Micro Dojo Review

When it comes to games, one thing I often forget to consider is the size of the footprint. Some games look wickedly awesome, and then when I get it, it baaaaarely fits on my table. Not a knock on those games at all, it’s just something I never really think about until it’s too late. But while perusing Kickstarter a couple months ago, I saw a game that boasted one of the smallest footprints I think I’ve ever seen. I decided to back it, and it fulfilled really quickly. So now that I’ve had a chance to play it, how does it fare? Does size matter when it comes to board games? Keep reading to find out!

Micro Dojo is a competitive game for 2 players in which you are trying to amass the most Victory Points. Each player takes on the role of a Daimyo (feudal lord) vying to win the favor of the Shogun (area ruler). To setup, place the board between both players, and place the Food and Gold tokens beneath the board. Each player chooses a color (Blue or Green) and takes the Daimyo and Score Markers in their color. Place the 4 Meeple tiles randomly in the 4 corner spaces of the board. Randomly select 5 Objective tokens (placed above the board) and 6 Building tiles (placed on both sides of the board). Choose a starting player, and give the Influence marker to the opposite player. The setup should like like the picture below. You are now ready to begin!

In an alternating fashion, both players will take turns moving a Meeple and resolving the space. The first thing you do on your turn is to move a Meeple. Choose one of the available Meeples (without a Daimyo marker) and move it to an empty adjacent space. After the movement, place your Daimyo marker on that Meeple, thus making it unavailable for your opponent’s next turn. Then you resolve the space onto which you just moved the Meeple. The spaces of the board have 3 possible outcomes: collect Food and/or Gold, Build a building, or use an Action. To collect Food/Gold, simply collect a token of the appropriate resource. To Build a building, you take the chosen Building tile by paying the resource cost listed on the bottom (as the game progresses, you may also use the Build action to remove one of your buildings from the game to gain 1 VP). The final choice, Action, allows you to trigger an Objective for scoring, or activate a Building that you own. To score an Objective, look at the requirements listed, and whomever ‘wins’ the Objective receives the requisite number of VP. Keep an eye on your opponent – you don’t want to score an Objective that you won’t win! To activate a Building, use the ability listed on that Building tile. These abilities could be collecting/trading resources, earning VP, or granting additional movement.

The game continues in this fashion, alternating turns, until one of the end-game requirements has been met – all 5 Objectives have been scored, or a player has earned 7 VP. If all 5 Objectives have been scored, the player with the most VP is declared the winner. And if a player has earned 7 VP, they automatically win the game!

For such a small game, I have to say that Micro Dojo surprised me with the amount of strategy it requires. The gameplay itself is simple – move a Meeple and resolve the space. But strategy and timing is everything here. The board only has 9 spaces and Meeples can only move 1 adjacent space, so movement is pretty limited. You really need to think ahead and set yourself up in advance for specific moves you want. And that all hinges on your opponent too – they could move the Meeple you want, or take the space you were vying for, thus blocking it from you for at least a couple more turns. The mechanic of placing your Daimyo on the Meeple you just moved, making it unavailable for the next turn, really helps elevate the strategy too. There is one free pass, if you will – once per game, the player with the Influence token may discard it to remove a Daimyo from a Meeple. That gives that player the chance to use an otherwise unavailable Meeple! But remember, it can only be used once per game, so use it wisely.

The unique Building abilities and Objective requirements also add to the intensity of the gameplay. If you’re winning an Objective, you want to trigger it as soon as possible, without giving your opponent a chance to catch up. And the VP earned for Objectives scales as more Objectives are scored, so it can really pay off to focus on the later Objectives and maybe give up the first couple to your opponent. The same can be said for Building abilities – some are costly but prove to be powerful once activated, and many Objectives take player’s Buildings into account to be resolved. Micro Dojo just hits the sweet spot of simple gameplay, but complex strategy. That being said, the game I have described thus far is only the Basic version of the game. Once you are comfortable with this gameplay, you can try the Advanced game. The differences? For starters, the 4 different Meeples now have special movement abilities. For example, when moving the Samurai, you can pay 1 Food and 1 Gold to move it diagnonally. These new movement options add another layer to the strategy already required to play. The game also comes with a set of Advanced Objectives that focus on more specific requirements than the general Objectives in the Basic game.

Let me talk about components for a minute. Obviously, this is a pretty small game, and that has its pros and cons. Pros – small footprint, not a ton of components, can be taken/played almost anywhere. Cons – the components themselves are preeeetty small (duh) so sometimes manipulating the board can be tedious. (See the picture at the bottom for reference) If anything, this just gives you a chance to work on keeping a steady hand I guess! But as far as production quality, this game is pretty decent. All the little cardboard chits are sturdy and thick, and the artwork really pops off them. One thing to note, this game did not come in a box, but rather a small plastic bag – cutting down on production costs. Not my favorite storage method for games, but since it is SO small, it’s not a detriment overall. For being such a quick Kickstarter turnaround, I think the production quality is good.

So all in all, I would have to say that I love Micro Dojo, and am so happy that I stumbled across it on Kickstarter. The physical gameplay is simple and straightforward, but it brings so many layers of strategy that it keeps both players on their toes the entire game. There are many routes to success and timing plays a big factor in the gameplay, aside from strategy. If you’re looking for a nice little 2-player game that packs a punch, I would highly recommend Micro Dojo. Don’t let the size fool you – it’s quite a strategic contender. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one an honorable 5 / 6.