Yspahan retro game review

YSPAHAN REVIEW

 In Yspahan, you try to build bazaars in the wealthiest areas to increase your wealth, use your influence with the Overseer Shah to control the market, and ship your goods and those of your opponents to distant lands in caravans destined for the desert. But don't delay, you only have three weeks before the markets close and the caravans begin their journey east.

PREPARATION FOR THE GAME

 To start a game in Yspahan, place the City square in the middle of the table. In the upper left corner of the "City" field, place a white cube on the "1" field of the "Day" tracker (1-7), a white cube on the "I" field of the "Week" tracker (I - III) and the Overseer (white pawn) in the center crossroads.

 Place the Tower space on the side within reach of all players. Place 9 white dice and 3 gold dice next to the Tower board. Sort the camels and gold coins into separate piles and place them near the field with the tower. Shuffle the cards and place them near the tower board as well. Set the Caravan field aside.

 Each player gets 2 gold coins, a construction field of their color, and all the dice of their color. Players place one cube on space 0 on the scoring track on the City space, then set aside 1 cube to use on the building space. Finally, the first player's black marker is given to the starting player and the game can begin.

GAME PROCESS

 In his turn, the player will take all the white dice and roll them. If the player wants more choices, the yellow die can also be rolled at a cost of 1 gold coin per die. After the die is rolled, group them by face value and place them on the tower field as follows:

• The group of dice with the lowest denomination, regardless of number, will be placed at the bottom of the field.
• The next highest value will be placed on the next division of the "Rook" field, and so on.
• Finally, the group of dice with the highest number will be placed at the top of the Tower field, regardless of value.

 The current player will choose one group of dice, take them all, and perform the action associated with that group. Any yellow dice rolled by that player will be discarded after being selected, regardless of whether they were selected or not. After that, the rest of the players choose one group of dice and perform the corresponding action. Each player chooses one action on their turn.

 The Tower space is central to the game and allows players to choose their moves for that round. The "Tower" field is divided into 6 sections, each of which has 3 options. From top to bottom, these sections are:

• Take the gold
• Shops supplying vases
• Dresser stores
• Supply of barrel shops
• Bag shops
• Take the camels

 Each chapter has 1 unique action and 2 common actions. For the "Camel" and "Gold" sections, the player will take as much of this resource from the general supply as the number of dice. For example, 4 dice will equal 4 of this resource. In the Sack, Barrel, Chest, and Vase sections, a player can place as many cubes of their color as there are cubes in the shops in the area (more on that later). Finally, for all 6 sections, the player can take one card from the deck. or move the manager. If there are no dice on a player's turn, he will simply take a card.

SUPPLY OF STORES

 Shops in each district are grouped into bazaars. Within the neighborhood, all shops of the same color are parts of the same bazaar. If a player chooses to supply shops in a nearby area, the following rules apply:

• Only one cube per store.
• If a bazaar contains goods from one player, another player cannot place goods there.
• You cannot have 2 unfinished bazaars in the same area.
• You can end one market and start another market in the same turn.
• If the group of dice selected by the player allows more dice to be placed than there are stores left in the neighborhood, the remaining dice are lost.

SUPERVISOR MOVEMENT

 The warden is moved down the path by the number of spaces indicated by the value in the selected group. Select a group of 3 elements and you can move the guardian exactly 3 cells in a straight line (or at an angle) in any direction. Players can increase (or decrease) this amount by paying one gold per field. If the Overseer ends its movement adjacent to a space containing a cube of any player, that cube will be moved to the Caravan in the order specified by the player moving the Overseer.

 If the player whose die is being moved owns a camel, he may choose to discard the camel to preserve the position of that die and instead move a die from his supply to the Caravan.

CARAVAN

 The caravan consists of 12 camels, divided into 3 groups of 4 camels each. When placing camels, the player must first place along the bottom row, then the middle row, and finally the top row. Each row will have a number of available spaces equal to the number of players, and each camel can only hold 1 cube. For example, in a three-player game, only 3 spaces in each row are available for dice.

 The owner of the placed product will immediately receive points for the bottom and middle rows. When the caravan fills up, the game stops immediately and the caravan receives "End of the Week" points (more on that later).

CONSTRUCTION

 While taking a group of dice is mandatory, building a building is optional and only possible if the player can pay the resources shown under the desired building. Buildings grant the player special abilities until the end of the game. The buildings on the player's field are located from left to right:

• Squad - Whenever a player chooses the "Take Camels" action, they can take 1 additional camel for free.
• Shop - Every time a player chooses the "Get Gold" action, they can get 2 extra coins for free.
• Hammam - Each time a player chooses a Movement Control action, they can add or subtract up to 3 additional spaces.
• Caravanserai – The player who owns the Caravanserai draws a card each time one of his goods is sent to the Caravanserai.
• Bazaar - A player who owns a Bazaar receives an additional 2 points for each completed souk during the end-of-week scoring (see below).
• Hoist - Each time a player chooses the Supply Store action, an additional cube can be added to the total.

 Each time a player constructs a building, the marker to the right of the board moves down, immediately netting the player that many points.

END OF THE WEEK AND CALCULATION

 The game is played clockwise, with each player taking turns rolling the dice and choosing their desired action. Whenever the game returns to the original player, the day marker is moved. If the day marker is at 7, it moves back to 1, the week marker moves forward, the supervisor returns to the intersection, and the end of the week points are tallied.

CALCULATION OF POINTS

 For each completed bazaar in each district, players receive the points indicated in the colored square next to that group. Players who have built a Bazaar receive an additional 2 points per completed Bazaar. After scoring, the dice are returned to the players.

CALCULATION OF THE CARAVAN

 Players with caravan dice will score as many points as their caravan dice multiplied by the highest row occupied by at least one of their dice. The caravan is not empty.

 In the example below, yellow has 3 cubes in the caravan and the highest cube is the second row. So each of their 3 dice gets a multiplier of 2 times 6 points. Red only has 2 dice but occupies the 3rd row: so each of the 2 dice gets a 3x multiplier; also scoring 6 points.

FINAL CALCULATION

 The scoring at the end of week 3 is identical to the scoring in weeks 1 and 2. The player with the most points is the winner.

HOW I LIKED THE GAME

 Let me start by saying that I love this game. It's pretty easy to explain, has bright colors, is easy to play, and has wooden camels!

 Yspahan was one of the first games I bought in my current race for "most board games up my street". I watched the gameplay/review video of Yspahan and was mesmerized. It had very little to do with any game I've ever played. It had dice, but you didn't use them to dictate movement. There were figures, but they did not walk on the field as I had seen before. She let you build buildings, but you didn't do anything with them…they just sat there and gave you cool "superpowers".

 After the release of Yspahan, other games using similar mechanisms appeared. Grand Austria Hotel and La Granja allow you to select the desired action from groups of dice. Jaipur uses camels as pseudo-currency. And while these games are great, Yspahan makes it easier and more straightforward.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

 While Yspahan offers strategy, there are only a few basic ways to earn points. It doesn't bother me, but there are people who like to strategize to win a unique game. Yspahan doesn't really have that option.

 Nothing in Yspahan bothers me anymore. It's not a perfect game, but it's really fun, and plays faster than other similar games because of the one action you take per turn.

CONCLUSION

 Yspahan is a light European style game that is fun and easy to play. Give her a chance, you won't be disappointed.

USEFUL LINKS

Yspahan on the BGG portal

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/22345/yspahan

VIDEO REVIEWS