New Osaka Preview
Daso Games comes back on Kickstarter with their first game, New Osaka. New Osaka is a competitive worker placement game that combines resource management and battle elements.
In New Osaka, you will have to utilize your Workers to defend the city from the fearsome Kaiju, outsmart your opponents and restore prosperity by building new infrastructures, so you can be the dominant faction!
You take control of a Mega Corporation with the goal of being the true savior of New Osaka. Your Corporation comes with a unique Battle Mech, and Skill cards you can utilize.
The Game plays over 9 rounds, and at the end of the game, the player with the most Influence points (victory points) will be the winner.
To start the game, you need to take your Corporation’s components (Workers, board, Mech, Etc.), place the main board at the center of your play area, and make the initial setup. This includes creating the Buildings Market, the Kaiju Row, and common pools for the resources. This will not take long, and you will be ready to start the battle for prosperity in no time!
Let’s take a look at how a game round flows.
A Game Round
Each round consists of the following 4 phases:
- Resource Generation Phase
In turn order, you can activate a Building tile by placing the required number of your Workers on it. You will keep doing that until all players pass for this phase, proceeding to the next. When activating a Building tile, you will produce a number of the depicted Resource or Machine according to your production rate of that element. - Mech Actions Phase
In an identical manner as in the first phase, you will be placing workers to activate your Mech or produce Money (it’s your choice). When you activate your Battle Mech, you will get to move it up to a certain number of spaces. Ending up your movement adjacent/on a Kaiju token, or a Building initiates combat. In case you go up against a Kaiju, it fights back with the respective type of die, while Mechs always attack/defend with a D12 (12-sided die) roll. While in combat, you can also use Fighter Machines, Missiles, and/or Skill cards to power you up. The first two adds to your Power, and Skill cards are unique to your Mech and have various types of special effects that can come handy! In case you attack an opponent’s Building, they can choose to defend it, by teleporting their Battle Mech there to fight you! In that case, you enter a Mech Vs Mech combat! The winner of such a battle will gain Influence points and control of the Building, while the loser will gain a wound, that can limit your future actions. - Building Phase
Now it’s time to expand your Corporation! Proceeding in the same manner, you will get the chance to build any one Building, each turn, or build a section of the glorious Osaka Castle.
Buildings can be chosen from the Building pool and they come into two types:- Factory Buildings: These let you produce both basic and premium Resources used in various cases, along with Machines.- Converter Buildings: These let you make the depicted type of conversion – giving away a type of Resource for another one. It’s a handy ability since the resource management in the game is tight! Both Building types score you Influence points once you build them, with Converters being able to be upgraded, scoring you Influence points for a second time.|Each Osaka Castle section can be built only once during the game, so that’s a racing aspect right there. A section requires a specific combination of Castle Resources (Steel & Concrete) to be built. This is a great way to score a high amount of Influence points while blocking your opponents from doing so themselves. Lastly, there are 3 special types of resources, that can score you extra points if you meet two conditions. The first is to control 2 adjacent Buildings and the second is to have a set of these resources. You can choose to place them among two Buildings, spending them, to score 8 points!
This extra way to score is a free action you can take any time during your turn. - Reset Phase
Here is your classic Reset phase, where you will get back your Workers, Mech, and new Kaiju will spawn.
After a total of 9 Rounds, the game ends and the Corporation with the most Influence points wins.
The right mood to play the game
While New Osaka is a fairly easy game to understand and play, there is also strategic depth. Given that, this is definitely not a filler game, so it will need your focus since it takes about an hour to 90mins to play.
There are some epic playlists with Japanese songs, from Mecha-anime OSTs to traditional songs, that can enhance your experience. Personally, I love to play thematic games along with some quality music.
In terms of player interaction, I believe New Osaka lands right in the middle of a “No Interaction” to “High Interaction” scale.
Who is this game for?
New Osaka is a thematic Eurostyle game, making it appealing to a broad audience. The aesthetics of the game are beautiful and modern, with an anime-vibe. This Japanese style feels right since we are talking about Osaka, Kaiju, and Mechs.
If you like the worker placement mechanic, you will find it at the core of this game. Its second layer is about managing your resources, for all the actions found in the game. Lastly, there is a battle element that certainly creates an uncommon blend.
If you are in search of a strategic euro-style game with a cool theme, this might be the one for you. It’s your chance to be the savior of New Osaka!
Kickstarter Campaign
New Osaka comes back with an updated, streamlined campaign. The highlight of the campaign for me is the amazing video, made by Oniro Productions, giving a nice taste of the game’s vibe and content.
The project comes with only one, Kickstarter Exclusive Edition Pledge!
Daso Games wants to offer the best possible version to its backers, as a reward for their support, as otherwise, the game won’t be a reality. This includes upgraded components, as well as extra elements, like the Buildings Tower Holder!
Lastly, I have to mention that I am a collaborator on this project, as I contributed as an advisor for the various elements of the project, so I have one more reason that I would love to see this game coming to life 😀
Theofilos K
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