Get ready for some real-time slide puzzle fun in Pakal!
How Do You Play?
Pakal is a super simple game to learn! If you are move of a visual learner, check out our Instagram Reel explaining how to play in 30 seconds!
Pakal is a slide puzzle racing game. Rather than trying to complete a slide puzzle, players will race to reveal specific symbols underneath their slide puzzle tiles. The symbols they need to reveal are determined by a tile card. A timer is started using the free app, giving players a countdown for when they must have their puzzle completed.
When a player has revealed those symbols and covered every other symbol on their puzzle, they take one of the symbol tokens. You may only take a token from the center that is not also one of the symbols you raced to reveal.
Once all players have finished or the timer has gone off, players who took a center token move their player marker forward to the symbol on the token they took. Players who did not finish do not move.
If a player crossed a tiki torch, they remove one color square from their puzzle and replace it with a clear square, making their puzzle harder to complete next time. Any players who did not finish their puzzle take a clear square out and replace it with a color square, making their puzzle easier.
Play until at least one player has crossed the finish line. The player who traveled the furthest after crossing the finish line is the winner.
What Do We Think?
Pakal is a unique spin on a classic slide puzzle that can really get your adrenaline pumping.
What at first seems like a pretty easy game is soon revealed to be a little trickier than initially anticipated. I love the challenge that comes from trying to hold so many different symbols in my head. Not only am I trying to quickly reveal the three symbols I need to advance that round, but I’m also trying to remember which symbols are available from the center tokens. Once I reveal the three symbols on my board, I have to remember that I can’t select one of those from the center. Then, while I’m trying to reveal my symbols, I’m also trying to see which symbol that I can select is the furthest along the track so I move as far as I can towards the finish line.
It’s a lot to juggle and it contributes to that fun rush of adrenaline as you inevitably make mistakes you normally wouldn’t because you’re crunched by time. Add in the intense music from the app and you can really get jittery. (So jittery in fact that we turn this sound off for our kids who can’t handle the stress! Haha)
There is a little bit of luck in the game that is unavoidable. Sometimes the symbols you need to reveal are already visible in part on your player board. When this happens, the lucky player doesn’t have to go searching as frantically for them and will be able to complete the task quicker.
Also, the symbols on the path are all laid out in a completely random way and sometimes you just get darn unlucky about what tokens are available to you to take upon completing your puzzle and how far along the path you can go. Sometimes you can finish first and barely move at all just because of bad symbol placement on the path.
That’s just how it goes sometimes.
Fun for Kids
Our three oldest have all really enjoyed playing Pakal. At 5, 6, and 9 they are all able to play the game independently and each fair pretty well.
Because of how there are so many things you need to keep straight in your head, the younger two can struggle and become more easily flustered than our daughter. However, that doesn’t mean they’re out of it, they just have a little more of a hill to climb due to age. I think that 7-8 age range is the sweet spot for playing Pakal competitively with the family.
Now that being said, I love this game because the kids can play it on their own and there are a lot of ways to easily adjust the difficulty of the game so that younger players can hang in their easier. Whether it’s not making the younger players take out squares to make their puzzle harder, eliminating the token rule about not grabbing one of the three you revealed, or giving a simple head start, I love that Pakal is easy to adjust so everyone can have a fun time.
This is also a great choice for any parent looking for a game their kids can play on their own! There are very few rules to regulate in this game and everyone is concerned with their own puzzle so there’s little to squabble over. An excellent choice for when the kids want to play a game but you can’t join in.
One Modification
There is one modification we made to the game that we think suits the end of the game a bit better.
In the standard rules, the winner is determined by whichever player first crossed the finish line. In the case that multiple players crossed, then the player furthest along the track is the winner.
However, we have found that that sometimes isn’t fair because of the randomness in the symbol placement along the track. Often in that final round the player who finished first, had been left in a pickle — if they took the token that was furthest along the track for them, they would lose because there was another token that would allow a rival to win. However, if they took that token themselves in an offensive move, they wouldn’t be able to cross the finish line and the rival would still win.
What we have done instead is created a “sudden death” match. If multiple players cross the finish line in the same round, they then go head to head. We place one single token in the center and get one last symbol tile. The player who is the first to reveal the three symbols and take the center token is the winner.
This is pure personal preference most likely stemming from our overly competitive natures, but we have enjoyed this slight modification to help combat the slight luck element in the game.
Summary
Pakal is a fun and clever take on the classic slide puzzle. I love the simple real-time element and appreciate the integration of having an app timer so players can focus on their puzzles rather than a sand timer.
While Pakal is a nice light game the whole family can enjoy, as a parent I especially love that my kids can play this confidently on their own without my supervision. It’s a win win!
To pick up a copy of Pakal for your home click here.
Find this and all our favorite games on our Amazon Storefront.
A special thank you to our friends at Asmodee for sending us a copy of Pakal for review. As always our thoughts and opinions are our own.
Game Info:
Title: Pakal
2-4 Players Ages 8+
Designer: Luca Bellini, Luca Borsa
Publisher: Cranio Creations
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