Rising Sun Review

Rising Sun has been one of the most anticipated games of the last year. It collected almost 3.5 million on KickStarter alone. EUR and was discussed on almost every video channel of game reviewers. Finally, when Rising Sun is also available on Latvian store shelves, it's time to see what kind of beast it really is. I should add right away that I have the KickStarter version of the game, which comes with more and better quality components.

Subject matter

The game is about mythological Japan, where players represent different clans that fight each other for regions and influence in them. Japanese mythology is very widely represented in the game, which manifests itself in the form of various deities. Along with the forces of each clan, dragons, demons and various monsters can be seen on the playing field. The theme is very interesting and perfectly brought to life in the game mechanics.

Components

Top quality. No seriously, everything from the thumbnails to the graphic design is WOW. The playing area is huge, it is very gorgeous and austerely decorated, but in no way interferes with the functionality of the game. Each player has unique clan figures that look very good on the board. Likewise, the monster figures are extremely detailed and nuanced. While playing the game, it is worth exploring them in more detail and discovering the many details. A very good solution has been found to distinguish different figurines from each other, namely, the figurines have rings of different colors on the bottom, which help to quickly see bushi, shinto, daimyo and monsters. Considering the dimensions of the components, you should pay attention to whether the table is big enough at home, because the area of ​​the playing card is 89x59 cm.

Mechanics

Rising Sun isn't just about a pretty exterior and fancy figurines. The game has a lot of interesting mechanics, which are successfully complemented by the interaction between players. The game is played in three rounds, and its basic mechanics are area control and action selection.

At the beginning of each round, players take part in a tea ceremony, during which they form alliances and try to agree on some way to distribute influence. The game encourages players to communicate with each other by bribing and debating each other to build cooperation.

Each player must then choose from the four cards available to them which action to take. The catch is that absolutely all players will be able to perform this action, but you and your ally will be able to perform an enhanced version of this action with powerful additional benefits. Considering that only 7 such moves are played in a round, good communication with your partner is very important. This mechanic also ensures that every action involves all players in the game, which greatly reduces the amount of time you wait for your turn.

Players can perform 5 types of actions - recruit, move, buy cards, collect resources from controlled regions or betray their ally.

At the end of each round, there is a battle phase where player forces battle each other for the provinces of Japan. The war is resolved with a very exciting auction mechanic, where each combatant behind his shield can bet money on four different options (one or more). Only the winner will be able to choose to do or not do this option. Players can commit seppuku , capture opponents, call in reinforcements, or write poetry about the outcome of the battle. The catch here is that the money resources are very limited and mostly players will participate in several battles in one round, but the winner of the battle distributes all the money invested in the auction to its losers, and if these two opponents later participate in another battle, then it may happen that the winner is in a completely different distribution of forces.

Among the mechanics, it is also necessary to mention the honorary mechanics. There are quite a lot of draw situations in the game, for example, when everyone placed 2 coins on a certain position in the auction. All ties are decided in favor of the player with the higher honor. It even happened to us that in this way a winner was determined in the case of a tied number of points. Players have a variety of ways to fight for honor, but players are often left with a dilemma as they have several cards that work very well when you have less honor than everyone else.

Overall, the mechanics work very well, they are dynamic, feel fresh and force players to make difficult tactical decisions, but they are not too complex and allow new players to learn the game in a relatively short time.

Multiplayer

Since the big KickStarter box arrived, the game has been played 6 times in a month, which is a lot for such a 2-3 hour long game. It has been good in both 3, 4 and 6 player teams and has become a hit in our family. The game has been loved by everyone who has tried it and left wanting to play a repeat game the next day.

It should also be noted that each of the player's clans is asymmetrical, which additionally improves the multiplayer. The game comes with many monsters and decks that don't appear in every game, so the multiplayer is very high.

Rating

Many consider Rising Sun to be the sequel to the famous Blood Rage, but I won't make a comparison, even though I've played both. In my opinion, they are two completely different games with very different mechanics. I think any of these are great games to add to your collection. My choice was in favor of Rising Sun, because the theme of mythological Japan is not so widely represented in the world of board games, and the game uses many innovative mechanics. I definitely recommend Rising Sun to those gamers who like gigantic, epic and visually appealing games. This is definitely a variant that packs it in with well-designed and polished mechanics. Rating 9 out of 10.

You can buy the game at the Brain Games store at K. Barona Street 55 or at the online store: Rising Sun

Board Game Geek rating: 8.3

Author: Kristaps Auzāns

Pictures from Board game geek and Rising Sun KickStarter.