into four large cards. The large card sides you use depends on the number of players (indicated by a little fish symbol), and the body will show one incomplete tentacle per player. 60 small tentacle cards are shuffled to form a deck and you take 1 into your starting hand. There are also 4 tentacle end cards that will finish off your tentacle at the end of the game (and can be used in expert mode – see below for more details!).

Each turn, you pick up a card, place a card on your tentacle, and then give one of your cards to another player. The cards show two colours, and the idea is to match one colour to the previously laid card to build up to a collection of 5.

If you lay a card that shows a shark, one opponent of your choice must remove the card they last laid on their tentacle. If you lay a card showing a school of fish, another player has to discard a card from their hand and draw another from the deck. If you lay a card showing a rare fish, you can immediately place a second card of your choice onto your tentacle.

But, if you break the pattern you have been creating, you have to start building up a new set along the tentacular path!

Terrific Tentacolor

This game is a great choice for little gamers. Aside from the excellent pattern matching mechanism, having to give one of your cards to your opponent is a good exercise in consequence led decision making. You can see what colours they are collecting, and so if the only colours you have in your hand match theirs, you know you’ll be helping them towards victory. But if you have something that doesn’t match that you can hand over, you might just make them start over! Of course you don’t know what is in their hand, or what they might pick up, but trying to block them is sneaky fun!

The addition of sharks, rare species, and schools of fish also introduce a strategic element that will give little (and bigger) gamers pause for thought. For example, laying a shark could disrupt their own pattern, but it would also remove an opponent’s last played card. And that could be very useful indeed! There’s also an expert variant that restricts you to collecting what’s on one of the end tentacle cards which will keep this game challenging. Luck does play a part of course as this is a drafting game. But in a game so light and colourful, the gamble of the draft is all part of the fun.

Final Thoughts

Like all the LOKI Kids games we have played so far in our house, Tentacolor is one that I really enjoy playing as a family. No denying it, the colours are soft and gorgeous. But they also contain specific patterns which makes the game accessible for gamers who do not rely on colour vision to play. This is a high quality, easy to learn, fun to play little game and is a really excellent part of their new small box range!

If you’re looking for a fun, colourful, budget friendly card game for young gamers then I would definitely recommend Tentacolor And if you like this one, Loki Kids have another two new games in their small box range to check out; Happy Families and Farm & Furious!

This blog was written by Favourtiefoe

Editors note: This post was originally published on 21st April 2023. Updated on 6th June 2024 to improve the information available.