Positively antediluvian
LEGACY OF YU
Designer: Shem Phillips | Publisher: Garphill Games
Iam a solo gamer who, when not dungeon crawling, really likes campaign, legacy and storybook games, even those not designed for solo play. Legacy of Yu did not disappoint.
In this game you (or Yu) are digging canals at the behest of Emperor Shun of the Xia Dynasty. There is a local town which supplies workers, provisions and building materials for this enterprise, but it also attracts the attention of barbarians. You win the game if you can build six sections of canal and reduce barbarians to two or fewer at the time of building the final section, but lose if you run out of townsfolk, if the barbarians completely overrun you or if the flood wave overcomes your site. Win or lose, you march onto the next town and the next sections of canal.
I found the gameplay implementation of this concept ingenious. You start with a ready deck of ten townsfolk cards, drawing four. Each have three supply icons - the topmost is always available, the second is gained only if you dismiss the card (inadvisable except in the final stages) and the third will only come into play later. Spending provisions allows you to recruit more townsfolk to replenish your deck, with the final selling slot being occupied by a barbarian, who will attack if you don’t take him out or bribe him (the latter will still cause them to come back.)
At the beginning of round two, you are obliged to build the first section of canal, paying shells and labourers because otherwise the flood will advance (this fail state is, bar the odd surprise, easy to predict.) Building each section of canal reveals sites to develop your settlement and increasing your trade options. Unfortunately, the number of barbarians added each turn increases also. You can fight them off by training and supplying troops, with defeated barbarians yielding shells and other goodies.
I enjoyed the rhythm of each game; dig when necessary, build to fill gaps, exchange surplus shells for provisions, lastly growing and training an army to defend it all. I found the rules and iconography really clear, with relatively functional artwork and good quality card stock used, although I wish the red worker meeples weren’t the same colour as clay.
During play you’ll discover numbered golden turtle icons, which refer to entries in the beautifully written story book. In general, these are self-contained little episodes which shuffle in some new cards, but there is a nice mini-arc involving local wildlife and a few real surprises. I really liked this aspect of the game.
This is a campaign and legacy game, a little reminiscent of Oath in the sense that each game plays identically, but also reflects past games. When you win, the barbarian deck is supplemented with tougher foes for the next stretch of canal. If you lose, you gain a benefit which will carry forward, some of which are very powerful. Win or lose, after seven games the campaign will conclude, letting you learn your fate and rounded at the story nicely.
Overall I enjoyed playing Legacy of Yu, with its consistent pace, charming story and engaging puzzle, even if the latter can eventually be functionally solved.
DEBBIE BROWN
WE SAY
A brisk resource management game with enough luck in card draws to keep things interesting after the essential puzzle has been solved, complete with a delightful story book and ingenious legacy aspects.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?
◗ Storybook
◗ Game board
◗30 townsfolk cards
◗16 barbarian card
s
◗7 victory cards
◗7 defeat cards
◗6 huts cards
◗10 canal cards
◗71 story cards
◗34 worker meeples
◗12 cowrie shells
◗27 resource tokens
◗ Barge token
◗ Flood token
TRY THIS IF YOU LIKED OLTRÉE...
A similarly fast, high quality and colourful co-op experience that is also ideal for solo play.