Yin Yang

The coins are a bit much. Sure they could have been othello game pieces, but the metal coins really add to the theme. My biggest gripe is that the scoring tiles don't have a legend on the main board. I think this would have helped with the learning curve of the game and eliminated the need for a player aid. After a game or two, that shouldn't be too much of a problem, but it would have helped a lot. But even 2 years later, I'm still enjoying exploring Yin Yang. Especially at 3. At 4, it can be really rough as the last player in the round as you may be stuck with bad action tiles and not much room on the map to move. With 3, there's a bit more space to maneuver.

Fabulous production. A really smooth mid-weight euro where your're building networks and competing for area control. The choose your own scoring matrix is a clever addition.

Original mix of mechanisms. It blends the travel part of Orlean with the route building of Elfenland and a nice twist is that you have to unlock your end game scoring goals by collecting goods during your travels. The randomised action selection, by shaking divination coins out of an impressive turtle shell is another high light in the game. And I love the ancient Chinese theme. The game is very pretty!

Despite the obvious luck of the throw of the coins, we quite enjoy the tactical nature of figuring out the best combination of actions. I also like that you choose what you score by filling the gem grid.

A Taiwanese Euro with some set collection, some area control, some manipulation of scoring opportunities and a cool action system involving shaking up coins inside a metal turtle. The turtle is a bit of a gimmick but the action system itself feels fresh. There are plenty of good decisions to make and my only criticism so far is that the downtime is a bit much waiting for other players to assign their action coins. Perhaps those decisions could be made simultaneously by all players to reduce the waiting. This was my favourite new game played at Spiel 2019. Update: We did indeed play with simultaneous actions where possible and the game moved along nicely.