Ryozen: Towering Above Animal Kin in All the Wrong Ways
Collect moon shards and explore the world around a mysterious tower as anthropomorphic kin in Ryozen.
I’ve been neglecting some new arrivals recently, and I was rather curious to explore something that arrived over the summer. Ryozen uses a rotating board and growing tower to provide some interesting new components. Plus, animals! With everything punched and organized, I set to work learning how to gain favor and pick up lots of moon shards!
Game Overview
Game Name: Ryozen
Publication Year: 2024
Designers: Martino Chiacchiera & Michele Piccolini
Artist: Andrea Butera
Publisher: Tabula Games
Solo Mode: Included in Ryozen: Solo Mode
Over 3 rounds, kin set out to gain bonuses and take up their places for majorities. The theme quickly melted away for me, unfortunately, but there is an interesting unit upgrade action and some neat ways to collect the most valuable resources. Onward with a rotating tower board!
First Play
September 29, 2024
Complexity
2
Latest Play
September 29, 2024
Expansions
2
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
1
Play Time
50 Minutes
High Score
99
Game Area
28" x 26"
Low Score
99
Pretty Components
I really enjoyed the upgraded components that came with this deluxe edition! The coins, scrolls, and lanterns all looked well-produced and I loved their aesthetic.
Unfortunately, that was where the quality of the game seemed to stall. The insert had pieces falling into wells, damaged component holders, and lots of wasted space.
This utilizes a rotating board, which has to be screwed into the main board with every play. Lots of work.
And the central cardboard tower? Most of the edges split when I put together each level, which was disappointing.
Upgradeable Units
As I muddled through the rules, I found a pretty neat set of mechanics. I started off with a total of 6 units, and most of them were apprentices without any special abilities.
By placing them on the board in action spaces, they would be able to activate… If they were properly trained!
New units came out randomly, though, so there was a cool set of decisions about which ones to focus on. I managed to upgrade 4 of 5 apprentices by the end. Very cool!
However, note that the player colors are hard to tell apart. These are my purple tiles, but I mistook them for orange.
Totally Unnecessary
Oh, no. The actual core of gameplay was really cool with placing the units, which might fight each other and competed for the majority in the areas. I enjoyed it!
But the rotating board? It was only there to highlight 3 of 6 regions with the black border and then turn to highlight the other set. So… Rotating was entirely not needed.
Similarly, I thought the tower would be integral to gameplay. Nope. It simply tracked round 1, 2, or 3.
Going vertical looks cool, but is prone to creating visibility issues for players. Some unfortunate component choices.
Lots of Unit Abilities
I thought there was a pretty solid system here, though! The different units were never guaranteed to come out, and there were many to create a very variable game.
As I replaced my apprentices, I saw some neat elements come through in the way I used these units. My archer attacked from afar, allowing me to snap up majorities.
Things moved pretty quickly, too, with a deck for the solo opponent that laid out the area to activate.
Unfortunately, there were a lot of ambiguities and the rules seemed to state I should choose the worst option.
Lamenting Unnecessary Components
My classic example of unnecessary is from Yucatan… Interestingly, that one also uses an enormous vertical element to track something simple. At least this tower fits in the base game box, so I can’t complain too much! But this isn’t meant as a complaint. More of a perplexed stance about the choice to replace simpler components for no added benefit.
The tower is merely there to track if it’s round 1, 2, or 3. And the rotating board? That would have been simple enough to use special cardboard tokens to move around. Although I didn’t play with more players, it was frustrating to have my stack of unit tiles rotate away from me to a place behind the tower that was sometimes awkward to reach.
I still think this one had the potential to be a very interesting game with a little more development and better production choices. Trying something new is still appreciated, yet one play brought out a ton of usability issues. I know my husband will want to try this out, and we’ll see how he feels about working around a tall, rotating tower!
Towering Above
This became rather silly towards the end, when I had to move it to see how many units were stacked in the tower spaces to keep an eye on the majority. Very frustrating.
It might not be clear in all of these images, but the circular board also meant that a fair amount of iconography was upside down for me. Not terrible, but noticeable…
Especially when some icons point left or right, so I had to remember to reverse that in my mind before moving.
I really wanted to enjoy this, and there were some glimmers of greatness! But it all felt unfinished.
Moon Shard Explosion
During my initial rulebook reading, it looked like moon shards were the main source of victory points. So I was always lagging behind the solo opponent during play…
Only to have this collection score at the end. That amounted to 60 victory points, putting me at the highest victory point space of 99. Yikes! I didn’t do that well, did I?
I even tossed extra victory points over to the solo opponent, and I still won by a large margin.
With no reason to play again, I’m content with this lone play. I’ll be moving onward and upward to games I enjoy!
Session Overview
Play Number: 1
Expansion 1: Ryozen: Solo Mode
Expansion 2: Ryozen: Unique Booster Pack
Solo Mode: Included in Ryozen: Solo Mode
Play Details: Heroic Difficulty Level
Outcome: 99-81 (Win)
Since tied majorities were always broken by this palace space, I simply hung out there all the time. It felt like it was way too overpowered, and mirrored how a lot of the game seemed… Underdeveloped. At least I had a little fun with the units, though! Just wish the game was better.
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
1
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
4
Quality
Components & Rules
3
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
4
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
7
+ Pros (Positives)
- Upgrading and replacing units is a very neat mechanic, especially with the randomness and strategy possibilities.
- The plastic coins, scrolls, and lanterns are excellent and help add a unique appearance to the game’s resources.
- Planning out majority bonuses is rather clever and can take unexpected turns with the way kin can attack.
- Cloaked or uncloaked tiles serve different purposes, and help add another interesting decision layer to actions.
- Some of the events can actually be used to only attack the solo opponent, which is a neat moment when it works.
- Most of the core rules are straightforward and not difficult to put into practice after getting through the rulebook.
– Cons (Negatives)
- The component quality is rather poor with cardboard that is already separating and a disappointing plastic insert.
- Some neat mechanics are present, but the rulebook is confusing and worded in a hard-to-understand format.
- A rotating board and vertical tower track basic elements, only extending setup and making it hard to see spaces.
- Many elements of the solo mode are left up to the solo player to make the worst decisions for the solo opponent.
Victory Conditions
Score the Most Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game at the heroic difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
What do you think of Ryozen? Has a solo game ever felt like it had new components that replaced simpler versions? I don’t mean to sound too harsh, yet for the price I paid, this felt like it introduced all sorts of issues with more expensive elements. At least I tried it out! Now, I have a chance to look ahead to some more games with the potential to be great!
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