There’s a myth, whispered among the board game elite, about mystical creatures who can commit to and actually finish campaign games. They gather a perfect group of four, meet three times a week, and power through a 75-scenario epic like it’s no big deal. Meanwhile the rest of us have shelves groaning under the weight of half-played campaigns and sealed shrink wrap.
If you, like me, are in the latter group, Legacy of Yu is your salvation. I don’t have to bother with scheduling struggles, flakey friends, and excuses because it’s solo-only. And anyways, there are many times I’d much rather just play against that cherished lifelong nemesis: myself.
One of the best things about soloing a board game is that it’s close enough to a vice that I can trick my degenerate id. Rather than succumbing to guilty pleasures, I channel that urge into doing something that will actually make me feel better, which is playing my shelf of shame. Here, I get a nice little brain work out and feel as if I’m staving off my inevitable microplastic-induced dementia or whatever.
Legacy of Yu does for solo campaign games what so many never could: a short, sweet setup, small table real estate, and a playtime <60 minutes. That’s the holy trinity for solo games, as far as I’m concerned. Hit that criteria and the game doesn’t even need to be amazing, just passable, and I’ll be happy. Legacy of Yu clears that bar with ease. It’s a satisfying experience that is well-designed and accessible, even if it doesn’t completely blow me away. While it may not reinvent the solo gaming wheel, it’s an enjoyable journey worth exploring, especially if you value efficiency in your solo game nights.
If you’ve played Garphill games before, Legacy of Yu will feel familiar. The formula remains: take actions to get resources to take more actions to win (or lose). It’s clean, rewarding, and undeniably polished. They’ve got a nice little thing going for them, but it does makes the ones I’ve played feel…samey. Those would be Architects, Hadrian’s Wall, and this. I own Ezra and Nehemiah but it remains untouched, on my aforementioned shelf of shame.
What sets Legacy of Yu apart is its campaign. Without it, the gameplay would get old pretty fast. The biggest question is, does the campaign add enough variability to keep things fresh?
For my taste, the campaign carried the game through one full playthrough- 11 sessions to be exact. That’s nothing to sneeze at. In a world where games are absolutely flying off the printers, the last time I sat down and played a (non-Board Game Arena) game 11 times was…never? We were pretty into Yahtzee on family camp trips growing up so that might make the cut. Look, I’m just being honest here. I know (theoretically) people exist that are perfectly content with the games they have, but I’m still over here trying to overcome my consumeristic drive in the face of shiny things. And I doubt I’m the only one.
That said, by the end of the campaign, the gameplay was starting to show its seams. The core mechanic (whether you win or lose, the campaign shifts slightly with new cards) was clever enough to keep me hooked but not enough to make me start a second campaign. Eleven games is a respectable run, but it didn’t leave me dying to dive back in.
The campaign arc was a highlight, especially the early losses. I lost three games before I won (don’t laugh), but those defeats were the best part. Watching myself inch closer to victory was a thrill. Who doesn’t love a good comeback story? This game rides on a knife-edge, making it tense and challenging.
Once I cracked the code, though, it became a balancing act of fine-tuning my strategy…juggling resources, managing barbarians and staying just ahead of the flood. The new campaign card additions didn’t particularly stand out, and I believe this is because the balance of the game is so carefully calibrated that introducing big-enough elements might disrupt it too much. The additions you receive for the villager deck were underwhelming. The barbarian deck had some interesting twists, although one in particular significantly ramped up the difficulty for me in a way that felt out of step with the game’s otherwise gradual progression.
As for the story line, if Gloomhaven feels like tackling War and Peace, Legacy of Yu is more like flipping through the Sunday comics. The story itself is enjoyable but light. I started off invested, but by the end, I was skimming. The narrative unfolds each time you encounter a golden turtle icon, prompting you to open the storybook and read a short passage. These passages, presented as letters from Yu, describe events that often increase game difficulty, while occasionally offering perks that might turn the tide in your favor.
They very clearly indicate which components to add or remove, making it quick and simple. Admittedly, the repetition crept in by the campaign’s end, but for 11 games of engaging solo fun? That’s a win in my book. It’s a really solid puzzle that is smooth and clean, even if the campaign was a little underwhelming.
So if you’re like me, and find yourself needing to make New Year’s resolutions to get your games played, Legacy of Yu is a great choice. It’s the kind of game that understands my attention span, keeps things engaging, and finishes before I’m tempted to check out another game’s rulebook. It’s not a lifelong commitment; it’s a breezy, satisfying fling. And in a hobby where most campaigns demand a blood oath, that’s a refreshing change of pace.
Presentation
+beautiful game, quality wooden components+ really quality insert
+ really quality insert
Getting It Played
+quick set up time
+ solo, so you can pick it up when you’ve got 45min to 1hr
+ small table real estate required
Gameplay
+ crunchy decisions
+ satisfying puzzle
+/- variability exists because of the campaign but the general feel is pretty samey
– storyline is not compelling
Fun Factor
+/- first 5 games were exciting and then it got repetitive
+ really solid puzzle to enjoy for an hour here and there
Andy