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Children who go into the forest may come across some yokai, that is, supernatural creatures and phenomena. Moved by boundless curiosity, the little ones draw these spirits in their notebooks to understand their nature and learn from them.
With a set-collection core mechanism, the goal of Yokai Sketch is to score more yokai points than the other player by completing sketches of the elusive forest spirits. The game consists of two decks of cards: in one are four types of yokai, each associated with an element (water, fire, earth, and wind) and a numerical value that corresponds to victory points, and in the other, sketches made by humans, two of the four elements, and possibly a special ability.
At the start of the game, the yokai cards are stacked in four decks (one for each element) and three sketch cards are dealt face down to players. On their turn, players draw a new sketch card and slide one of their four cards under one of the four decks in the center of the table so that it reveals the element associated with that yokai. If by doing this the yokai reaches or exceeds the number of sketches needed to draw it (adding the sketches on both sides of the card), the player who has accumulated the most sketches on their side of the table takes it.
The winner's sketch cards will be placed in the discard pile, and the other player's will stay where they are as they will be used for the next yokai card of that type. If there is a tie in the number of sketches on both sides of the card, the yokai is frightened and lost. In this case, neither player manages to finish the drawing and all the sketch cards on both sides of that yokai pile are discarded. Sketch cards can also include powers: calling the yokai or distracting it to move cards. The game ends when one or more yokai decks are empty.
-description from publisher
Daitoshi - 3p - The Rules
- Beautiful components and aesthetic
- Engaging timing and hand management
- Art-focused, ink-based color influence
- Color drawing and painting with area contribution
- Land Air and Sea
- Smash Up
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- ink_token_management — Play cards to contribute ink toward scoring areas while maintaining hand discipline.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- "it's got like a campaign esque feel where you're trying to land in different airports"
- "it's a hidden Cooperative game"
- "it's like a elevated tic-tac-toe type situation"
- "a patchwork light"
- "you can sabotage your opponent's board"
References (from this video)
- Growing on the reviewer after more plays.
- Not sure if it's as good as competition like Lost Cities.
- Lost Cities
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- tug-of-war — Described as a little tug-of-war style game.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is the London box but I've got the Paris map in there and I think that's my favorite version of the game now
- a brilliant Paulo Mory tug-of War Style game all about Chess and this game was so so interesting
- the more I'm playing this the more I'm understanding how to really exploit that hand of cards and know when to throw games that you can afford to throw in order to boost up your longevity by keeping your mental strength as high as possible to make sure you have more cards in your hand as well as more pawns to boost your strength
- this one might be one of the quickest climbers through my rankings
- the more I'm playing it the more the the depth of the game is starting to reveal itself
- this is a brilliant abstract game and I don't use that word lightly it is truly an excellent piece of design and it's definitely flown right into my top 100 now for the first time
- playing new games that I've really liked such as ter pyramides has been an absolute Joy
References (from this video)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Basically we're just dirty capitalists with like a lick of like Miyazaki paint.
- It is my most ambitious machine ever, a giant contraption that will bring even more progress to the city as it rids us of the burden of relying on animals for labor.
- Don't do as I did, I originally thought production turns? That's if you really can't do something. No, no, that is super important in this game.
- This is the only place in the game where you can improve your reputation.
References (from this video)
- spiritual beings, nature, and artistic drawing.
- Forest setting featuring spirits (yokai) and a two-player dynamic.
- whimsical, lighthearted folklore-inspired feel for two players.
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Pattern Building — Implied through drawing/representing yokai; mechanics not explicitly described.
- pattern-building — Implied through drawing/representing yokai; mechanics not explicitly described.
- unknown — Transcript notes this as a two-player game about seeing spirits and drawing them; no explicit mechanics are described in the transcript.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this weekend we're playing 16 games 16 games that are gonna be at gen con
- be a great way for you to get a look at some of the games releasing at Gen Con
- thank you to Folded Space for sponsoring the digital demos