Legacy of Yu

2023 · City Building

Legacy of Yu

Play as the legendary engineer-hero of the Xia Dynasty, building canals to tame the Yellow River and protect a village from marauding barbarian tribes. This is a solo, campaign-style game that resets between sessions and evolves over time: each playthrough adds story elements and new mechanics while a self-balancing system adjusts difficulty based on performance. Players plan and place canal segments, manage resources and defenses, and respond to an oncoming flood and raids. The campaign continues game-to-game until seven wins or losses conclude the story.

Players
1
Playing time
60 min
Age
12+
Complexity
2.9 / 5
8.2 on Ludoyafrom $75.26AncientSolo / Solitaire GameMulti-Use CardsChaining

On Ludoya's tables

Full stats in Ludoya
262
Plays logged
41
Players
1h 24m
Average play
71
In collections
26
On wishlists
2
Pre-ordered

8.2/10

from 17 Ludoya reviews

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Rules questions

Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.

Can I open or shuffle the Story Book/Deck before playing?

No — the rulebook explicitly warns not to open or shuffle the Story Book/Deck; follow the Story Book/Deck instructions as written and reveal pages/cards only when the game tells you to (pp. 2–3).

What can I do with a Townsfolk card — can I use it as food or do other things with it?

You have four legal uses for a Townsfolk card: play it, discard it, tuck it, or spend it as food; use whichever option suits your action choices on that turn (p. 8).

Do workers placed on Huts come back to my supply at the end of the round?

Yes — Hut workers are returned during the Harvest step when you resolve returns and draw Townsfolk, as explained in the Harvest rules and the section on placing workers on Huts (pp. 7, 13).

When I build a Canal, do I move the barge and do any flood steps happen immediately?

Building a Canal includes a step to move the barge and then resolve the canal’s card effects; flood advancement and the round timing for it are handled in the round phase rules, so follow the canal construction steps together with the round/flood rules (pp. 9, 6).

How do Barbarian attacks work — what steps do we follow and how are rewards/casualties applied?

Resolve Barbarian attacks by following the step‑by‑step procedure in the Barbarian section (assign defenders, resolve outcomes, apply rewards), then carry out the final attack resolution as described in the resolution rules (pp. 10, 13).

What will cause the campaign to end in a loss, and how do I record/keep progress between games?

The rulebook lists the campaign loss condition(s) and how to store progress between games; if you meet the defeat condition you follow the defeat instructions and use the victory/defeat card and storage rules to record outcomes for the campaign (pp. 15).

Opens Ludoya's rules assistant, which reads this game's rulebook.

Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.