Description
Edo — what we now know today as Tokyo, Japan — was a thriving city with an estimated population of one million, half townspeople and half samurai. With a huge shopping culture, Edo’s main district, Nihonbashi, was lined with shops, selling kimonos, rice, and so much more.
Nihonbashi is the focus of IKI A Game of EDO Artisans (designed by Koota Yamada), which brings you on a journey through the famed street of old Tokyo. Hear the voices of Nihonbashi Bridge’s great fish market. Meet the professionals, who carry out 700-800 different jobs. Enter the interactivity of the shoppers and vendors. Become one with the townspeople.
One of the main professions in the world of Edo is the artisan. Each of the Edo artisans uses their own skill of trade to support the townspeople’s lives. In this game, not only are there artisans, but street vendors, sellers at the shops, and professions unique to this time and age. Meet the puppet masters, putting on a show. Meet the ear cleaners that people would line up for.
The goal of IKI A Game of EDO Artisans is to become the annual Edoite, best personifying what is known as “IKI”, an ancient philosophy believed to be the ideal way of living among people in Edo. Knowing the subtleties of human nature, being refined and attractive — these are all elements of a true IKI master.
| Game Details | |
|---|---|
| Name | IKI (2015) |
| Complexity | Medium [3.04] |
| BGG Rank | 456 [7.66] |
| Player Count | 2-4 |
Geoff Byers –
Iki is an unusual one for me. I’m not a massive euro fan, but the premise of the game, concerning flexibility, constant change, and impermanence, was interesting. And Iki delivers, in a way I find slightly annoying, but also incredibly replayable. Each season there are new workers, new things to acquire, new business to do, and there is constant movement and a need to balance things between using your own workers, and those of the other players. You cannot simply build an engine or a tableau, as workers cycle in and out, improving as they promoted, before retiring, leaving you with a gap you need to fill. This is a constant process, of workers coming in and out of the game, your ‘engine’ must change and lose and add parts, and you need to keep it running with wise expenditure of money and resources. This is the thing I find annoying, which isn’t necessarily a flaw in the game: I’m used to just building an engine and adding to it and letting it run. Iki never lets you do that. You always need to change, to flow, to do something different, and it is a different type of challenge, requiring you to diversify your thought.