Designed by Uwe Rosenberg, my favorite game At the Gates of Loyang was published in 2009. Together with La Havre and Agricola, At the Gates of Loyang is the last entry of the Harvest Trilogy. This game was actually designed before Agricola but published later. It is an Asian themed economics euro that allows its players to plan and execute a strategy then see it pay off over time. The challenge is to spend the least amount of money to get the most in return. Based on what customer cards one comes across in the card phase, a player will determine what vegetable to buy, trade or plant and which helpers/market stalls to draft in order to meet the demand, earning coins every round.
Customers - Regular customers are great if you can satisfy their demand and they pay more money for the same order over time. You also need more of them to get better payout on casual customers. If I see a regular customer that I can potentially serve the next round with one of the veggies I’ve planted, with ways to obtain and sow the other either thru a market stall, my store, or a helper card, I would not hesitate to grab that regular customer because it’s totally fine to neglect them for one round as long as you deliver to them next round.
Casual customers who want higher value veggies offer great return on investment. Not only is it important to look out for the customers that are best for you, you should also keep your opponents from getting their hands on customers who are valuable to them. If you are really playing competitively, don’t forget to hate draft when necessary. You can also use certain helpers to steal customers or trade away key vegetables before they have a chance to maximize their profit. If you draw a card that is perfect for your opponent when buying a 2 pack, make sure to tuck it under another card.
Buying a 2-pack - Always take advantage of this purchase when you can get it for free. The price of the 2 pack is determined by how many helpers or stalls a player has on the left side of their board. I usually try to keep my left side lean so I can buy 2 packs for free or at 1 coin. This means aggressively trading away vegetables on my stalls so I can discard the card when it’s empty and also using my helpers on the turn I play them rather than plan for future rounds.
Home Field - Before the game even begins, players must decide between three veggies to plant in their home field. So… What do you choose? The cheaper option wheat, the next step up pumpkin, or the more valuable turnip? In theory, the math shows you get what you pay for, provided that you can successfully sell all these veggies to customers. However, this is rarely the case. Most of the time, players will use the veggies in their home field to trade at market stalls for better veggies in later rounds. I believe wheat is the best option because it loses the least amount of value when trading and buying and it leaves you more cash in hand when every penny counts early in the game. It’s worth noting that the game allows up to two players to choose the same veggie for their home fields. There are enough wheat customers to go around but because of the competition we may see more hate drafting going on.
Loan - I dislike having any debt and I even avoid taking on imagery ones. That being said, it could be beneficial to take a loan if it can help create early advantage at the right time in this game. For example, if you come across a common field and have the right customer and market stall to maximize its potential, but you don’t have the 2 cash on hand to pay for it. If taking a loan to purchase it can jump start your economy, you should seize the opportunity. Just remember that at the end of the game, for every loan you take, you have to go back a step on the Path of Prosperity, so only do it if the math makes sense.
I’ve shared some basic strategies of At the Gates of Loyang in this article . If you are looking for more in-depth analysis, the Loyang Geek Math thread on BGG forum by Tim Seitz is a great place to start. Hopefully this article will inspire you to check out At the Gates of Loyang or bring it back to the table for another play. Have fun!
-Jackie
(About the author - Jacqueline Chao is the executive producer and main content contributor at Show Me How to Win. Follow her board game journey on instagram @boardgamesetc )
At the Gates of Loyang is designed by Uwe Rosenberg and currently published by Tasty Minstrel Games in USA.