WBG Score: 8/10
Player Count: 2-4
You’ll like this if you like: Building things that are pretty, but also score you big points!
Published by: Helvetiq
Designed by:Â Baptiste Vaiana
This is a free review copy. See our review policy here.
You know Helvetiq? Yeah, you know - that cute Swiss publisher who makes delightful little box games? Well, strap in. They also make big box games too! Well, not big box per se. But normal size box games. Well not quite normal size. Its a bit more square than the Ticket To Ride box. But anyway, I feel I am losing myself here. They have made a "bigger" box game, Yaxha. And it's a beauty. Let's get it to the table and see how it plays.
How To Set Up Yaxha
First, place the cubes into the bag. After your first game, I imagine you will simply leave them in there now forever! Next, arrange the Market tiles in a line at the centre of the table, one per player. Place any remaining back into the box. Each player then takes a set of cards that match the Market tiles. One for each colour. Now, deal a Turn Order tile to each player randomly and draw three bonus cards at random and place them face up. There are recommended cards for your first game to keep thing simple. You are now ready to play.
How To Play Yaxha
The game plays over ten rounds. Each round, one player will draw three cubes at random from the bag and add them onto each of the market tiles. Players will then decide which set of three cubes they want the most. In order to try and claim the cubes they want, each player will then place one of the cards from their hand that matches the tile they want face down in front of them. All players will then reveal the card they played, and if they all played different cards, simple - each player takes the cubes on the matching tile and adds them to their own personal construction. If there were any matches in cards played, then the turn order breaks these ties. The turn order cards are then swapped. For example, if you had the third card previously, and two others matched with you, then you would have third choice, but you will end the round with the first turn order card for the next round, the player with the first card will now have the third, and the person with the second will keep the same card.
But what are players making? Well, as the name suggests, and I am sure you are all aware, Yaxha is a Mesoamerican archaeological site in the northeast of the Petén Basin in modern-day Guatemala. So, yeah, you are making one of them. A boxy pyramid. Which in this game means a four-tiered structure with the bottom base being a four-by-four grid, the second a three by three, then two by two, and finally a single cube on top. Like this...
When you place a cube, it must touch another cube of the same colour. Be that on the same level orthogonal to it, or on a previous level below. For your first placement, of course you can ignore this rule. You can start a higher level without completing the level below, but you must always have a full base of four cubes to place another higher cube on. If you ever cannot place a cube simply discard the cube. Your structure sadly now will never be complete.
The game ends after the tenth round. Players will then score for each of their largest groups of cubes for each colour. There is a handy scoring guide, which you can see below, that details exactly what each quantity of touching cubes will score you. You will also score based on the three scoring cards you have in the game, which range from simply scoring an additional five points to the player with the most of a specific colour, to more specific things, such as five points for the largest single group of cubes in one colour, no matter the colour that is. Or even five points for any player who managed to place five different colours on level two. Something that usually you would not want to do, instead favouring building up your largest groups of two or three colours.
Is It Fun? Yaxha Board Game Review
There is something incredibly calming and satisfying about creating your little Yaxha's in this game. The cubes are just so tactile. They feel great in your hands. 'Clunking' them together feels lovely. It makes a lovely little 'clunk' you see. Forming groups of colours makes your heart sing. The process of this game alone is wonderful. But is it fun? Well, yes! You add the satisfying nature of the actual physical process of this game, add in the bidding process by which you claim your building pieces, then chuck in the big points on offer in the end game scoring - and you have yourself a winner.
The only reason I do not score this game higher is it's just a little too simple. It's just a few rules. A few cubes. And that's it. Sure, the cards add in some variable scoring options, and it is nice to have these different challenges each game. But this is a 1/5 weighted game on BGG for a reason. And as much as I do not usually let that sort of thing affect how I rate a game, it is hard not too in this case. I will explain why.
The game itself, though fun to play - though satisfying to do well in; does whisper to me as I play it, "are you playing a game? Or is this just a fun activity?" Now, I do not think this. But I do think about it each time I play. But, I do answer back, "NO! This is definitely a game! Have you not seen the rules? The mechanics? The scoring?" Which does makes me feel like I won that little argument quite convincingly. However, the game then does this say back to me, in a tiny little voice that I can only just about hear, "but you did think it?"
Which is fine. Activities can be fun too. It doesn't make this any less of an experience. It doesn't mean I enjoy it any less. But it does explain to me why this great game, that I love playing, that I really enjoy getting out and going through the process of "playing," scores an 8, and not any higher. It feels quite abstract, (obviously) as you play. Which again is fine. I like abstract games. But it does have a theme. And I just feel a little more could have been done with the theme, and perhaps just one more little wrinkle of a rule linked to the theme could have been added to make this good game - great! It feels a little too similar to other games of this nature, when it had the chance to really stand out in its field. My score puts into context this slight under development as well as my overall enjoyment.
That said, I do really like this game. I just feel it has a little more potential than the end result, and the score I am giving it. But I will keep this in my regular pile, and will see this getting a lot of plays. It is perfect to play when you are a little tired and don't want too much table talk. You may be willing to accept the odd "Ah! I can't believe you took that pile, I wanted that pile!" But with the knowledge that you will then quickly hear "It's cool, this other pile works great for me too." Because you will always score well in this game. Games will be close, and losing is ok. Building the Yaxha is fun in itself. And it is just a nice thing to do, an activity if you will. No, no! This is a game. Sorry.