Anime-style deck-builder

Fitting today’s topic of deckbuilding, I’d like to introduce ❄️ Tanto Cuore: Winter Romance ❄️ to you which is a pure deck-builder game in anime-style. I’ve watched a lot of anime back in my teenage years and I still watch them now and then… 🙂

The theme is definitely a cheeky one - which might be either a hit or miss for you: You play as the Lord of a mansion and try to fill up your house with maids (and butlers in this version of Tanto Cuore) and try to make couples with the help of meetup spots and get the most points by the game’s end.

The gameplay is akin to Dominion. 👆 You set up a fixed market of cards with 10 general maid/butler decks, plus you have some miscellaneous cards that are always used. During the game you can buy new cards, adding them to your discard pile. Cards have different effects, which you have to use cleverly to make a somewhat synergistic engine. The game ends when 2 types of maid/butler decks are empty.

You start your turn with 5 cards. In the first phase (Serving) you can play only one maid card for its effect. Later on, card effects can add you additional serving points to play more cards. Then in the second phase (Employment) you buy new maids, building or love cards from the market (love being the currency of the game). Then all remaining cards are discarded and you draw a new hand. Some effects will put cards into your private quarters or make couples, but there is no other way of thinning your deck so you have to keep a healthy balance in your deck.

💬 There is some negative player interaction in the game, which we felt was a bit unfair at times (up to luck, if you succeed or not - since you can’t save cards for later rounds). If you buy a Meetup spot, you can approach your opponents and try to steal one of their maid or butler cards, creating a couple with a card of yours. Players can also play Trial cards in an attempt to break up couples, stealing a card back.

🥰We really liked the anime style drawings, but having multiple instances of the same maid or butler felt hard to explain thematically.
Otherwise it is a fun experience if you like playing deck-builders!🔥