StoryLong time ago in the land of rising sun, spirits and demons known as Yokai were harming human lives.
Yokai did not directly attack people, but they were causing supernatural disasters: Yokai caused farmlands to burn, rivers to flood, thunders to roar, and diseases to spread.
One day a chieftain of the nearby village visited you, an Onmyoji, a practitioner of Japanese esoteric cosmology. Through your knowledge of astronomy and occultism, you discover the only way to help save the village. It is simple: the more Yokai you manage to capture, the less the menace caused by these demons. After a few months in the village, you are successful in your efforts; the Yokai menace is completely eradicated in that village!
Then, word reaches you of the havoc being wrecked by the Yokai on your own village. In your absence, the village chieftain has consulted another Onmyoji to help save your village. This is an affront because this is your village and the people under attack are your people. It is your job to save the day! Do not let another Onmyoji save the day and go down in history as the greatest there ever was and the Savior of your village at the time of need.
Compete against your rival Onmyoji and capture as many Yokai as you can!
Gameplay OverviewIn Yokai Septet, your goal is to capture high scoring Boss Yokai by strategically playing cards from your hand. Each turn, players play a card from their hand following the rules of the "trick taking games."
After everyone has played a card, the player who played the strongest card matching the lead suit takes all the cards played this turn. A new turn continues until one of the round's end condition is met. At the end of the round, the winner of that round is determined.
In a 4-player game, the game is played as a team battle of two players versus two players, whereas in a 3-player game, all players play individually competing. The winner of the round is the team that captured four or more Boss Yokai in a 4-player game, and three or more Boss Yokai in a 3-player game.
The winner of the round scores points based on the Boss Yokai they captured. New rounds are played until the game's end condition is met, which can be either 2 points for a basic game, or 7 points for an advanced game.
Components
49 cards (7 suits, 7 cards each)
18 scoring tokens
4 player aids
1 lead player card
- Plays best at 4 players
- Easy to find 3 other people at convention
- Super easy to carry around
- Not a huge time commitment
- About 20 minutes to play
- Allows running off to other activities
- Knowing when to win vs lose tricks
- Strategic depth
- Feel smart making good decisions
- Tricky and fun
- Played it 4 times at Aircon without getting old
- Yokai (Japanese spirits/monsters) competition
- Japanese folklore
- Competitive team trick-taking
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Boss Cards — Yokai cards with value 7 that contain special powers and are worth winning
- Losing Tricks — Sometimes winning a trick is bad - players must strategically choose when to lose
- team play — Played in teams of 2v2
- Trick taking — Players play cards to win tricks
- Variable Suit Values — Boss card position changes by suit - might be high, low, or middle value
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I've seen enough 90 sitcoms to know it's never a good idea to try to be in two places at once
- conventions are the perfect place to play a game that requires a larger group
- at a convention the people who signed up to play probably really want to be there
- I'm easily distracted at a convention it's a lot of stimulus and it's overwhelming
- it's quick and shouty and silly and it always goes over really well
- it's unreasonably fun and lovely and feels really good to play from a pure really tactile perspective
- it's wacky high energy dexterity silliness and that's honestly everything I want while at a convention
- I mean no accomplishment feels as good as that
- it's so simple and so good and it makes me laugh with my friends
- knowing when to try and win a trick and when to try and lose a trick makes me feel so dang smart
- it's fascinating that depending on the style of the people I'm playing with the game can feel really different
- it's just it's dang good y'all
References (from this video)
- Strong trick-taking appeal for fans
- Accessible for a range of players
- Availability may be limited at events
- Trick-taking with a yokai motif
- Fantasy Yokai world
- Light-hearted, humorous
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Team/partner dynamics (implicit social play) — Players may coordinate with partners or leverage remembered cues to optimize tricks.
- Trick-taking — Classic trick-taking play with a yokai-themed twist; hand management influences who wins tricks.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is the first time we're bringing out cabo deluxe deluxe
- it's the easiest thing to grab on the shelf
- this is the physically biggest one that we have
- not alone without location powers
- Parade plays up to six
- Jack's Friends is a streamlined Not Alone with different locations
References (from this video)
- upgraded components and foil sevens are visually striking
- tightly designed with accessible rules for quick play
- slightly tactile components; new print boasts improvements over earlier version
- requires coordination with players to optimize timing
- collecting sevens; ceremonial duels for points
- Japanese folklore inspired Yokai
- light, whimsical
- The Mind
- Codenames? (not used in transcript)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- hand_management — manage a hand to time when to win the seven cards with foil/seven emphasis
- set_collection / scoring — collect sevens to maximize score; the seven cards carry special value
- simultaneous_card_play — players play cards to influence which Yokai cards win; sevens are critical
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's basically it's an auction tiling game
- it's a classic Euro but with fresh mechanics that you don't really see in newer games
- the best scoring that you can get is one building amongst all these things is is four points
- I really liked it I think the very first uh work that I scored I took it all as money and I thought like this is great I'm gonna have so much money for the rest of the game but I think that hurt me in the end
- it's mean that it was comical
- it's a very silly game
- it's a strong mix of chaos and strategy
- it's better with higher player counts
- it's one of those games where there's very limited communication; it's fully cooperative
References (from this video)
- Beautiful production
- Buzz around the title from outlets
- Difficult to count and manage with asymmetric decks
- Not everyone enjoys the complexity
- asymmetric deck design with seven suits
- Supernatural yokai themed world
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Asymmetric deck / seven suits — Sevens counting as the primary scoring mechanism with high card mixed into play.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I'm really curious to see how people react to it.
- The idea is that maybe I do this near the end of a month and then the update vlog obviously is a week later.
- It was a really fun time; it was a blast.
References (from this video)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Terraforming Mars would be a pretty fascinating TV show slash book
- Arc Nova is honestly one of the best Euro games that's come out in a very long time
- Arc Nova is on Board Game Arena but in Alpha
- This is a climbing shedding game
- Darwin's Journey arrived yesterday and I'm very excited to play it
- Gloomhaven would be pretty cool I know there is a lot of extra media happening like there's a role-playing game I think they're putting out