The basic premise of the game is to complete badges to get victory points. A badge might require 2 purple stones and a pink stone for example. To get those resources you just have to have a rocket on that spot. Those are communal rockets, if a rocket is on the location with the purple stones you can get the purple stone with your action. Then the rocket flies off onto the next available spot. That's it, that's your turn. There are other mechanics like being able to leech off other people's turns and having to actually turn in stones to get badges but that's the basics.
It sounds simple but even without playing it I can tell there's going to be lots of fun times trying to figure out the puzzle of when to trigger a spot, if its better to wait or do it now and if by triggering a spot will it give someone else a bigger advantage? The locations are also random each game so there's good replay value from what I can tell. On the one hand I'm worried there might not be enough to do to keep you fully engaged the whole time but this seems like the kind of game where you do have to pay attention to what's happening so you can plan out your moves. Very excited to try!
]]>Honshu is a tile-laying game about building the best city you can. Each tile has 6 squares and you lay them out however you want across your play space so that it is on top or below another tile.
For each town square connected to another town square you create a district. At the end of the game, counting only the biggest district, you score 1 point per square. Each forest square gives you 2 points. Each lake square forming a lake district gives you 3 points, not counting the first tile in a district so 3 squares only gives you 6 points total. There are also production and factory squares that give you resources that score variable points.
Half of the fun comes from trying to lay out the tiles, finding the most efficient layouts. However, the other half is more interactive, fighting over which tiles you get to play. Over the course of 12 rounds you each lay down a tile, each with a number on them and take turns choosing which of the tiles works best for your city. The order of choosing is based on the tile you laid down. This gives the game interactivity as you try to build your own city while also cutting other people's chances of making the most points.
The game isn't dead simple but its far from complicated. It might take a minute to get your head around the trick-taking part and deciding if you want boost your number (using irreplaceable resources) to get at a valuable tile or save resources for sure points at the end. There are some rule variants included that change the scoring rules so the game has an additional value add for re-playability.
In my experience its great fun, either as a full game to play for a casual game night or as a wind down after playing a heavier game. The game has pretty universal appeal though the art on the cards isn't nearly as pretty as the front of the box. Still, the art is distinct enough as to be easy to distinguish between squares. There is a sequel game that adds mountains and changes some of the scoring rules called Hokkaido. I haven't personally played Hokkaido but all the buzz on forums is that they're basically the same so pick whichever theme (spring vs winter) appeals to you.
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