by DoomTurtle
Wasabi is a game that I have some history with since the beginning of my gaming "career". I won a door prize and was given the opportunity to choose a game from a selection at my very first gaming convention in the summer of 2010, Michicon. I had a very limited knowledge of gaming then, as I owned only HeroQuest and Arkham Horror, and had only played a few other games once at a monthly meetup that just started and this convention itself.There were three games I was looking to take. Either Dwarven Dig, Beowulf: The Legend (both because of my affinity for fantasy/adventure games at the time), and Wasabi (because my wife and I both love sushi). All I really had to go by at the moment was the back of the box to understand what these were about. Beowulf looked too abstract, and I had never read the book or seen the movie, so that was out. And Dwarven Dig seemed way more exciting than Wasabi, so that's what I chose. Big mistake! Dwarven Dig wasn't that great (see my review here) and was eventually traded away.
It wasn't until a year later, in the summer of 2011 at the next Michicon that I finally got to give Wasabi a try. It was set up as one of the events, and I promptly entered. I had a way better time than I ever had with Dwarven Dig, and it made me regret my poorly informed decision from the previous year. It was simple and quick enough that I could get this to the table quite a bit, despite having more games looking for attention. The components are awesome, and the game is just fun, especially for a sushi aficionado like myself.
I ended up placing it on my next order a few months later, and it has served me well. In a time when a game of mine barely sees 6 or 7 plays within a year, this one has 18 plays so far. Like I said, it is easy to play, so less experienced gamers can jump in and give it a go, and it goes quickly, so it fits in when you don't have enough time to break out something more complex.
The Premise:
The players are assistant sushi chefs, looking to be promoted to experts. They must compete with each other to finish recipes in both quantity and quality (with style!) in order to earn the title and respect of their masters.
The Components:
One of the best parts of the game are the components themselves. The game board itself is a giant sushi map, marked off as a grid. Little menu stands are used to hide your ingredient tiles, recipes, and special cards from the other players. Actual tiny soy sauce dishes (they're microwave safe!) are used to hold the green wasabi cubes you earn. The recipe cards themselves use great card stock, and the ingredient tiles and challenge tokens are on very thick, glossy cardboard. There is fantastic artwork all around. This is one great looking game.
The Gameplay:
Each players starts with 10 challenge tokens in the color of their choice, a dish, and a menu. Each player will choose three ingredient tiles for the player on their left to start with. Since no knowledge is yet known what ingredients are needed, this is just a way to start each player with three random tiles. Then each player will choose 3 recipes in the length of their choice (recipes need between 2-5 ingredients). The game is then ready to begin.
The 10 challenge tokens will show you what size recipes you are allowed to complete, and how many. Each player can complete a maximum of four 2-length recipes, three 3-length, two 4-length, and one 5-length. The longer the recipe, the more points it is worth.
On their turn, a player simply chooses one of their ingredient tiles, places it on the board, and then chooses an ingredient tile to go back up to three. The goal is to get the ingredients shown on your recipe card lined up on the board, either horizontally or vertically. Once an ingredient tile is placed on the board, it is fair game and can be used by any player in one of their recipes. If you place a tile, and it completes a recipe, you then show the recipe, and flip the matching length challenge token to show how many points you have.
For 3-5 length recipes, the ingredients can be placed next to each other in any order. However, if it matches the order on the recipe card, then that recipe was completed "with style" and you will earn a number bonus points base don the recipe length, which you show by placing the appropriate number of wasabi cubes in your dish, which are worth one point each.
When you complete a recipe, you get to immediately choose a special card, which will give you an ability to be used on a later turn. There are five different cards, each useful in different circumstances. Spicy! lets you play two ingredients instead of one. Stack! let's you place an ingredient tile on top of a previously played tile. Chop! let's you remove the top tile of a space, which you can either place elsewhere, or return to the ingredient area and play your own tile. Switch! let's you swap the position of two ingredients, or slide one ingredient over by swapping with an empty space. And finally, the dreaded Wasabi! card gives you a wasabi cube and let's you cover four spaces on the board. If the spaces are empty, then a player cannot place a tile there, and if the space already has a tile, the tile cannot be used in a recipe until the card is removed.
The game ends in one of two ways. If a player happens to finish all ten recipes (flipping over all ten challenge tokens), they win immediately, no matter what the scores are. Other wise, as soon as the last space on the board is occupied, by either a tile or the Wasabi! card, then the game ends, and everyone counts up their points. The one with the most points is the winner. In the case of a tie, the number of wasabi cubes breaks the tie. If the number of cubes are also tied, then both players share the victory.
Final Thoughts:
I think this is a great light game. It also is pretty strategic when playing one on one. Despite having a smaller board overall (extra rows are added as more players are added), there are more spaces per player, and it is possible for a player to finish all 10 recipes for the outright win. Even if that doesn't occur, much like other tile laying games of this sort, there is less chaos with less players, which makes for a more pure game.
The four player game is more chaotic, since you'll have three tiles added to board before you get to go again, and you get less turns overall. Some players may not like it that way, but I see it as more of a challenge to deal with, with a different set of strategies needed. One thing to decide on is when to go for those big point 4 or 5 length recipes. Starting them early can be good when the board is open and there is room to work. But experienced players may see what your doing and try to block them, or just glom off ingredients they need themselves which could mess you up depending on the direction you're building. In that case you'll want to switch or start with the smaller recipes to get you a card or two. Chop! and Stack! are always good for dealing with ingredients in your way, while Spicy! and Switch! can finish up recipes quicker for you.
Don't make too many easy recipes too early though, or you will be left without ways to get points as the board fills up. Large recipes get harder to complete as the game goes on, and without small ones to bring in points or keep supplying you with cards, you may well be stuck doing very little to improve your situation. It is also important to try to finish those recipes with style to earn those bonus points. With fewer turns overall in a four player game, those extra points certainly help. They are especially useful for breaking the tie if players end up finishing around the same score. That's when the Wasabi! card becomes useful, for earning extra cubes and blocking others, or shortening the game if you have the lead.
Overall, it's a simple game, and may not satiate the more hardcore strategy fans, but I think there is enough there to think about, especially for a game of its length. I've definitely gotten into heavier games over my past couple of years in the hobby, but still enjoy this one a lot. Following the BGG rating guidelines, I give this one a 7.5. The great components especially make this one fun to play.
Thanks for reading, and catch my other reviews here at A Year With My Games.