Lucky First Incense

• Designer: Chih-Han Yang
• Publisher: Lilai-Lilai
• Players: 2-5
• Age: 8+
• Time: 15-25 minutes
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Legend has it that the person who lights the first incense on the first day of the Lunar New Year will receive blessings from the Gods and have good luck for the entire year. As a result, on New Year’s Eve, hundreds of people gather in front of temples to compete for the privilege of lighting the first incense, which is known as the “Lucky First Incense.”  In this game, you and your family members aim to secure the best positions at various temples in order to be the ones to light the first incense. However, be prepared for fierce competition from your neighbors who won’t make it easy for you… The game is played over 2 rounds. In the Evening Phase, players take turns sending their family members to occupy the seats in front of the temples or offering incense to seek blessings from the Gods. In the Midnight Phase, all family members rush to the front lines, competing for the opportunity to light the first incense and get the amulets (as victory points). At the end of the game, the player with the most amulets wins!

To set up the game, consult the chart in the rules to set up the appropriate temples and waiting boards for the player count.  Each player takes their own 10 card personal deck, shuffles it and draws a starting hand of 3 cards.  The game will be played in two rounds each an Evening Phase followed by a Midnight Phase.  Turn order is reversed from one round to the next.

In the Evening (Planning) Phase, players take turns to play a card from their hand onto an empty position on a waiting board.  Depending on the icon seen there, the card is played either face up or face down. Additionally some boards reward the players playing there with an Amulet from the supply.  Each card has a special ability, refer to the icons to see whether this is an instant effect or an ongoing effect.  After playing a card, the player will draw a card from his personal deck to bring his hand back up to 3 cards.

In the Midnight (Run) Phase, players settle the result of each temple.  All face down cards are turned over and the characters from each waiting board are compared.

If one card is higher than the other, it moves forward

If the cards have same value, no one moves forward

If the card competes against an empty slot, the card moves forward automatically

If the cards have the same color, the owner chooses which one to move forward

After the first round of movement is figured out, compare the next level to decide who gets to the temple or palace first.  Rewards are handed out at the temple: 3 amulets for first place, 1 amulet for second place.  At the palace, 5 Amulets for first place, 2 amulets for second, and 1 amulet for 3rd+4th.

The table is cleared, the palaces and temples reset for the second round, and the second year is played in reverse turn order.

At the end of the second year, the player with the most points wins.

My thoughts on the game

I tend to like tournament games, and this one challenges you to use your family cards from an identical deck as your opponents to rise to the top.  Each game plays a bit differently as the order of the cards in your hand will make a huge difference in your strategy.

The cards all have different special abilities (assuming the cards are played to a face up spot), and that’s where much of the action in the game happens.  Usually at least a third of the cards are face-down also, and there is a larger-than-expected bluffing element with these cards.   If someone plays face down early, are they playing their 7?  Or maybe it’s the Dog – which automatically ties the other card – and they’re really trying to advance on the other side? There are even a few spots that grant you a victory point just for playing there; and in a game where final scores are pretty low, those single VPs can be pretty valuable…

Hand management can be vital to success as some of the cards work with other specific cards – and therefore it helps to wait until you get them in your hand together so you can deploy them well.  Of course, while you wait, this really limits your other options, and you may have to decide whether it is worth waiting, or if you just play an unmatched card either sacrificing it or just hoping that you are lucky enough to draw the other card you need for the combo.

Memory will help a bit in the second year – if you can remember which card values have been played by your opponents.  This will help you anticipate which special actions are yet to come (as every card will be played) or maybe help you guess what value a particular face down card has.

The advanced game adds a censer to each temple and two to each palace, and they can be triggered once a game giving a special ability.  Some of the abilities are quite strong, and this will be things worth fighting for.  Personally, I found this made the game drag on a bit and turned a light filler into something more than I wanted it to be.  But, if you want a bit more on the special actions and unpredicatble results, you can add in a random choice of these 10 censers to make every game different.

The basic game takes about 15 minutes, and that’s a great fit for me.  It’s a nice filler with some interesting card play choices, but overall remains lighthearted.  Though we don’t have the same traditions here, this feels like it would be a great thematic add to my New Years’ Eve party in a few weeks.

Until your next appointment

The Gaming Doctor