Review: Ys
Posted by James (admin) on 4th October 2010
Ys is an area control game where players gain gems and points by placing their pieces in different areas of the city. It’s a fairly simple game but with some clever subtleties and interwoven game mechanics that make it stand out. I usually split out the game description from my opinion but I’ll look at each one as I explain them on this occasion
Hidden Value Piece Placement
Each player has a set of wooden cylinders in their colour which have a value on one end from between 0 to 4. During the game, players take turns placing two of their pieces into any of the 3 areas in any of the city’s 4 neighbourhoods, or onto the market grid. An interesting game mechanic is that one of the two placed pieces is placed with the number showing (numbered end face-up) and the other piece is placed with the number hidden (numbered end face-down). This means that players have some knowledge of what the competition in each area might be but not exact knowledge. I found this created really interesting gameplay as it allows for a bit of bluffing as well as posturing. Read the rest of this entry »
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