Manage a Roman Port in Ostia, and Get Cracking on Your Stacking

• In 2020, Japanese publisher uchibacoya ran its first Kickstarter campaign for the enticing-looking game Aqua Garden from designer Totsuca Chuo.

Now the designer and publisher are back with a new KS project for Ostia, a 2-4 player game set in 103 CE when the Emperor Trajan oversaw the expansion of an artificial harbor in Rome to improve the nearby workings of the port Ostia.

In the game, each player has their own version of the hexagonally-shaped port that contains nine ships at the start of play. On a turn, you choose one of the six sections of your port, gain resources of the type shown in that section (wood, wheat, stone, gold, or permits) equal to the value of the ships in that section, then spread the ships mancala-style one by one around the port, then take the action of the section where the final ship was placed.

With the actions, you can build more ships, fulfill orders for food, construct buildings, move your ships on the main board, trade, or take an administrative action. (The administrative section has no resource associated with it, but when you choose that section initially, instead of taking resources, you take an action of your choice, then move ships like normal and take a second action — which could be another administrative action, after which you'll move again!)

The Kickstarter description notes that Ostia was "Inspired by Trajan", and that seems like a fair description given how tightly interwoven all your choices and actions are.

Additionally, other uchibacoya titles are available as add-ons, including the oddball co-operative trick-taking game Bremen, in which the "deck" is a set of 52 animal tokens in four colors, and your goal in a four-player game of twelve tricks is to have one player take six tricks, another four tricks, another two tricks, and the final player zero tricks. Oh, and for each player to have a different suit left in their hand.

Another uchibacoya title is Sapporo 1876, which lacks a BGG listing but which has a few images and a short Japanese description here:

Sapporo1876の最終サンプルが完成しました！最高〜！

2人用のヴァリアブルフェイズオーダーやサブアクション、リソースマネジメントにエリアマジョリティ、ワーカームーブメントと要素モリモリながら、プレイ時間は45分！作者のTakewatchさんの手腕がピカリと光る中量級ゲームです！ pic.twitter.com/aNl250W2xh
— uchibacoya (@uchibacoya) February 1, 2022

• I missed the past couple of KS campaigns from designer Mitsuo Yamamoto of Logy Games, which is a shame as his creations feature a lot of handmade components and you're unlikely to ever find his games available in retail stores — but he sometimes makes games available again in future campaigns.

In August 2021, he ran a crowdfunding campaign for Pyramiland, which seems like a generalized form of ball-stacking design as Yamamoto notes that depending on the set-up of the board, you can use the components to play Pylos, Shibumi, and Upper Hand. Here's how Yamamoto's design works:

Quote:

Your challenge in Pyramiland is to rid yourself of the balls in your collection first.

To set up, place up to sixty pegs in the holes of the wooden game board to create the field of play, and give each player the same number of wooden balls. On a turn, you place a ball on the playing area, then you can play again if you can place a ball so that it touches the ball just placed while also being on a higher level. You can continue to take extra turns so long as you can do this.

When you place on the lowest level, your ball must be supported by four wooden pegs. On the second level and higher, your ball just needs to be supported by other balls, but due to the layout of the pegs, not all of the balls will be in identical rows, so you likely won't have a clean, regular-shaped pyramid as you build to higher levels.

Whoever places their final ball first wins. If a player cannot place a ball or knocks a ball from the pyramid, including one just placed, the game ends, that player loses, and whoever has the fewest balls remaining wins.

Yamamoto also notes that you can play the game with balls of different sizes:

Or with components that are not balls at all:

Why am I writing about all of this if the KS campaign is over? Because the design is interesting, especially in terms of it being a model that encompasses other similar games. Maybe Yamamoto will make it available again down the road or you might be inspired to do some woodwork on your own so that you can stack random objects in the comfort of your own home.