Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
More strategic control
How it plays
How does it play?
Program six dice, steer boats among twelve harbours, follow rivals, deploy keyples, and build a three-year island economy.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Set Collection
Gather related items that become more valuable when scored together.
Worker Placement
Commit limited workers to action spaces before opponents occupy them.
Follow
Choose whether to perform a reduced version of another player’s selected action.
Variable Set-up
Starting conditions, resources, or layouts change between plays.
Read the full game description
Keyside is a heavyweight economic game set around twelve busy island harbours. Each player manages eighteen keyples and six colored dice whose values are assigned at the start of each year rather than rolled. During the landing phase, a lead player spends a die to steer a boat to a chosen harbour and sends a worker ashore; rivals may follow with matching opportunities, creating a tense rhythm of shared actions and contested timing. Once a player has committed all six dice, that player begins resolving harbours where their keyples work, gaining resources, animals, market access, construction, recruitment, movement, and skill development. Cottages can become houses, headlands extend the island, and the position of workers determines which harbour scoring criteria matter at the end. After three increasingly consequential years, points from harbours, buildings, headlands, and skills decide the most successful island community.
