New to BGA: Iye — Is It Worth Your Time?

About IYE, from BoardGameGeek:

The clan's Shaman has gotten long in the tooth; it is time for him to pass on his drum. The drum shall be passed down to either one of his apprentices. The successor shall be chosen not through a competition nor a contest, but through a traditional ritual of calling and gathering the ye. The Shaman candidates, raised through apprenticeship, shall prove themselves capable of being the clan's new spiritual leader. Albeit they are in a way competing against one another, cooperation is still a necessity. For such is the way to build a bridge between men and ye. In this game, the two Shaman candidates endeavour to gather the yes through the beat of the Shaman's drum. The candidates need to calculate which ye shall be left to their opponent; moreover,they need to make the most logical choice on when to ask the ye to lend a hand and to let them go. The one who proves to be the most skilful in gathering the ye and utilising their abilities shall be appointed as the clan's next Shaman. ye (pronounced EE-yeah): Belonging to the animist mythologies of Central Asia, ye are nature spirits that inhabit various things. It is believed that they are the protectors of whatever object or part of nature they inhabit, and hold extraordinary powers. Kam (pronounced like English word ‘come'): A shaman in the Altaic, Mongol and Turkic cultures. They serve as the sages and spiritual leaders of their clans. They handcraft their own drums with which they contact the yes. Utilising the power of an ye is described as “asking the ye to lend a hand”. GAME STRUCTURE AND RULES The first player is the one who is most interested in Shamanism. You can also use any other method to determine the first player. On their turn, a player chooses to perform a A: “Natural Movement” or an B: “ye Tile Movement” to move the Shaman's drum. Whichever ye Tile the drum moves onto is given to the opponent along with the turn. When there is but a single ye Tile left on the game board, the cycle ends and scoring begins. Natural Movement: The players can move the Shaman's drum for 1 or 2 spaces on a vertical or horizontal axis. The drum cannot be moved diagonally through a Natural Movement, only vertically or horizontally. The drum cannot be placed on an empty tile, but it can move over them. Moving over an empty tile still counts as moving 2 spaces. ye Tile Movement: The ye Tiles that have been gathered on previous turns can be utilised by the players to move the Shaman's drum beyond what is naturally possible. In such an instance, whichever ye Tile the drum lands on is still given to the opponent. An ye Tile that has been utilised thusly is spent and ‘discarded' next to the game board. It will not be included in scoring. The number and types of discarded ye Tiles musty always be visible to both players. The Premature End Of A Cycle If a player is unable to execute any legal moves during their turn, the cycle ends then and there. The player who was last able to execute a movement, becomes the winner. This can only occur if a player has no possible “Natural Movement” to execute and no applicable ye Tiles that can be used for an “ye Tile Movement”. End of a cycle and scoring If a cycle ends because a player was not able to move, the player who played the last move wins the cycle. In this case, there is no need for scoring. If a cycle ends because there is a single ye Tile left on the game board, scoring ensues. Each type of ye is scored separately. Whoever holds the greatest count of a particular type of ye, receives all the points for that type. If both players hold an equal number of tiles regarding a type of ye, neither player wins any points. Moreover, any ye Tile that was used for an “ye Tile Movement” is not counted during scoring; it has been spent and ‘discarded'.