Legacy of Yu

Objective and scope: This is a solo-only, resettable, nonlinear campaign game. Yu must build six Canal sections while protecting the settlement from the flood and barbarians. To win a game, finish all six sections and survive to the end of the current round. Victory and Defeat cards develop the campaign over multiple plays. The publisher lists about 60 minutes for a game, not for the full campaign.

Setup and hidden information: Reset the board and components for each game. Sort Canal cards by Jade value and randomly place six as instructed; position the buildings, Flood marker, and Barge, then prepare the Townsfolk Ready Pile, Barbarian deck, and shared card row. Campaign instructions may add new material later. Only search the Story Deck or open a Story Book entry when the game tells you to do so.

Round sequence: Resolve the five phases in order: Harvest, Take Actions, Return Barge, Suffer Attacks, and Refresh Card Row. Harvest produces workers and resources from the current settlement and tucked townsfolk, then draws cards from the Ready Pile. If a Canal was built this round, Return Barge moves the Barge to the leftmost unbuilt Canal card. A player may build no more than one Canal section per round.

Action phase and townsfolk: During Take Actions, continue paying the required workers and resources for available actions until choosing to stop. Townsfolk in hand must be processed according to the rules, while workers and resources may be kept for later rounds. A townsfolk card can be played to the Exhausted Pile for its brown-banner resources, discarded for both the brown-banner and red-banner resources, or tucked beneath the board to improve future Harvest income.

Workers and settlement actions: Pay the costs shown on cards or locations to build a Canal, Farm, Outpost, or Hut; attack Barbarians; recruit or dismiss Townsfolk; use a Hut worker space; or trade resources. Worker colors must meet the listed requirements. White Labourers serve distinct needs from the colored workers, while Outposts connect colors as allowed by the rules. Buildings can open new locations, increase Harvest, or create additional ways to convert resources.

Canal construction and the flood: To build a Canal, pay the workers, shells, and other costs on its card, then resolve its rewards, losses, and any story prompt from left to right. At most one section can be completed in a round. When the Townsfolk Ready Pile is empty and must be reshuffled from the Exhausted Pile, move the Flood marker forward as instructed. The player must clear each threatened section before the flood reaches it while still preserving the means to act next round.

Barbarian attacks and refresh: After the action phase, resolve each Barbarian still in the row. The player may pay the required workers or resources as a bribe to avoid its attack; otherwise, follow the card effect and destroy Townsfolk. Then refresh the public row, adding Barbarians as the Canal track requires and replenishing Townsfolk. If seven Barbarian cards are present, the game is lost immediately.

Victory, defeat, and campaign: Build all six Canal sections and survive the current round to win. The player loses if the Flood enters an unbuilt Canal section or leaves the board, if seven Barbarians appear, or if a Townsfolk must be drawn or destroyed and neither the Ready nor Exhausted pile has a card. Reveal the relevant Victory or Defeat card and follow its story instructions. A Gold result completes the campaign; the game can then be reset for another campaign.