Business management TTRPGs are always fascinating, as while the general concept is always similar, different games approach the idea from vastly different directions, focusing on distinct parts of the small business experience. However, while many games focus on the nature of selling and the people who visit the store, few games focus on the lives of those who manage the store, opting to have the shop owner be nothing more than an author surrogate. Thankfully, Tāṅka’s Noodle Co. bucks this trend by taking players inside a family-run restaurant and looking at how the place’s history has left a lasting mark on the entire family.
Tāṅka’s Noodle Co. is a GM-less Co-op game that follows a family of bears who run a noodle shop. However, despite the shop being in the family for generations, it has fallen on tough times. Because of this, the entire family has gathered together to try and make enough noodles to cover an upcoming dinner rush, a rush that will decide the restaurant’s future fate.
Moves And Management To Make The Dream Work
At its core, Tāṅka’s Noodle Co. is a clock management game. During the game, players attempt to make as many noodles as possible before the noodle shop opens for dinner.
Before the game starts, each player makes their character by choosing a Bear and a Family Member playbook before drawing five cards from the deck. Then, starting with the oldest player, each player gets a turn in the spotlight.
At the start of their turn in the spotlight, the player secretly draws a card and adds it to their hand. After this, the player may use one move. Every bear can use three generic moves: Gossip, Focus, and Help. Gossip is the most interesting of these moves, as it has three sub-types depending on whether your bears gossip about another bear at the table, a family member, or their ancestors, each with unique results. For example, gossiping about ancestors lets the player double their noodle output for the turn. However, gossiping about another bear at the table gives that player extra cards.
The other two moves feature a good amount of risk and reward, as each has a downside. For instance, Focus allows you to get more cards but prevents you from taking part in other bears’ moves until the end of the round, while Help lets you give your cards to other bears, with the caveat that you will have a smaller hand to work with in the future. Even more interestingly, these moves also make the player answer a question about their bear, meaning that the characters get more fleshed out whenever these moves are used.
Additionally, each of the Bear playbooks features a unique move. For example, the Earth Bear gets the move “For A Rainy Day,” which allows them to explore a connection with another bear at the table before both players draw an extra card.
A player can make noodles at any time during their turn. To do so, they discard three cards of the same suit from their hand. However, players make extra noodles if their discarded cards fit specific criteria, such as consisting of three consecutive cards or including an Ace.
Once the player has done all this, the spotlight passes to the next player. When every player has had time in the spotlight, the clock increases by one. Once the clock has been completed, players count how many noodles have been created and see if they’ve succeeded in keeping the noodle shop open for future generations.
Storytelling With A Harder Edge
One of Tāṅka’s Noodle Co.’s best elements is how it balances storytelling and strategy. Most moves allow players to gain extra cards or move cards between players. However, as players don’t reveal the cards they’ve drawn, everyone at the table must keep track of the cards they’ve seen and think carefully about what they have in their hands if they hope to use their abilities effectively, giving the game a feeling of depth that is often lacking from storytelling games while also encouraging players to use every move at their disposal.
This is enhanced by the game’s decision to have a (surprisingly easy to hit) failure state. Not only does it fit the story the game is trying to tell, but it further encourages players to think about their moves carefully, increasing the drama and immersion of every turn as players are always aware that one move could be the difference between success and closure.
The game’s storytelling prompts are also excellent. Not only is the central concept fun and memorable, but the questions included with each playbook do a fantastic job of getting players into a thematically appropriate headspace while giving them enough freedom to shape their character in a way that resonates with them. This means no two games will play out the same way, even if the players use the same playbooks several times.
Tāṅka’s Noodle Co is a wonderful experience that must be played to be believed. The game does a stunning job of drawing players into the setting and immersing them in their characters. Due to this, every session of Tāṅka’s Noodle Co is emotional, capturing the highly relatable feeling of trying to make your dreams a reality despite a looming deadline that feels impossible to overcome. It also acts as a fantastic jumping-off point for discussions about the role family and food play in our lives and memories, making it an excellent game for general TTRPG fans and facilitators who want a fun way to draw players into the topic.
