2016 French English 1st Edition (Review Copy)
Published by: What's Your Game?
# of players 2 to 4
Published by: What's Your Game?
# of players 2 to 4
Nippon has players venturing back to Japan when it was no longer isolated. Western influence has brought Japan into the industrial age, but Japan is having to catch up to the rest of the world. In Nippon players are Zaibatsu. Zaibatsu is the Japanese term for an industrial conglomerate. As these conglomerates, players will be trying to build new factories, improve technologies and win influence in the market. Nippon claims to be a fast-paced economic game with challenging decisions. Does Nippon deliver on it's claims?
Components
The components in Nippon were hit and miss. The color scheme and overall design fit well with the theme. The actual art is kind of bland and does not add anything to the game. Workers are represented by 6 different color meeples and did not pose any issues for my color blind player. The one issue I had was the game board quality. The board appears to be already falling apart and bubbling up at one the seams. This was after opening the game for the very first time and have heard some others had the same issue. The rule book is highly detailed and provides instructions for every detail. I appreciate the single page appendix that was provided separate from the rule book for references on some of the different icon meanings. Each player also got a sheet that detailed the consolidate action as well as what each factory bonus was. These extras made learning and playing the game easier and I wish more games did this.
The components in Nippon were hit and miss. The color scheme and overall design fit well with the theme. The actual art is kind of bland and does not add anything to the game. Workers are represented by 6 different color meeples and did not pose any issues for my color blind player. The one issue I had was the game board quality. The board appears to be already falling apart and bubbling up at one the seams. This was after opening the game for the very first time and have heard some others had the same issue. The rule book is highly detailed and provides instructions for every detail. I appreciate the single page appendix that was provided separate from the rule book for references on some of the different icon meanings. Each player also got a sheet that detailed the consolidate action as well as what each factory bonus was. These extras made learning and playing the game easier and I wish more games did this.
Gameplay
Nippon is a unique game that instead of placing workers, you are instead taking workers from the action spot. The goal in Nippon is to have the most victory points after the worker pool has been cleared 5 times plus 3 last rounds. During a player's turn they will be performing one of two things. A player may take 1 worker from the main game board and perform the corresponding action or a player may consolidate. When a player takes a worker they place them on the left most space on their player board that is empty. The player board also contains tracks for coal and money gained after consolidation and knowledge track for buildings. On the bottom of the player board is 9 goals that can give victory points depending on the multiplier that is placed on the space during the game. Players also have ships and trains that increase influence or provide victory points for the area they are placed in.
Nippon is a unique game that instead of placing workers, you are instead taking workers from the action spot. The goal in Nippon is to have the most victory points after the worker pool has been cleared 5 times plus 3 last rounds. During a player's turn they will be performing one of two things. A player may take 1 worker from the main game board and perform the corresponding action or a player may consolidate. When a player takes a worker they place them on the left most space on their player board that is empty. The player board also contains tracks for coal and money gained after consolidation and knowledge track for buildings. On the bottom of the player board is 9 goals that can give victory points depending on the multiplier that is placed on the space during the game. Players also have ships and trains that increase influence or provide victory points for the area they are placed in.
When a player takes a meeple, they must perform one of the actions that are listed on the spot. Most of the spaces have a money cost to use, such as building a new factory or upgrading a technology. There are 6 industries that you can build factories for. Silk and paper require the least amount of knowledge, followed by bento and lenses. Clocks and light bulb factories require the most knowledge to build. There are two ways to meet the knowledge requirement. Each player has a knowledge track that they can increase throughout the game. If a player chooses to ignore the knowledge track, they have the option of trying to get blueprints from bonuses that will provide a knowledge currency that can be spent to get factories. Each factory has a coal requirement to produce it's good and can only hold 4 goods each. Players will use goods to provide influence in different areas of the board or will use them for contracts. Japan is divided into 4 regions with 2 cities in each region. Each city has a random tile that contains 4 goods.(1 per side of the tile) Providing goods of a certain type allows you to place one of your influence tiles in the space next to the that random tile. The contracts are one time goals that provide victory points and/or moving up on the money track.
Why are the workers 6 different colors if they provide the same action on the space they are on? When a player chooses to consolidate they must pay 3000 yen for each color worker they have on their player board. So if you can get workers of the same color, you will be paying less to consolidate. There are times when you will have to decide if a certain action is worth paying for another color type of worker. A player must consolidate if they do not or can not take a worker. The player will discard any remaining coal and yen that is on their player board. The player will then receive coal and yen based on their positions on those tracks. You will receive an Emperor's reward if you have taken at least 3 workers before consolidating. These rewards provide money, blueprints, or coal. After you take the reward you will flip over the token and place the multiplier (2-5) in one of your end game scoring categories. The multiplier depends on which column you take the bonus from and how many workers you had before you consolidated. Finally you will place all your workers back into the bag and are ready for to take a worker during your next turn.
Each action space starts with 3 workers and there are 5 reserve spaces with 3 workers each to refill when an action space becomes empty. Once all the reserve spaces are empty you will move up on the turn marker. There will be 3 times you score points for your influence in the various regions of Japan. Players who are first, second and third will receive points, but the board also has an outside influence that could also be ahead of you in influence of the area. After the reserve has been cleared 5 times, players will take 3 more turns each and finally scoring will begin. The player with the highest score wins the game.
Each action space starts with 3 workers and there are 5 reserve spaces with 3 workers each to refill when an action space becomes empty. Once all the reserve spaces are empty you will move up on the turn marker. There will be 3 times you score points for your influence in the various regions of Japan. Players who are first, second and third will receive points, but the board also has an outside influence that could also be ahead of you in influence of the area. After the reserve has been cleared 5 times, players will take 3 more turns each and finally scoring will begin. The player with the highest score wins the game.
Final Thoughts
Nippon provided me with some great tense moments that I have not felt in many other games. The game was not as fast-paced as I would hope, but that is due to times when people are really thinking of what they want to do. I see the possibility of a player running away with the game. The games I played had two players competing while the other two lagged behind. I do think that will not be seen as much when players are more experienced with the game. I really liked the taking workers from the action you want and having all the actions available to you but at a possible cost. I was disappointed in the board condition and also wish they would have named the cities. The theme was just pasted on and not felt from the game-play or art. The games took a really long time and will take up the majority of your game night. I feel people who enjoy euro economic style type games will enjoy Nippon. Worker placement fans may find the variation fresh, but may not like having every action available all game. I enjoyed the tense moments and the decisions I had to make with taking colors other players wanted or something that may benefit me. You need to be paying attention to all the players and their boards at all times to try and maneuver yourself into the best position. Nippon will be added to my collection as a good medium weight euro game.
Nippon provided me with some great tense moments that I have not felt in many other games. The game was not as fast-paced as I would hope, but that is due to times when people are really thinking of what they want to do. I see the possibility of a player running away with the game. The games I played had two players competing while the other two lagged behind. I do think that will not be seen as much when players are more experienced with the game. I really liked the taking workers from the action you want and having all the actions available to you but at a possible cost. I was disappointed in the board condition and also wish they would have named the cities. The theme was just pasted on and not felt from the game-play or art. The games took a really long time and will take up the majority of your game night. I feel people who enjoy euro economic style type games will enjoy Nippon. Worker placement fans may find the variation fresh, but may not like having every action available all game. I enjoyed the tense moments and the decisions I had to make with taking colors other players wanted or something that may benefit me. You need to be paying attention to all the players and their boards at all times to try and maneuver yourself into the best position. Nippon will be added to my collection as a good medium weight euro game.
Taco gives Nippon a rating of...
8.0 out of 10
Pros:
+ Fresh take on use of worker meeples
+ Some tense decision making
+ Solid rule book and player guides
Cons:
- Long game and will be longer with AP prone players
- Theme was pasted on
- Game board quality
Pros:
+ Fresh take on use of worker meeples
+ Some tense decision making
+ Solid rule book and player guides
Cons:
- Long game and will be longer with AP prone players
- Theme was pasted on
- Game board quality
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