Stats:
No. of players: 2-4
Amount of time to play: 60 min
Age requirements: 13+
Set-up time: 5 minutes

Tahiti is a pick-up and deliver game with some tile-laying and a dash of press your luck. You must gather resources and bring them to your home island.

Tahiti Rules Description:

In Tahiti you must pick up goods and bring them to the central home island. When the game ends you score for having the most goods. You get bonus points for your two secret favored goods and for completing sets of the five different goods.

The game is divided into two stages. During the first part of the game you add tiles to the board. Once all the tiles have been placed you enter the second stage of the game. At the end of each turn during the second stage you add a depletion token to a tile. Tiles marked with a depletion token no longer produce goods. Some of the depletion tokens make it easier to fish on that tile. Once there are only four island tiles without depletion tokens the game ends.

On your turn you add a tile (if there are any) next to the Haumea pawn and two previously placed tiles. This pawn must be moved to the edge of the board and if already on the edge may be moved one hex. After you place a tile, you draw three cubes from the bag (only two if you are in the second stage of the game) and place them on matching empty spots on the tiles.

Next you take actions. The number of actions you take depends on how full you boat is. If you have more good, you get fewer actions. The four actions you may take are move one space, take one good, deliver all your goods (if at the home island) or go fishing.

When you move you must be aware of the reefs you’ll crossover. For each rift you move over you must draw a cube. If a drawn cube matches a good you have in your boat, you lose that good. Goods that you load must all be the same or may not repeat. You may not discard goods from your boat. The fishing action lets you draw two cubes from the bag. If either are fish you may keep one.

Once all tiles have been laid you remove the Haumea pawn and start adding depletion tokens. Again once there are only four island tiles without depletion tokens the game ends.

Quick Review of Tahiti:

Tahiti is a light pick up and deliver game that is great introduction to the genre. And while it is not that deep it is fun, moves quickly and is simple to teach and learn.

The components for the game are very good. The artwork helps convey the fun theme and the bits are all of good quality. The rulebook is well-written and has plenty of examples. I do wish the box fit everything better though.

I really like the way loading your boat up and the number of actions you have interact. It is such a cool way to show a loaded boat that gets slowed down in the process.

Although losing goods can be annoying, crossing reefs adds a nice little press your luck aspect to the game. This is especially true if you have collected a variety of goods.

Tahiti is worth picking up if you play games with non-gamers or want to give your friends a fun way to learn the basics of pick-up and deliver games. It is also very enjoyable for families. If you have read the description and think Tahiti sound fun, You should try it out or pick it up.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 3 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 3 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6