Mage Hoyuk

I like everything about this game except the catastrophes, but I understand why they are there. They are meant to shake things up, keep the game board changing, and force players to think wisely about what they are building and where. I can’t help but consider that I would prefer the game play if the catastrophes were missing, but I can’t imagine the game without them. It’s a conundrum. This is one of those cases where one small thing nags you, but doesn’t stop you from enjoying yourself. It’s like the mosquito that bites you on the hike. It didn’t ruin your day, but it left you feeling a bit itchy and irritated.I’m from Minnesota, so everything is about mosquitoes. That and hotdishes.Lots of interesting things going on in Hoyuk. Depending on what type of game you are playing (Basic, Medium, or Advanced), there are different ways to score points. I personally found the Advanced game to be the most challenging, but the Basic game is the most entertaining. The Basic game is lighter, but feels more streamlined and focuses more on building with a small set of tiles. In contrast, the Advanced game is all about layering. The difference between the two game versions is like night and day when it comes to the level of strategy and tactics used. The Medium game sits comfortably between the two, providing players an opportunity to explore the game a bit deeper without kicking them headfirst into the deep end of the pool.In a way, the game designer has provided its players an opportunity to learn, play, and explore the game in a very natural way. Starting at Basic introduces the core concepts and scoring. The Medium game introduces new decisions to be made and strategies to consider. The Advanced game introduces additional strategies and tactics, further reinforcing the concepts in the Basic and Medium game. Or, if you prefer, crawl, walk, and run.A big surprise for me was how much fun I had with the Aspect cards. Using them to build or set collect for points is a fun game mechanic. Throw in a limit to how many cards you can play based on tiles, and you have yourself a multilevel puzzle to sort out. Do I spend all the cards now for victory points or wait in hopes of having a larger family? Or should I spend one of my cards now to build and grab that open spot caused from the Catastrophe card? What makes this even worse and fun at the same time is that players get to ask the same question at the start of every round. The game always gives you an opportunity to do “something”, but never makes it obvious.Tile playing games are not for everyone, but Hoyuk seemed to make everyone happy. Certain aspects of the game made our players roll their eyes, grit their teeth, or clench their jaw, but everyone left the table feeling satisfied. From Child Geek to gaming elitist, Hoyuk challenged and entertained in equal measure. If this game sounds like something you and yours would enjoy, give it a go.This game was given to Father Geek as a review copy. Father Geek was not paid, bribed, wined, dined, or threatened in vain hopes of influencing this review. Such is the statuesque and legendary integrity of Father Geek.Full review available at http://fathergeek.com/hoyuk/

Hoyuk is a fantastic tile laying and set collecting game that has a great production quality. The artwork is very nice and the game mechanics are solid and provide interesting choices to be made each phase of the round. Players can't remain on their own in this game either, they must join other players' on different blocks to try and optimize their chance at getting more aspect cards - and in return more building options and sets for points. The game includes rules to play a basic game, medium game, and advanced game. You can also shorten games by choosing to play with a lower number of houses that each player starts with. All these options result in variability in game length and difficulty.On the down side, the game only comes with one storage bag and there is no insert to keep all the tiles separated. You will need to purchase your own bags to keep everything separated out or else you will be faced with a longer setup time to sort everything out. The instruction book is actually really good, but there is a slight learning curve for the iconography of the catastrophe cards. It is also interesting because if you don't have things separated out, it will take you longer to setup the basic game than the advanced game (since the basic game causes you to remove certain things - where as the advanced game you wouldn't need to because you use everything).All in all, I am giving Hoyuk a 7/10. I think it is a really solid game with great game mechanics, artwork, rulebook, and the quality of the components is top notch. The game really needs some better storage options, but Hoyuk is one that I will continue to enjoy a lot and that is How Lou Sees It!I was given this copy of Hoyuk as a review copy for free from Mage Company.