Creating the most attractive town at the foot of Mt. Yotei, known as Hokkaido’s Ezo Fuji
︎ Expand your land with limited manpower, win bids using potatoes, and develop your town. ︎ There are multiple paths to victory. The person who maximizes the charm of their city and collects the most “attractive points” wins!
Set in Niseko, a breathtaking region of Hokkaido, Japan’s northern island, this board game brings the local landscape, people, and wildlife to life. We paid special attention to environmental sustainability by using Hokkaido-sourced wood for our tokens, while the artwork created by talented Japanese illustrators is based on real people, landscapes, and community events.
In this game, you will create the most attractive Hokkaido town. What is your currency? Potato. Bid together, unearth more when you run out, and welcome the flavors of the north to delicious ramen, melt-in-the-mouth wagyu beef, delicate sushi, and more. Wild trout, powerful Ezo bears, and curious red foxes. Iconic developments range from snow-covered ski resorts to tranquil hot spring villages. Tactics evolve with each round, so the game is always fresh and engaging from start to finish.
To set up, each player gets a screen and hides 5 potatoes and some character tokens behind it. The display is configured. There are 3 different decks and you place 5 forest cards, 4 potato cards, and 3 vending machine cards on display. Cards are divided into three tiers, and lower tier cards are generally required to reach the more powerful upper tier cards. The fourth and final deck of mystery cards is placed nearby, but is not needed yet. A bidding box is also located nearby.
In the bottom left of these cards is the cost of the potato, and in the bottom right is a set of conditions necessary to obtain it (these elements themselves are located in the top left). Draw decks are placed next to their respective rows.
The game is played over multiple rounds. Each round has a deployment phase followed by a harvest phase. During the placement phase, players take turns placing one of their character tokens on a card (only one character can be placed on each card).
Place it on a face-up card – When placing on a regular card, also place the required potatoes on the card. You do not need to meet the prerequisites right away. You can also place any number of potatoes in the bidding box and place them on your bidding card. Any number of players can bid on this card. Turn the card over and place it on top of it. Most card backs do not require any prerequisites to collect the card (although the cards are usually not very powerful). When you flip a card over, you get the back side of the card. Place it on top of the deck – also promises to get the face down side of the card
During the harvest phase, each player takes back their character tokens (in the order of their choice), at which point they resolve their cards. If you try to get a card with prerequisites. See if you can retrieve your card at that time. Players can also take back character cards out of turn to meet conditions. Any potatoes placed on the card are discarded (consumed to get the card). If the player fails to meet the card’s conditions, they simply get their character and potato back.
If a bid card is resolved, all players who bid prove they meet the conditions to collect the card, and the player with the highest bid wins the card. If there is a mystery card reward in the upper right corner of the card you took, draw one card from the mystery deck. You can have up to three at a time, and you can sell them and turn them back into potatoes at any time. Alternatively, you can use the card as a one-time unique ability.
The phase ends when all players have completed their harvest. Checks if the game ending conditions are met. That is, if one or more players have two star symbols on their cards (these are on Tier III cards). In that case, proceed to the final scoring. If not, refill the hole in the display, pass the start marker, and play another round.
Final Score – Players tally up the Charm Points for their area (pink hearts) and every 3 remaining potatoes also count as Charm Points. The player with the most charm points wins! The tie is broken in favor of the player with the most potatoes.
my thoughts on the game
Yorei is a game that will be crowdfunding this month and will be released on April 14th. Please note that all photos here are of prototypes and, of course, everything is subject to change during and after the campaign.
The game feels like a small engine builder, and you spend the early game building your infrastructure. Combine the right elements on your cards and of course manage your supply of potatoes. Potatoes are all in the game. Potatoes are the currency you use to buy things, bid on auctions, and earn points. Need a steady intake of potatoes
There’s an interesting set of expectations here, since you often need to choose a card before you’re completely sure that 1) you can use it, and 2) you can afford it. In this game, you can turn over a card (or draw a face down card from the deck) at any time, so you never completely waste a turn. But of course, if you can’t get the face-up card you need and have to get a face-down consolation prize, your turn can be used less efficiently.
At first, everyone can pretty much operate in their own world. There are enough options to get a card that everyone can use. Obviously, there is more room for smaller player counts. This is because the tableau of available cards does not change much regardless of the number of players.
However, later in the game there will be a bit more competition for cards. You’ll be able to look around and see what other people are planning. Maybe you are also fighting for the same card. Or you might take a card that (to you) seems like other people want more than others among equivalent cards.
Near the end of the game, you need to keep an eye on the cards on the market, as if someone has two cards with stars, the game ends. So if you get the first one, you risk ending the game before that happens. To start the endgame, you need to plan accordingly…
So far, Yotei is a very interesting game, and I am sure that I need to play it more to understand the subtleties of the game. There’s still a lot of planning to get used to. The game always asks you to play into the future, but I have yet to master the ability to predict what my tableau will look like. I’ll continue to play this game over the summer, and I’m looking forward to the full version once the crowdfunding campaign is complete.
Until your next reservation,
game doctor
Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mightyboards/yorei
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