How do you become the most esteemed merchant of Yokohama? There is no single answer, fortunately. The board game of Hisashi Hayashiin fact, it allows you to develop various strategies to win the game. If you are a novice player or if you are looking for an in-depth analysis, here is a brief analysis of the elements to keep an eye on during a game of the signed game Skull Creations.
The assistants: how many to unlock and how to place them?
- assistants they are fundamental because they determine the power of the actions that will take place with president. Finding yourself without assistants to position during the first phase of the turn can be a huge disadvantage, so it would be good to unlock some of them immediately and avoid this unpleasant situation. Of course, this will have to be balanced with the need to build markets or emporiums, therefore it will be necessary to evaluate from time to time what we need for the next shift. As for the placement, however, it can be easily seen how distributing three assistants in three different places is advantageous in the long run, if you can plan the subsequent shifts effectively. On the contrary, placing two assistants in the same place is essential immediately, if this allows you to perform an action of 5 and take the relative bonus.
Objectives A, B and C
These too should not be completely neglected, especially if they coincide with the strategy being implemented. Losing an assistant to get the points guaranteed by these goals is a small price to pay for not falling behind or gaining an advantage over others.
The orders
Orders, in addition to guaranteeing points and flags, are also one of the few ways to obtain "import" tokens. Fulfilling orders, therefore, is always a good thing and they must be chosen carefully, not only on the basis of the resources they possess, but also on the basis of their reward: an order that allows you to obtain a foreign agent will guarantee an additional action that , at the end of the game, could prove decisive. How many orders to fulfill, then, once again depends on the strategy you decide to implement. If you focus only on this, it will be useful to spend money to acquire two at a time, but it will be necessary to prepare yourself with a good production of resources to be able to solve them as soon as possible. Otherwise, you can choose to fulfill only the strictly necessary orders, trying to compensate by making victory points in alternative ways.
Technologies
Even the technology cards should not be underestimated, although they can prove to be very expensive. The resulting advantage, however, is considerable, not so much in terms of points at the end of the game, as for the permanent bonuses they guarantee. Think of the card that allows you to place your president in neighborhoods where an opposing president is already present; again, think of the technology that allows you to place 4 assistants in different neighborhoods. If betting everything on technologies can be too expensive, acquiring only those most suited to the chosen strategy can be decisive for victory and give you a significant advantage over your opponents.
The Customs and Church boards
At the end of the game they give points based on the majorities, but they award many more when placing assistants during the game. These are expensive options as they require many different goods (in the case of the Church) or the rare Import tokens (in the case of Customs). This can mean being able to fulfill fewer orders, so you have to be careful not to sacrifice everything else for the sole purpose of obtaining a majority.
The buildings
Markets and Emporiums guarantee an immediate bonus of various kinds, as well as the possibility of carrying out stronger actions without placing too many assistants in the neighborhood in which they are present. However, building is very expensive, as buildings must be unlocked from your warehouse with the related action and paying money. Since unlocking all buildings of a type is also a condition that triggers the end of the game, it depends on each one's strategy which and how many to unlock.
Money
Money is a balancing component in this game, as you will rarely find yourself having to spend or accumulate a large amount of it. However, even a single coin can make a difference, for example if you have to go through a space where there is an opposing president, or, again, if you have to unlock a certain building. Hence, running out of yen completely can be risky.
final Thoughts
Yokohama is a beautiful game that leaves various avenues open to victory. I hope that this synthetic analysis can be useful for a comparison with one's own strategy or to help those who face the first games not to be stuck in front of the variety of possible actions.
