Ayar: Children of the Sun – Balance Is Everything

Before we take a look at Ayar: Children of the Sun, let’s start with a bit of context. This is the third entry in Osprey’s historical euro trilogy that started with Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road and continued with Sankoré: The Pride of Mansa Musa. Same design DNA, same artist, and a new setting. Ayar shifts the focus to Incan mythology and that familiar balance of clarity and depth, with Fabio Lopiano and Mandela Fernández-Grandón on design and Ian O’Toole on visuals. If you’ve touched either of the first two, you’ll recognise the clean structure and the attention to theme straight away.

In Ayar: Children of the Sun, you play as an Incan clan helping the mythical Ayar siblings on their long journey from Tiwanaku to Cusco. The siblings are said to be the children of Inti, the sun god, and Mama Quilla, the moon goddess, and you’re trying to earn their favour while learning the skills of Incan life along the way. The whole thing plays out over four rounds, each split into a day and a night. By the end of the final night, when the last Ayar reaches Cusco, the clan that managed to stay most in balance between the sun and the moon will be named the Inca of Privilege.

👥 1-4 players, ages 14+
⌛ Playing time: 60-90 minutes
📝 Designers: Mandela Fernandez-Grandon & Fabio Lopiano
🎨 Artwork: Ian O’Toole

🏢 Publisher: Osprey Games (review copy provided)

Gameplay Overview

The game lasts four rounds, each divided into a day and a night. During the day, players take turns guiding the Ayar siblings further along their journey and developing the skills of their clans. When night falls, one Ayar retires, and everyone scores their progress for that round. The tricky bit is that you track the sun and the moon separately, but only the lower one will count at the end, so balance really is everything.

Before the first day begins, there’s a small warm-up where everyone does one simple action at power 1. It’s just a quick start, but it helps set the tone for the rest of the game.

Each day follows a clear flow. You start by placing a step marker on your board to show which Ayar you’ll move and how strong your action will be. The chosen Ayar moves closer to Cusco, and you build a small tambo, a kind of waystation, behind them. The spot where you build the tambo determines which action you’ll do that turn.

There are four different types of action in the game: pottery, weaving, terrace farming, and reed bundling. Pottery lets you collect pots from the lake, forming sets that please the moon while also increasing your devotion to the sun. Weaving adds textiles to your board, helping you complete columns for moon points and revealing suns for Inti. Terrace farming is all about planting maize on the lake, uncovering more sun and moon symbols on your board. And reed bundling moves your boat across Lake Titicaca, where you can place islands that reveal new values and sometimes earn Viracocha tokens, which give handy bonuses.

Everything you do connects to the two gods in some way. Suns you gain during the day increase your devotion to Inti, which you track on your dial. At dawn, that devotion turns into actual sun points. Moons, on the other hand, show Mama Quilla’s favour and are scored during the night.

At the end of your turn, you check for progress. Clearing tambos can unlock temples that will score later (and the longer an Ayar stays in the game, the more valuable those temples can become). Completing rows or columns gives you small personal bonuses, and if you cross a Raymi tile, a shared festival happens where everyone gets a little reward. Once everyone has used up all their step markers, the day comes to an end.

At night, the Ayar who has travelled the least retires. The player who planted the most maize that round takes the Viracocha token linked to that Ayar. Any temples connected to the retiring Ayar are scored and removed, and then each player scores one of their own activities for the moon. Finally, everyone converts their devotion to Inti into sun points as dawn breaks, stands their step markers upright again, and gets ready for a new day.

After four rounds, the final Ayar reaches the end of their journey. Then comes the last step: dividing your llamas between sun and moon to adjust your scores according to the chart on the board. Your final score is whichever of the two tracks is lower, showing how well you balanced your devotion to both gods. The player with the highest balanced score becomes the Inca of Privilege.

Gameplay & Flow

Once you get the rhythm of Ayar: Children of the Sun, it starts to make sense in that satisfying way where everything suddenly clicks. Each round follows the same structure: you place your step markers, move one of the Ayar siblings, and take an action. It sounds simple enough, but the fun is in how those little choices connect. It’s a game that rewards timing more than planning.

Even with just four actions to pick from, there’s a lot to think about. Every game starts a bit differently depending on how the board is set up, so you can’t just repeat the same strategy each time. You have to adapt, and sometimes you just have to make the best of what’s available.

What keeps it interesting is how everything you do ripples through the rest of the game. Building a tambo opens new options later, placing a temple sets up scoring down the line, and pushing too far on the moon track can throw your sun devotion out of balance. Since only your lowest track counts at the end, you’re constantly trying to keep the two sides in check.

Turn order plays a bigger role than it looks at first. The last player each round often decides which Ayar retires, which can shift the timing of temple scoring or catch someone off guard. That bit of indirect control keeps everyone alert without ever turning the game mean.

Once you see how all the moving parts fit together, it’s a smooth experience. It’s structured, sure, but it never feels dry or mechanical. The game just has this quiet rhythm that starts to make sense after a round or two.

Strategy & Luck

Ayar is the kind of game that makes you adjust on the fly. The setup changes from game to game, with the Raymi tiles, lake board, and scoring opportunities always shifting around, and some actions become more valuable depending on how the boards line up. You can’t just play on autopilot.

Luck doesn’t really drive the game. It’s there in the setup and maybe in turn order, but your success mostly comes down to reading the table and acting at the right moment. You won’t always get to do the exact action you wanted, and that’s part of the fun.

After a few plays, one thing becomes pretty clear. It’s better to focus on two actions than to spread yourself thin across all four. Trying to do everything usually means doing none of it well. The best results come from picking a couple of things to focus on and timing them properly, while keeping both tracks as balanced as you can.

It’s not a game where you build an engine or chase combos. It’s more about staying flexible, reacting to what’s in front of you, and recognising when to push and when to hold back. It’s that kind of game that feels really satisfying when it works out.

Player Interaction

At first glance, Ayar looks like a calm, think-for-yourself kind of game, but the shared Ayar paths make sure you can’t completely ignore what others are doing. Everyone moves the same Ayar figures, so the board keeps changing in small but important ways. Sometimes another player’s move opens a perfect opportunity for you, and sometimes it ruins everything you were building toward.

The real tension comes from timing. Because the Ayar who’s furthest behind retires each night, players can influence which one that will be. That little bit of control can make a big difference. Being last in turn order helps here, which is great when it’s you and not so great when you’re watching your plan fall apart.

The Raymi festivals are another shared moment that keeps everyone connected. When someone triggers one, everyone benefits, but not equally. The player who prepared for it usually comes out on top. It’s all quite polite, no direct conflict or blocking, but there’s enough friction to keep you watching what everyone else is doing.

Ayar might look peaceful, but it’s a lot more interactive than it first appears. It’s not about fighting for space; it’s about staying in tune with the changing flow of the table.

Theme & Atmosphere

The game takes its setting seriously. You’re guiding Incan clans alongside the mythical Ayar siblings on their journey from Tiwanaku to Cusco, and that theme isn’t just pasted on top. The actions themselves, pottery, weaving, terrace farming and reed bundling, are all drawn straight from Incan life, and that makes the whole thing feel grounded.

The balance between the sun and the moon isn’t just a neat scoring trick, it ties into the mythology beautifully. You’re literally trying to stay in harmony between Inti and Mama Quilla, and that tension carries through every round.

The art really helps build that sense of place. Ian O’Toole’s work is clean and detailed, full of warm Andean colours and small decorative touches that make the boards feel alive. The rulebook even includes little bits of history that connect what you’re doing on the table to real culture and tradition.

To be fair, once you start playing, the theme steps back a bit. The gameplay becomes quite procedural, more about timing and planning than storytelling. Still, the balance between the gods gives the whole experience a kind of quiet soul.

Components & Art

This game looks gorgeous on the table. The main board stretches across the table with golden mountain paths, while the separate lake board shows Lake Titicaca in calm blues and greens. Together they make a bright but clear setup that’s easy to read once you’ve played a turn or two.

The player boards follow the same design style, busy at first glance but well-organised. The iconography is consistent, so it all starts to feel natural after a short while.

The wooden tambos, small maize cubes, boats, Ayar figures and llamas all look great. It’s colourful without being messy, and there’s a nice sense of texture once the board starts filling up. You’ll need a big table though. Let’s face it, this game takes space, but it earns it. By the end, it looks like an Andean tapestry spread out in front of you.

Accessibility & Complexity

The age recommendation of 14+ is about right. It’s not a difficult game to explain, but it takes a bit to see how all the systems link together. The first round feels like a practice run for everyone.

In our experience, playtime usually lands around 90 minutes for two or three players. With four, it can stretch to two hours, especially if people think through every move. It’s what you’d call mid-weight, thinky but not overwhelming, and strategic without being stressful.

The rulebook is one of the best parts. It’s clear, well-structured and full of illustrated examples that make learning easy. It even includes short notes about Incan culture, a proper solo mode and useful reference cards for all players. Everything feels thoughtfully put together, which makes teaching the game smooth even for first-time players.

Pacing & Replayability

Each of the four rounds has its own tempo. Early turns are quick, but as the board fills, every choice starts to matter more. It’s a steady, thoughtful kind of pacing, never rushed, never dragging.

The pace builds nicely as the journey continues. Each retired Ayar tightens the board and raises the stakes, so every round feels more important than the last. That natural escalation keeps things engaging all the way to the end.

Replayability is solid thanks to the variable setup. The changing Raymi tiles make each game unfold differently, and the shifting focus from one set of actions to another keeps things fresh. It’s not full of surprises, but it’s a game that grows on you the more you play.

Final Thoughts

Ayar: Children of the Sun is all about balance, both in its gameplay and in how it feels to play. It looks calm, but there’s a lot happening under the surface. You’re constantly timing your actions, watching the shared paths and trying to keep your two tracks from drifting apart.

It’s a game that doesn’t need drama to feel satisfying. The tension comes from small moments, like scoring just before someone else does, triggering a festival at the right time, or seeing your early sun devotion pay off several rounds later.

To be honest, Ayar won’t be for everyone. If you’re into fast, chaotic games full of surprises, this one might feel a bit slow or too structured. Turns can be methodical, and it’s definitely more about quiet thinking than big, dramatic moments. But that’s kind of the point. It’s steady, it’s deliberate, and it knows exactly what it wants to be. Once you accept that, it becomes satisfying, like solving a tricky puzzle at your own pace while the rest of the table does the same.

If you enjoy games that give you space to think, Ayar really hits that spot. It’s smart without trying to show off, and the balance between sun and moon gives it a nice bit of character that stays with you after you pack it away. There’s something quietly satisfying about ending a session with both tracks perfectly balanced. You look at the board, take a breath, and it just feels right, like everything came together the way it should.

📝 We received a review copy from Osprey Games.