LogFAQs > #967649448

19. Isle of Skye

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/176494/isle-skye-chieftain-king

Category: Player vs player
Key mechanics: Tile-laying, auction, point salad
Rules complexity (0 to 7): 4
Game length: 45-60 minutes
First played: 2017
Experience: 6-10 plays with 4-5 players

In Isle of Skye, each player builds their own isle of square tiles containing features like livestock, mountains, fields, roads, boats, and lakes. The game runs a set number of rounds. In a round, each player simultaneously draw three tiles that become that player's "marketplace"; they get to set prices on them. Then, each player in turn can buy up to one tile from an opponent, paying that opponent in cash. If no one buys your tile, you buy it from the bank. Then, tiles are laid, points are scored according to a changing rubric based on the contents of your island, and income is distributed.

For a legitimate medium-weight euro, one of the great strengths of Isle of Skye is its quick playtime. The fixed number of rounds ensures a relatively consistent playtime. And the simultaneous play of almost the entire game (other than purchasing), keeps the downtime quite low.

But the game isn't exactly lean and mean, either. It's a confluence of mechanics with somewhat visually involved tiles and a scoring track that's relatively straightforward but requires some head-space maneuvering. Each round of scoring is based off a different subset of four criteria - for example, boats might score in rounds 1, 3, and 5 this game, while animals score in rounds 2, 4, and 6. Or boats might not score at all during a given game, or they might only score once. In that sense, it's a little point salad-y, but because the randomized scoring conditions are laid out all at the beginning of the game, you can determine what you're interested in at the beginning. You can have a lot of fun just trying to construct a nice little island.

But of course, the layer that covers the tile-selection and -laying is actually the auction. I'm a huge fan of marketplaces where players interact in this economic way. There's such a fine balance between ensuring that you have a trickle of cash by having others buy your tiles, and trying to keep your own tiles to score them. Get both your tiles bought in a round, and you may end up with only one or zero tiles to place for the round - but you go into next round flush with cash. Buy everything and keep your own islands, and you get three tiles for tons of points - but your next round is handicapped, and you actually can't even set high prices for the tiles you draw! Really interesting tug of war in terms of incentives.

In the end, Isle of Skye isn't a dramatic game. It's highly consistent. The player interaction will lead to some fist-shaking and face-palms as people get their most desirable tiles sniped from them or realize they're buying something for their own island at way too high a cost. But other than that, the most exciting thing that will happen is that you manage to enclose your little scroll and get to do a little dance to yourself.

And honestly, I think that's really nice. Not every game has to have soaring emotional highs - Isle of Skye instead manages to have a multi-level puzzle, none of which is murderously difficult, but which together can put your brain through several paces. The ebb and flow of the economy ensures that each player experiences dips and scads of cash throughout. And its compact playtime for its relative intricacy is great.