Rio Grande Games Yinsh - Award-Winning Abstract Strategy Board Game for Adults & Families | Perfect for Game Nights, Parties & Brain Training

Fun and challenging at the same time.As you approach the winning condition, your board position gets weaker. Great mechanism.Really makes you think har as you get closer to the winning condition.Have played over 200+ abstract games. This is in the top 5.This game works a different part of the brain. It's kind of like if chess and Othello had a baby and then that baby had a baby with lost cities then that baby went into the outback and met Go and then became best friends with Go and then decided to take a long walk in the desert alone to discover itself. Very tactical. I'm sure there's a strategy but I have yet to discover it.Fantastic game!Similar to the other Gipf games, which are all two-player abstract strategy (i.e., like chess) games. In this one your goal is to collect three rings of your color. Each player starts the game with 5 rings of their color on the board (placed however they like). By moving rings, you can place markers in your color on the board. Make a row of 5 markers of your color, and you get to collect one ring from the board. At the same time, your opponent can use their rings to change the markers you've placed to their color instead, and get their own row of 5. Because you use the rings to place/change markers, each ring you remove makes it harder to make a new row of 5, even as it gets you closer to winning.Be aware that this is not the original run of the game, so the box is different from the original. The picture on the Amazon page shows the original box art, but that is NOT what you're getting. If you're trying to get a matching set with the other 5 games be sure you get the correct printing. Beyond that, the game is the same, and though the pieces look slightly different they are still very high quality.Quick pick up and good pace. Everyone I've introduced it to really likes it. A lot of interesting characteristics for a simple abstract. It's difficult to perfect. You sacrifice to compete and surprised by outcomes. There is somewhat of a handicap as the player in the lead loses a piece. Sometimes you'll sit out a score to leverage a block. You can definitely get better at it despite feeling somewhat chaotic on the first couple plays. Only issue is minor wrinkling on the board edge which gives an unsightly spot where it looks like it's peeling some but very small and not enough to complain over.Without a doubt this is my favorite two-player abstract strategy game. It is a mix of Pente and Othello, but that really makes it sound too simple. It really is simple to learn, but it will take time to learn strategies. It takes 5 to 10 games to really appreciate the nuances of the game and after that it will be a game that you will never get rid of or avoid playing. You have to get 3 five in a rows to win and as you get a 5 in a row then you take your power pieces off the board along with your 5 pieces. This mechanic makes you weaker as you win. It is really hard to put into words how this works and why it is so great. The component quality is very good. If you are a fan of two-player abstract games then you do yourself a disservice by not picking this up. I HIGHLY recommend this game.Edit: It appears this game is out of print. It is still awesome, but don't pay too much for it. There are tons of other great strategy games available. I have heard that this game will get reprinted. So it should be back to a reasonable price be this fall or Christmas time.My wife and I love Yinsh, as it's easy to learn, but hard to master. Cliché? Well, maybe, but it's true.Each player, black and white, has a set of rings and places a token in their ring on their turn, then moves the ring. Once a player gets five of their color tokens in a row, the row is removed, along with one of that players rings. The first player to remove three rings of their own color wins. Of course, the more of your rings you remove, the harder it gets to make five in a row.The game starts out simply, but soon becomes very complex, especially after removing one or two rings. It requires some real strategic thinking.Anyway, it's simple to learn, and only takes thirty minutes or so. Yinch is a lot of fun, and can fit into our busy schedule. Give it a try, if you like quick abstract games, this is a good one.It's easy to learn, fast to play, but it'll take a while to master! Really solid game pieces, too.Wonderful abstract game! If you thought checkers was fun as a kid, but now is boring and chess is intriguing but isn't worth the lifestyle commitment to get good, Yinsh is for you. This has enough twists and changes in fate and things to pay attention to that the game remains very interesting. The rivalry with my wife has gotten pretty humorous and intense.As a side note, the box for this game is way bigger than it needs to be. If you want to conserve space and don't care about the box, you can get by without it since there's a bag for all the pieces other than the board.If you don't know about the GIPF series of abstract boardgames for two players, then YINSH would be a great place to start. Although currently hard to get hold of, it is worth both the effort and expense.The game itself is an exercise in organised chaos: after just a few turns, the board looks like a complete mess, but there is usually method inside that madness as the simple objective to connect five tokens of one's own colour is easily achievable early in the game, while keeping an eye on your opponent's plans less so. When a player does complete a line of five, his ability to complete the next one is lessened, hence giving an advantage to the player who is behind.Such an elegant and unobtrusive catch-up mechanism allied to a very solid abstract game takes YINSH from just very good to a great.Si gustas de los juegos de mesa y crees que el ajedrez es muy tardado o muy complejo o solo te parece elitista, este juego es del mismo género y puede ser la respuesta a tus plegarias, es elegante y sencillo, se ve muy bonito y tiene un Gameplay muy estratégico que no dura años. Si puedes comprarlo no lo dudes, no te arrepentirás.Buen juego para dos, sencillo de entender de lo que trata, difícil para dominarloThis is a great game that’s sometimes hard to find.The product was good quality. The game was fun. Thank you to the vendor.