Only 978 copies of the Luxury Edition of Tsuro were pre-ordered three years ago. I was one of them. Why not more? Well… very likely the cost! Total cost of the game plus tax and shipping (for me) was almost $450! [note: 1,500 were produced] 
See this cool article with lots of photos about how the game was produced in China
=> Kickstarter Update Article

=> Kickstarter // Calliope Games Announcement
=> Art Director Article
=> Spotlight on the metal dragon pawns
=> Quick Guide (official)
=> Len’s v2 Rules Summary Tsuro Luxury (Standard)
=> Lens v4 Phases Cards (Important – I use them in every game) v4
=> Variants (placed at the bottom of this page)

Now, 3 years later, Calliope Games was investigating how to ship these heirloom quality games to avoid having them damaged. And the damage they were trying to avoid was more than simply damage to the box that the game was packed in for shipping. It seems that the wood itself is quite sensitive to temperature changes. So Calliope wanted to TEST shipping methods to find the best way. After all, they were charging $78 as shipping costs for one game. They are doing test shipments to 11 people in April 2025. I am one of them!

As part of the test shipment group, I was give specific instructions on what to do when I received the game (and signature was required on delivery too). Instructions included NOT opening the box for FIVE DAYS! True! Here are that portion of the instructions:

Your game box is carved from natural wood and has been inspected for damages and flaws before shipping. The game box has been shrink wrapped to allow for a slow acclimation to your environment. Once you receive your game, please bring it into your home and allow it to sit for 5 days before opening the box and removing the shrink wrap. We do understand this is very hard, since you have waited so long to get this beautiful game in your hands. Failing to take this essential step will put your wooden box at risk of splitting.

Wood splitting as an issue for a board game got my attention. I looked online about this, and perhaps this webpage shines a light on it (even thought it is not about a wooden board game box):
=> exoticwoodzone.com/blogs/e/how-to-avoid-wood-cracking

Actually, I almost missed their instruction to NOT open the box for five days (I’ve never had that request from any other game company). But, fortunately, I DID notice their warning and the box sat under a table in our family room for seven days before I opened it.

Part 1 (taking it out of the shipping box):

Part 2 (looking at the wooden game box and unboxing it)

NOTE: I forgot to mention or show the small felt circles at the bottom of the metal miniatures.

Part 3 (putting the game back into the wooden game box):

And a THREE PLAYER game with the Luxury Edition:

Next a four player game where I play all the players but each player has a defined STYLE of play!!!

Playing those same four play styles again … had a different winner!  The winning styles for those two playthroughs were: CENTERMOST and SHY AWAY.

And finally (before the preview videos that were filmed and released prior to the project being completed) … here is one of the owners of Calliope Games doing his unboxing (you can compare to my unboxing above!)

Meanwhile, here are videos that I have found … most were posted years ago!

Let’s start with NINE YEARS AGO in August 2015 when it was announced at GenCon:

Next … a quick look at the Luxury part of the production followed by a short tutorial:

Next … a Dice Tower preview that goes over the beautiful components:

Unboxing the prototype:

A two player playthrough of the Luxury Edition

Overview from Tantrum House

Another look at one of the FIVE prototypes:

Two player playthrough THREE times … the last two times showing two “house rules”

Variants:

The Dragons On The Side:

• 2 Players – with 4 “dragons” on the edge that come into play when a tile is placed by them:
• Use the 4 Dragon pawns. Place randomly around the edge of the game board
  • Or place the first one randomly, then roll 4 D6 dice and place the next dragon that many edge marks away from the previous dragon.
  • Option: each player places their Phoenix pawn next to a Dragon pawn
  • Option: each player gets TWO Phoenix pawns and can move either of them on their turn (their choice)
    • Option: must move each of their two Phoenix pawns in their first two turns
    • Option: must move the dragon towards the center if at all possible on the first tile for each Phoenix pawn — and for this option, Dragon pawns many not be place on corner marks. PLUS, if they do not have a tile that moves the Dragon pawns towards the center then they must exchange one of their tiles for a new one until they do.
      • If one of these two first tiles ends up killing your own Phoenix pawn, then exchange a tile for a new one until you get a safe tile
• The Dragon pawns come into play naturally, when a tile is laid next to them (often just moving off the board, but sometimes the dragons do interesting things:)

Two Pawns For Each Player:

• Each Player has TWO pawns … and on their turn can move either of them (their choice)

The game: