Lacuna Review – The Beautiful Art of Going With the Flow

Disclaimer: Lacuna was provided for free by CMYK, although the writing and opinions of this article are my own.

Few board games come with their own ruler, and when they do, I get worried. Not only does it give me wild PTSD-style flashbacks of learning trigonometry. It also speaks to an implied strictness. Things must be so precise, you have to measure them. So imagine my surprise when I find Lacuna to be anything but.

Lacuna is a meditative game of collecting flowers and comes with a play mat resembling a pond. You start by scattering and spreading out seven different types of flowers upon this fake body of water.

Then, taking turns with your partner, you place one of your six pawns in between two flowers of the same type. As long as you can draw an uninterrupted imaginary line between them, you can pick these flowers up and leave your pawn behind for the rest of the game.

After the last pawn is placed, the rest of the flowers go to the player whose pawn is the closest to them. While it’s usually obvious where most of the flowers go. There are those that need discussion and agreement to be resolved, and if that’s not enough… There’s always the ruler.

There aren’t a lot of rules in Lacuna, and the ones there have a lot of wiggle room. As someone who has dedicated much of their life to cold calculating logic, you’d think I’d hate this lack of specificity. But no, this lack of rigidity opens up a friendly dialogue between the players. Where you’re often asking if a move is OK, or questioning who gets what flowers.

This conversation almost feels collaborative, which is weird because you’re competing. But, as you’ll see, it all fits within the vibe Lacuna creates.

Charming yet challenging

My District Noir review is still fresh in my mind and with it being another competitive two-player game, it’s hard not to compare. Specifically when it was so good at allowing you to get inside your opponent’s head. You needed to figure out what they’re thinking and then do your best to put them in a bad position.

Lacuna is the opposite of that.

It has no mind games at all.

For a two-player game where you’re both manipulating a shared resource, that seems unbelievable. Yet it works because there are so many possible moves within Lacuna that it’s nearly impossible to figure out what your opponent is going to do. So instead of trying to find out, you focus on collecting flowers.

Specifically four flowers of four types. Meaning the challenge is in collecting the right flowers, but also making sure you’re positioned well for the end of the game. When the majority of flowers are collected.

It’s not a complex puzzle, and Lacuna isn’t a game that you can spend play after play learning something new. However, it is enormously satisfying. There’s enough of a challenge to get you thinking.

Then, whether someone picks up some flowers previously blocking a path, or places a pawn down so that it now obstructs an intersection, the landscape changes. So each turn, you need to rethink your solution.

Furthermore, it just feels good. Collecting flowers is a tactile and rewarding experience. Yet it’s the feeling that every time you take a turn, your position on the board has improved that gives you the warm fuzzies.

Passing the vibe check

Calling Lacuna meditative is more than just lip service. Everything in this game from its simple ruleset to its beautiful box and production is a concentrated effort to put you into a zen state.

Now, it won’t shortcut thirty years of studying amongst Shaolin monks. But it will give you the same soothing experience you get from knitting, painting, or tumbling rocks (shout out to Liz).

For me, Lacuna was extremely nostalgic. It reminded me of afternoons lost playing Mahjong with my wife, and her family. Where you half play the game, and half just talk about anything and everything. Meanwhile, the day disappears, and the game carries on in the background.

As wonderful as Lacuna is it feels well out of place within CMYK’s catalogue of mostly boisterous, party games. Then again, its calm, reflective nature is well out of place when compared to most board games. However, it’s this aspect that made Lacuna stand out, and why I can’t wait to get lost within it again.