The worst part of playing a modern board game is “the teach” — that interminable period of time when you first sit down to share something unusual with a new group of people. Very rarely comes a game that literally has no “teach” moment, where you can just sit down and run through the opening few rounds and things just sorta make sense. Lacuna, the latest offering from CMYK, is just that sort of magical offering: a chill game, built for good vibes, that requires almost no explanation.
Fans of CMYK will know the studio’s hit games: Monikers, a lively take on charades, and Wavelength, a novel pop culture-infused contraption with a big plastic spinner. Both of those popular party games have basically no limit on the number of players they can accommodate. Lacuna is a much more intimate experience built for just two players.
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Also, it doesn’t really look like a board game at all.
Lacuna comes in a colorful cardboard tube. Pop the top, and just below it you’ll find a plastic panel that looks like a shaker from a large plastic jar of paprika or garlic powder. Below that panel are all the bits: 49 colorful wooden flowers, 12 metal player pawns, and a heavyweight cloth playing mat. Unboxing it is a visual and a tactile delight, but pregame setup is where the real fun begins.
You take the 49 flowers and
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