The old crunchy favorite

We recently 3D-printed something with an intricate Japanese “Kumiko” pattern, and incidentally we got the sudden urge to play Iki again, so... That’s exactly what we did! 😁

This is an awesome mid-weight euro set in feudal Japan, coupled with amazing production value so you can feel just like a Japanese merchant walking the shops of old Tokyo. Sorry We Are French did a great job resurrecting an old classic, just like they did with Zhanguo too.☺️

The game has a fairly simple flow, but it’s riddled with difficult decisions. 😉 Each turn you first bid on how much you want to move your meeple on the rondel of the main board - spaces are limited, so you might not get the movement value you really want.☝️ You have to move the exact amount (or more with Sandal tokens, but never less), so pivoting your plans is often necessary. You then move your meeple and activate the store and artisan card where you land. 

So what are you doing? Well, a bit of everything. There is a tight economy in Iki. You need money for many things, most notably to hire new artisans to place out on the board - these give you income, but have to be fed too at the end of each season. (They also gather experience and retire after a while.) You can also get fish, tobacco and pipes each season, or collect building materials to build special buildings. Fires will also break out 3 times during the game, so raising your firefighting capabilities is essential, or you could lose some cards if you are unlucky. 

I really enjoy how well interwoven everything is. The turn-to-turn decision making is really engaging, watching for what you want to do in the short term. Each game there are building cards you can work towards - they are expensive but can give you huge bonuses, so they’re a good long term goal. Mid-term goals are also there, thanks to the rondel movement, occasional fires and end-of-season upkeep. Cards of the same type are preferred for season scoring, but for the end game you want to diversify.

For me the crunchiness is ideal, yet the playtime isn’t long at all. Iki is an easy recommendation! 🙂