Ukiyo: My Favorite Game Mechanism

[@walnutgames9649]

Aaaaaaaaagh Jamey made a video about my game!! (Ian here - Ukiyo designer...) Thanks so much for taking the time to make this - glad you liked it. And thanks to Ian B for the reco :-) I had a lot of fun demo-ing this at UK Games Expo last month and the overwhelming feedback I got was that solo is the 'best' way to play (although in design terms the solo mode came along a lot later), so hopefully you'll have some fun there too. Another game I love that allows you to 'pivot' during the game and change tactics depending on how the cards are falling is Town Builder: Coevorden from First Fish Games in Vancouver. It's a small-box, 60 card game with loads of interaction as all players draw from a shared tableau to build their own town district and score points. One of our most-played at home and great with kids too. Cheers!

[@jameystegmaier]

Thanks for designing such a clever game, Ian! I definitely need to try it solo. And I appreciate the recommendation of Town Builder too!

[@ianblackburn5935]

You’re welcome Ian. It’s a cool game, neat design I can’t help but sing it’s praises. Glad to see Jamey also found it enjoyable. So cool 🤘

[@whatboardgame]

Love this game. I enjoy it solo and the campaign style of it. I also love that you featured this game. I heard from Ian on insta how you came about it. Very cool!

[@victorluchangco6552]

HUE in the Pack O Games series has a similar mechanism, where you lay cards down to form areas of different colors, and your score is based on the largest areas of the colors in the last card in your hand (which you don’t play).

[@shinjial]

Café has a similar take concerning the card play. It gives you cards on a 2x3 grid, which you play out covering at least 2 symbols. The idea is that players are managing a production chain of coffee, from planting them, to drying, to roasting, to delivering to coffee shops. So the spatial puzzle is an engine for your production. It's quite neat. While the goal is the same: deliver the most coffee by the end of the game, players must choose to which places they do that, since they're also on the cards themselves.

[@theSolemnBard]

Nokosu Dice is a trick-taker that uses colored dice in addition to the cards in your hand. Essentially they are cards you'll need to play that everyone can see. But when you have one die remaining, it can no longer be played and becomes your bid-take exactly that many tricks and get a potentially big bonus

[@favouritefoe1806]

Ukiyo is a great little puzzly patching game - I find the patching mechanic so satisfying! Multiplayer is very clever - the dynamic nature of the final goal is great! I'm greedy and really enjoy the solo challenges - definitely recommend it! My first set has been in my pocket almost permanently - I even wore it out! haha Ukiyo led me to Honshu and the Buttonshy games! Multi-use cards are always a great design feature too.

[@StevenStJohn-kj9eb]

Great concept! That sounds very interesting. There are so many games where you accumulate more goals during the game, or where you draw some goal cards and dump some (draw 2; keep 1). But here you have a hand full of them and dump 1 every turn. Can't think of any thing like it, other than it sort of feels like any trick taking game where you are often wondering what card to play and what to hold on to in case it's needed at the end. But that's a very vague similarity.

[@StrummervilleDM]

Great game, It deserves more widespread recognition and by rights it should put Ian and Walnut on the map. It's an interesting comparison to 6 Nimmt! in that you start out with all the cards you'll have for the round but 6 Nimmt! has you using useful cards each turn until late on you've just got the dregs (at least that's how I play!) but in Ukiyo you play for the final move from early on. They're using the same mechanism but with a very different outcome.

[@ianblackburn5935]

Love the game. Incredibly clever and very quick whilst including quite a few interesting decisions on what you want to go for. I can confirm the solo challenges are a great set of puzzles although not got to the harder ones 😂 i feel like my reco reputation is intact 🤪 Thanks for taking the time to get and then give perspective on the game via your vid. Looks like you enjoyed 👌

[@jamesmorgan1967]

Just ordered this from Walnut Games in the UK. Only 12 pounds (including shipping to the US). Thanks for introducing me to this game! (P.S. Technically speaking, I think the "u" in "ukiyo" is pronounced "oo" as in "moo" ...not "yu.")

[@jameystegmaier]

You're totally right! As someone who studied Japanese for 9 years, I should know that!

[@NORMANETH]

@@jameystegmaier hey Jamey, I’m not sure what the process is for this but I’ve found an infinite point loop hole within tapestry expansion and not sure who I need to contact about it but would like the opportunity to explain if possible, I also have pictures of how the situation occurred as well. If there is a way out of it I would love to know so that everyone I’m playing with isn’t going for only the loophole when playing expansion

[@jameystegmaier]

@@NORMANETH Thanks Normal! I think we closed all the loopholes, but it's possible you discovered one. Keep in mind that you can only use the batteries once per turn (it's noted in the reference guide), and the expansion says you can even only use each advancement once per turn. But if you found something beyond that, you can post a description and photos in the Tapestry Facebook group.

[@NORMANETH]

@@jameystegmaier thank you so much for the clarification!! It was definitely through the batteries card and only checked the rules sheet and not the reference guide!