I've always been a fan of the strategic board games such as Checkers and Chess. I've also tried to get into the more Asian influenced games such as Go, but I'll admit the truth – I suck at them (looks like I'll have to stick with reading Hikaru No Go for my Go fix). However, along came Wu Hing, an Asian influenced strategy board game that mixes hexagons and nature's elements into a fascinating, mind-bending game of creation and destruction.

The board in which you play Wu Hing is setup like a honeycomb rolled out and placed flat. As for the pieces you put into play, you've got the Yin and Yang tiles, which are of a hexagonal nature, which means that once played another piece can touch it on one of its six sides; this attachment nature is where the strategy and scoring system come into play. Each piece (besides being of the Yin or Yang nature – black or white) also contains an element from nature: fire, earth, metal, water, wood. There are three exceptions to the rule, such as the arrow that lets you already take a placed tile of your deck and change its location, the Yin-Yang symbol that lets you flip over a tile played by the other to your color as long as it has already been played, and then there is the every important piece that contains each element, and this is the piece that is what usually insures you victory.

There are two main ways to score points in Wu Hing: create tiles or destroy them (either way they both leave the field once you have done one or the other). In order to do either, imagine placing one of the hexagon squares on the board and imagine one of the points created by two sides of the hexagon forming up. To either create or destroy this panel in particular, two elements in the life cycle of that hexagon must be placed so that one side of those elements make up the sides that form that point. For example, to create fire, you must have two wood tiles touching, or to destroy fire you must have two waters touching in the same fashion. Typically, you'll want to create your pieces, as these are mostly plays you specifically did to gain points, while you will mostly destroy to stop your opposing player from getting their own points. Either way, to succeed in the game, you must mix up your game perfectly so that you are always planning ahead, and are picking your moments when you choose to attack, defend, and setup moves ahead for the future.

There are several different games to play, such as Dragon (after the first tile is placed each following tile must connect to the tiles on the board), Tiger (can place tiles anywhere on it you want without restriction), Snake (have to connect to your own tiles and spread out), and Solitaire (random pieces are placed and you try to remove as many of them as possible). You've also got several difficulties, which range from the extremely easy beginner level (once you figure out what does what) to the insane upper levels. Heck, the first difficulty level is the only one I can really do well in, as the others are really tricky and feel like playing against the top players in the world. Sadly, the one thing the game is missing is an online component, as there is no way to play against other human players who aren't on the same computer as you.

Though the tiles and little visual flares that pop up when creating or destroying a tile look nice enough, they aren't much. However, the backgrounds of the boards are really beautiful, and if these were offered as wall scrolls, I'd hang them proudly as works of art. For the Dragon, Tiger, and Snake boards, you've got a rustic brown, which is layered on top with this amazingly done artwork that looks as if it is straight out of Feudal Japan; it is almost a shame I have to cover them up with tiles, forcing me to block out the beauty. Also, much like the graphics department, though the sound of placing tiles and creating and destroying just get the job done, the background music is absolutely lovely and will put your mind in a very relaxed state, as you analyze each of your moves. Whoever designed the board backgrounds and did the music should be highly commended.

In the end, though it lacks the ability to play anyone at the game over any great distance, the core of what the game is was nicely well done. The lack of a human opponent at any time is the only really error in the game, because once you get really good enough and accustomed to how the CPU performs, after many games of practice you should be able to know your opponent in and out. Otherwise, there isn't anything overtly terrible about the game, as the graphics and sound work are pleasant and great in some instances, and after you get done playing you'll feel as if your brainpower has just improved; plus, you'll have had some fun in the process. And in the end, shouldn't fun be what it is all about?

Rating:
Our Scoring System

To download a demo or buy the game