As we bask in our post-Gen Con glow here at Mayfair Games, we thought we’d share some information on one of our favorite games, Isle of Skye!

First off, we’d be remiss if we didn’t congratulate our friends and coworkers at Lookout Games, as well as Andreas Pelikan and Alexander Pfister on winning the Kennerspiel des Jahres for 2016, for the tremendous game Isle of Skye! The Kennerspiel was created in 2011 to recognize excellence in “connoisseur” or “expert” games.  This award must be extra sweet for Andreas and Alexander, who are repeat winners from last year.

Isle of Skye is a tile-laying game where characters advance from Chieftain to King. They do this by being shrewder than their opponents. While at first the game may seem like a million other tile-laying kingdom-builders, in Isle of Skye players are buying and selling land in a way that benefits them more than their opponents.

What land is valuable will vary from game to game, thanks to the game’s innovative scoring system. Four victory conditions are drawn from a pool of 16 each game, and each of these four will score at different times throughout the game. Thus, that cattle-rich pasture might merely be a pretty little plot of land one game, and vital for victory the next.

The victory conditions in the game are keyed around the land tiles, each of which contains various resources you’ll use to secure victory. Tiles are most definitely not equal and players will vie for the best tiles over the course of the game. One tile might have one measly sheep, while another could have a farm, cattle, and a ship all on one lovely waterfront locale.

In addition to resources, tiles might also contain a scroll. These are extra scoring opportunities you can take advantage of if you’re a savvy Scotsman. Scrolls have a unique scoring method: they pay off twice or once at the end of the game (depending on whether you completed the area the scroll was in, or not). Scrolls can score enough points to turn the tide, especially if the game is close (and it usually is!).

For example, you might have a scroll that grants one Victory Point for every two ships. This could allow you to score for ships even in a game where the victory conditions would otherwise make ships worthless. In a game where ships score already, this is a powerful tile that players will want to axe if they can’t take advantage of it (or if it would help an opponent).

Each turn players draw three tiles which all players will have a chance to see. What players will not see at first, however, is what each player has decided to do with their three tiles. One tile will get the axe (of course, you have an axe, you’re a Scottish Lord) and each player will set a price for the other two. Once all players have decided the fate of their tiles, they reveal it simultaneously.

Axed tiles go back in the bag immediately, while the other two tiles are now for ‘sale’ in player order. Each tile for sale will have a minimum price of 1 gold and a maximum price of the gold the player has on hand. See, until a tile is sold, the money on it is pledged to the bank and the player cannot use that money for any other purpose. If the tile doesn’t sell at all, the player pays that money to the bank and takes possession of the tile themselves.

Placing the proper price on a tile is really the heart of Isle of Skye and the thing that sets it apart from so many other tile-laying games. Getting money from another player is huge and you want to make sure you get the maximum amount for every tile. Underprice a tile and you are giving an opponent Victory Points and money to buy more. Overprice it and you are losing money to the bank. So, remember goldilocks and go for the sweet spot.

It’s also worth pointing out that how much money each player has is secret for most of the game. This is accomplished because each player has a screen to hide certain information, like the tiles they’re axing each turn. Being cagey with how much money you have is a good way to frustrate that player trying to get all your gold for a critical tile.

As you can see, Isle of Skye has a lot going on and it’s that depth, along with the varying victory conditions that will keep you coming back to the game again and again. Like the legendary and beautiful isle from whence it draws its name, we think you’ll find Isle of Skye to be an evergreen game too good to gather much dust on your game shelf.

About Isle of Skye: Isle of Skye retails for $37. It was designed by Andreas Pelikan and Alexander Pfister, with art by Klemens Franz. The game is designed for 2 to 5 players ages 8 and up.