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The Inox people have been living peacefully in the Land of the Waterfalls for a long time, but now there is a dangerous threat. Evil Rhujas roaming the land want to capture the gemstones of the Inox. That's why the Inox have selected the hardest to reach and most dangerous place to hide their gemstones: the rock wall behind the Iquazú waterfall. Their water dragon Silon blocks the waterfall so that the brave Inox can rappel down the rock wall behind it to place their gemstones there, out of harm's way. The gushing water and the dangerous water snakes at the bottom will stop the Rhujas from getting the gemstones. Which player in Iquazú will manage to use their cards skillfully and place their colored gemstones in the best spots?
Each turn in Iquazú, players either draw four cards or play cards of a single color from their hand to place one of their gems in an empty space on the board the same color as the cards they played. If you place in the leftmost column, you play only one card, in the secondmost left column, two cards, and so on. The last player in turn order adds a water droplet to the highest empty spot in the leftmost column after their turn.
Once the leftmost column is full, players earn points based on how many gems they have in this column and they earn a bonus token if they have the most gems in a horizontal row. Bonus tokens can let you draw cards, ignore the color rule, earn points at the end of the game, and take another turn. Players then slide the waterfall right one column to make new bonuses appear and the leftmost gems disappear. Whoever holds the water droplet box passes it right. Players continue taking turns until the final column is filled, at which point players collect bonuses for the final time, then added any points collected to their score.
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- iguazu decided by michael fat cora and published by hover released in 2019
- a quat sue is a dynamic area control game set in the land of the waterfalls
- to best hide their gems behind this waterfall
- to score the best bonuses and the most points on each turn
- a player has two options either draw four cards up to a maximum hand limit of 12 or spend cards in order to place a gem
- the gem box is then handed to the next player to track whose turn it is
- the water frame is then moved one step to the right covering up the first column and revealing more bonuses
- these gems will figure in scoring
- once the final column has been scored players add points for any bonus tokens they have been collecting and the player with the highest score wins
References (from this video)
- Light complexity and 50-minute play time.
- Clear scoring emphasis with bonuses per row and column.
- Flexible player count (2-4).
- land of the waterfalls
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- bonus tokens — Bonus tokens can grant extra cards, extra points, or an extra turn.
- Dice Placement — Placing a gem into a column costs a number of matching colored cards equal to the column; e.g., one white card or four blue cards.
- End-game scoring — After the final column is scored, players add points from bonus tokens to determine the winner.
- gem placement costing cards — Placing a gem into a column costs a number of matching colored cards equal to the column; e.g., one white card or four blue cards.
- Hand Management — Players draw four cards up to a maximum hand limit (12) or spend cards to place gems.
- placing gem into empty space — A gem can be placed into an empty space when spending the required cards.
- scoring by column and row majority — When a column is filled, the player with the most gems scores maximum; the player with majority visible gems in a row gets a bonus token.
- tactical decision on column progression — Spending more cards to place gems further to the right can pay off due to scoring bonuses later.
- turn tracking with gem box — The gem box is handed to the next player to track whose turn it is.
- water frame advancement — After each turn, the water frame moves right to reveal new bonuses and cover the first column.
- water mechanic — If a player is holding the water box, they place a water droplet in the highest remaining space of the first column.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- iguazu decided by michael fat cora and published by hover released in 2019
- a quat sue is a dynamic area control game set in the land of the waterfalls
- to best hide their gems behind this waterfall
- to score the best bonuses and the most points on each turn
- a player has two options either draw four cards up to a maximum hand limit of 12 or spend cards in order to place a gem
- the gem box is then handed to the next player to track whose turn it is
- the water frame is then moved one step to the right covering up the first column and revealing more bonuses
- these gems will figure in scoring
- once the final column has been scored players add points for any bonus tokens they have been collecting and the player with the highest score wins