- Publisher: Piatnik
- Designers: Carsten Rohlfs, Ralf zur Linde
- Artist : Christine Alcouffe
- Players : 2–4
- Playing time : 30 - 45 Min
- Difficulty (BGG)
What's this?
Pura Vida isn’t just a famous Costa Rican expression symbolizing joy and harmony with nature—it’s also the name of a board game where you play as a ranger tasked with preserving biodiversity
How do you play?
In Pura Vida, each player embodies a forest ranger moving along a trail to collect tiles representing animals and biotopes. On your turn, you choose between two actions:
1. Move
Advance your ranger along the path and take the tile at your stopping point. Then, place it in your personal nature park—a grid where you aim to align tiles according to specific biodiversity criteria. This is where the puzzle begins.
2. Rest
Move your ranger to the rest area. You cannot make further moves this turn. This action allows for better planning of future options but slows your progress toward victory.
Scoring: Biodiversity Rewarded
Each time you place a tile, check if you achieve one of the following objectives in a row or column:
-
Same biotopes, different animals:
3/4/5 tiles → 2/2/3 points -
Same animals, different biotopes:
3/4/5 tiles → 2/2/3 points -
All animals and biotopes different:
3/4/5 tiles → 1/1/2 points
The first player to reach 20 points ends the game and wins if still leading.
Is it good?
A fun family tile-laying game. The rules can be explained in a few seconds: Pura Vida is easy to pick up, but features an interesting mechanic where animals can only be placed in your national park in the direction indicated by the arrows on the tiles. This creates subtle dilemmas that add real originality to the game.
Several ways to score points are available, whether through the colors of the biotopes or the types of animals, which will require you to carefully consider each placement. A mechanic reminiscent of the excellent Qwirkle.
So, is this enough to revolutionize the already well-represented tile-laying genre? No. But Pura Vida remains a fun, fluid game, and if you’re a fan of the genre, you might want to give it a try.
If you enjoy the content and want to support the site, purchase your games through our affiliate links. The price remains the same for you, but we earn a small commission. Thank you for your support
Review Pura Vida
Positives
- Simple and quick to explain rules
- Easy to learn, suitable for families
- Original directional placement mechanics, source of interesting dilemmas
- Reminiscent of classics like Qwirkle, which may appeal to fans of the genre
Negatives
- Unappealing aesthetics
- Limited replayability
- No real innovation in the genre
