David Boeren
United States
Marietta
Georgia
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So, I managed to borrow a copy of Loyang from the local game story (they've just implemented a new game rental program). The rules are a little hard to get at first, but not bad. I think it's certainly easier to learn from another play than from reading but that goes for most games. Anyway, I had played through a sample game to learn the mechanics and then last night introduced it to one of my buddies at the game story.
Overall, it was a success and he liked the game and expressed interest in giving it another go sometime. This weekend I'll be introducing it to my wife. If she likes it too it'll be a must-have, although honestly I'll probably pick it up even if she isn't that keen on it because it's a good game.
I scored 18.6 (that's VPs.money which is the tiebreaker), which I was pretty happy with for a first game. My opponent scored in the low 16's, I believe primarily due to a turn I screwed him out of a Pumpkin he needed using a Trader card to remove it from his Market and him taking on insufficient customers.
I should state right now that I have not played either Agricola or Le Havre, so I really don't care if it's by the same designer. All I've ever seen from him is Bohnanza which is a vastly different sort of game and I didn't really care for that either. I prefer to rate games on their own merits and not expect them to be other games. Personally, I think it's a grave disservice to Loyang that people seem to have a hard time talking about it based on its own merits.
The goal in Loyang is to acquire a good balance of customers and then efficiently convert your meager income into the correct mix of vegetables to fill their orders.
The complications:
* You start with very little money and it remains tight for a while
* Even if you can get the right type of vegetable, the first one probably needs to be planted rather than sold to a customer to ensure an ongoing supply
* Even after you HAVE money, there is pressure every turn to convert it into VPs so even later your free cash is "moderate" but never "great". This is actually good as it maintains the feeling of pressure.
The way out:
* You can acquire Market cards that allow you to trade certain types of vegetables for other types, these are quite important
* You can also acquire Helper cards which are single-use special actions of many different sorts
What you have to manage in order to do well:
* Picking the right cards to solve your immediate and upcoming needs
* Making good choices in what to plant
* Balancing Regular customers (those who you have a longer-term obligation to) with Casual customers (who buy from you only once at your leisure)
* Being able to efficiently use your actions to turn things you have into things you need
* Ability to foresee and avoid "gotchas" such as expecting to be able to sell a vegetable to the store when in fact it is full. Sometimes these come down to order-of-operations or needing the right Helpers
* Ability to plan ahead for next turn
The game is designed well, with constant pressure on the player to make ends meet while trying to expand his veggie empire. Those who try to avoid the pressure by not taking on Regular Customers are punished with a lower score as they will gain less income. Since cash is converted into VPs this is a serious penalty and the longer you go the harder it becomes to catch up. Because of this, you are enticed to jump in and struggle to keep your head just barely above water to win, and it's this act that makes or breaks the game I think. If you enjoy a challenge and trying to meet goals from minimal resources then you'll like it. If you want a game where you can coast along by taking mostly obvious choices then you're probably going to think it feels like work. This is not a social game. In fact, the interaction is fairly low and you'll spend most of your time plotting or watching others plot. But, there is pride in pulling off a good plot and the game is constructed so that others can see it and appreciate it and the additional pressure it puts to them to keep up. Loyang is not a game of "take that", but rather "top that", because your successes set a bar for the other players to simultaneously aspire to and also worry about.
Sweat it out and bear your short term burdens for longer term gain, and you just might end up on top. I'll be looking forward to trying it with my wife this weekend (and helping her with the strategy since I'll have a leg up on understanding the game) as well as future plays at the game store.
btw, I believe there is truth in the reputation that 2p and 4p are the better ways to play the game. I'd mostly play 2p and consider 4p, but 3p probably takes too long to want to do it often. I'm also planning to check out the solo variant and see how that goes.
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Ken Thibodeau
Canada
Quebec
Quebec
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Very interesting. This should go in the review forum, though.
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David Boeren
United States
Marietta
Georgia
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I'm holding off on a full review until I get in more plays, but some of this post may end up being folded into an eventual review thread.
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Wade Nelson
United States
Saint Louis Park
Minnesota
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dboeren wrote: I'm holding off on a full review until I get in more plays, but some of this post may end up being folded into an eventual review thread.
The original post here was well thought-out and well written for having only played one complete game. I'm looking forward to the full review. I'm a Loyang fan myself, and the solo game is pretty decent as well.
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Daniel Kearns
United States
Bloomington
Indiana
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Great stuff. I love Gates of Loyang.
If you are digging the mentality of Loyang, you might want to investigate Macao.
I've just discovered Macao recently but I feel it has the same sort of mental gymnastics that Loyang has, but different.
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David Boeren
United States
Marietta
Georgia
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wadenels wrote: The original post here was well thought-out and well written for having only played one complete game. I'm looking forward to the full review. I'm a Loyang fan myself, and the solo game is pretty decent as well.
Thanks, I try to put out quality reviews and while I'm pleased that you like it already I'd like to put more into the full version including additional insights after more plays and a comparison of how it plays with different numbers of players. It'll be worth it when the final version is up.
dkearns wrote: Great stuff. I love Gates of Loyang. If you are digging the mentality of Loyang, you might want to investigate Macao. I've just discovered Macao recently but I feel it has the same sort of mental gymnastics that Loyang has, but different.
Interesting... I actually don't know much about Macao other than it has some sort of wheel device and I've heard generally good things about it from several other people. It's already been on my list to check out when I get a chance, so I'll consider this another bump. Problem is, I haven't seen anyone locally with the game yet so I may just end up needing to take the plunge and buy it sight-unseen.
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Captain PB
Canada
Georgetown
Ontario
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This isn't a Macao forum, but I would buy it sight unseen. Good rulebook, fun options, tons of cards, devastating penalties. What's not to like.
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