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Set against the backdrop of the Classic period of the Maya civilization, Ahau: Rulers of Yucatán is a board game that offers players a chance to delve into the roles of Maya royal families. Your objective is simple yet challenging: expand your kingdom’s influence across the Yucatán peninsula to amass Fame and strive for the ultimate title of K’uhul Ahau, a ruler who unites and brings prosperity.
👥 1-5 players, ages 14+
⌛ Playing time: 90-120 minutes
📝 Designer: Oláh Tamás
🎨 Artwork: Lázár Aurél & Szabó Dávid
🏢 Publisher: Grand Gamers Guild (review copy provided)
The gameplay of Ahau is divided into segments called K’atuns, reflecting significant time spans in Maya history. Each K’atun is made up of multiple rounds, and the game reaches its conclusion when either a player completes their Pyramid, places their last Worker, or after the third K’atun ends.
👑 In every round, players go through two steps: moving their rulers and performing actions. The Movement Phase involves players selecting cards that determine where their rulers will go and how they’ll fare in conflicts with others over the same territories. It’s a mix of planning and guesswork as you try to anticipate your opponent’s moves. Once you’ve moved your ruler, you pick up a Pyramid tile from that region, which is, among others, important for building your pyramid, a central element of the game.
🏛️ After movement comes the Action Phase. Here, you place one of your Workers in a city, summon gods for special powers, and decide whether to gather resources or construct parts of your pyramid or other buildings. This phase is where the game’s strategy deepens. You need to think about where to place your workers, which gods to summon and when, and whether to focus on building or gathering resources.
🌄 When summoning gods, you call upon various gods, each with a unique power that can aid your strategy. For example, one god might help you gather more resources, while another could help you advance on the important Might track. The choice of god and how you use their powers can significantly influence your game strategy. Building is another critical aspect. As you construct your pyramid and other buildings, you gain benefits and points. The pyramid itself is a symbol of your progress in the game and is integral to winning.
⌛ At the end of each K’atun, there’s a celebration phase where players score points based on their achievements, like how many temples they’ve influenced or cities they control. The game can end in several ways, but ultimately, the player with the most Fame, signifying their influence and achievements, wins and is crowned K’uhul Ahau.
Ahau: Rulers of Yucatán, designed by Oláh Tamás and published by Apeiron Games, emerged from a successful Kickstarter campaign in early 2022. It’s a game that targets the serious board gamer, evident from its 14+ age recommendation, a suggestion that we find quite apt given the game’s complexity and depth.
🕰️ At its heart, Ahau is a crunchy Euro-style game, accommodating 1-5 players. The playing time of 90-120 minutes feels just right, though with more than three players, there can be a noticeable downtime during others’ action phases, which might stretch the game a bit longer than some would prefer.
🎨 The artwork by Lázár Aurél and Szabó Dávid beautifully complements the game’s theme, drawing players into the world of the ancient Maya civilization. The game’s components are of good quality, with sturdy cardboard tiles and lots of custom-shaped wooden meeples and resource tokens. The temples add a nice visual touch to the game, though they serve more as an aesthetic than a functional component. The only slight disappointment comes from the standees, which, in my opinion, could have been replaced with another form of custom-shaped meeples or miniatures for a more immersive experience.
🛡️ The gameplay in Ahau is heavily tactical, beginning with the movement of your Ruler into a region. This choice is critical as it sets the stage for potential conflicts, worker placement, and god summoning. Winning conflicts allows advancement on the Might track, offering valuable bonuses, but this is just one aspect of a multi-layered strategy.
🙏 The god-summoning demands thoughtful decisions about when and which gods to summon. This not only alters the game state to your advantage but also plays a role in scoring points from temples during the K’atun Celebrations. Building your pyramid is another key strategy, as it powers up your god-summoning actions and brings in rewards. Meanwhile, building tiles, despite being resource-intensive, provide potent benefits and shouldn’t be overlooked.
⚖️ Scoring in the game is quite special, especially in the temples. It’s based on the performance of the best player, even when that player hasn’t a disc placed there and isn’t eligible for scoring, allowing for strategic leeching of points. But, if you prefer a more individualistic approach, there’s also a personal scoring variant. The majority control in cities is another crucial point-gaining aspect during the K’atun Celebrations.
👪 For those wanting a simpler experience, the family variant scales down the complexity, making it more accessible for younger players. Additionally, the Eclipse expansion adds a new layer to the game with extra role cards, building tiles, special pyramid tiles, and event cards that influence the game rounds, necessitating adaptive strategies.
💭 Ahau: Rulers of Yucatán is a game rich in strategy and decision-making, ideal for those who relish complex, rewarding gameplay and don’t mind investing time in a steep learning curve. Each game promises a unique experience due to varying city setups, god-scoring tiles, and the order in which building tiles appear. The role cards further diversify the gameplay, ensuring that no two games feel the same. It’s a game that builds up gradually, offering a fulfilling experience for Eurogame lovers.
📝 Disclaimer: A review copy of Ahau: Rulers of Yucatán was provided by Grand Gamers Guild.
