Publisher: Iello, in partnership with Volumique
Release Date (US): December, 2015
Players: 2 to 4
Ages: 14 and up
Playing Time: 45-90 minutes
Product #: WOYOEN082015
ICv2 Rating: 3 Stars out of 5
The lure of technology is to gamers much like the lure of gold is to pirates: virtually irresistible. So, it is no surprise that as soon as smart phones became common that people started thinking up ways to use them to “enhance” traditional games. I, for one, have always been suspicious of this gimmick, but when I heard that a well-respected company like Iello was backing up a design, I knew I needed to check it out. Besides, let’s face it, pirates are cool, so who wouldn’t want to try out a new pirate game?
Summary: World of Yo-Ho is set in a parallel fantasy world of talking animals and living ships, visited some time in the past by a “human” who naturally taught them how to be good pirates. Now they happily sail around the islands of their world, shooting cannonballs at each other and completing secret missions to collect “clams” (money) and, even more important, “swag” (victory points). Along the way, they can collect the weapons and dirty tricks needed to beat other pirates in battle, as well as trinkets and treasures to enhance their ships and themselves.
The unique element of the game is the fact that the players use their smartphones as their playing pieces, moving them around the board like pirate ships. As they travel around, the free-to-download app reveals the secrets of the world that they encounter, from floating wrecks, to buried treasure, to dangerous sea monsters. The app uses the smartphone’s velocimeter to track the player’s movement across the board, and all other player actions are handled directly on the device, such as making purchases in port or attacking other pirates. Two game modes are included in the app: a “standard” game where players win by collecting swag, and the “narrative” version where they must complete a storyline of secret missions.
Originality: The use of smartphones as an actual game component is really quite clever, and it opens up a lot of opportunities for the game, such as sound and visual effects that would be impossible in a traditional board game. In theory, this will also allow the publisher to automatically introduce new content over time, with special missions and other game elements added directly to the app. While the design team at Volumique made good use of this technology, the game play itself is not particularly groundbreaking, with simple “move your piece and draw a card to see what happens” style play, not unlike many other games already on the market.
Quality: I have always been pleased with the physical quality of Iello’s products, and that is very much the case here as well. The box is sturdy and well-built. The board is large, heavy-duty, and quite pretty. The small handful of cards are excellent, and the rulebook is full-color, glossy, and lavishly illustrated throughout. However, here we begin to see some problems. The rulebook is far from complete, and most of the game rules are only communicated in the app, which is not always convenient for reference during play. For the most part, the rules text is clear, but I found numerous minor grammatical errors or, shall we say, “interesting” translation choices.
And then there is the app. Here there are quite a few problems: if a player answers a phone call or text, they are dropped from the game and cannot always get back in. The in-game text is filled with spelling and grammatical errors, sometimes bad enough to cause genuine confusion. All-around, it gives the feeling of being a “beta” version at best, and that is truly unfortunate. And, the fact that smartphones have an annoying tendency to run out of battery is also a challenge…
Marketability: The single biggest potential obstacle to World of Yo-Ho is, of course, the need for smartphones in order to really experience the game. A “single device” method is allowed for, with all players using a single phone or tablet to play, but that loses much of the charm of the game. Needless to say, gamers who don’t happen to have access to these devices will not be able to enjoy this game. The game play itself is also somewhat uninspired (at this point—as mentioned above, the use of an app allows for expansion within the game). I think this game has enormous potential, but first Iello will need to overcome some growing pains in order to build up a loyal fan base.
Overall: I really did genuinely enjoy playing the game. It’s a lot of fun, particularly in the “narrative” version. The animations and sound effects of the app are hilarious, the plotlines revealed by the missions are interesting, and the combat system is engaging and clever, requiring bluffing, guesswork, and strategy. But, the problems experienced with the app were frustrating. We had to start over more than once because of issues with the app. And, alas, there was a surprising lack of direct player interaction when playing the narrative version, making the game feel almost like multi-player solitaire. This is fine for a nice, fun, casual game, but playing the full narrative game can take a couple of hours, and for that I generally want something more engaging.
I can see a bright future for World of Yo-Ho. Once the technical issues with the app are corrected, my chief frustration with playing it will vanish. If the designers can regularly push new content into the app to keep it fresh and exciting, I can easily see my group returning to this wacky world of talking animal pirates again and again, when we’re looking for some light-hearted fare. But unless those things happen, I’m afraid I can only give this game 3 out of 5.