Hanabi
Hanabi is a cooperative card game for 2-5 players. It seems very simple on the surface, play 5 different colors of cards, in ascending order from one to five. This seems fairly easy to do, 25 cards for a perfect score on the surface appears to be a quick game with no strategy and achievable with merely the ability to count.
Hanabi is anything but simple and lacking strategy, because of one simple fact. You don't get to look at your own cards. Yes you read that correctly. Your cards are viewed by your teammates, and NOT by you. This turns the game into a pseudo team building exercise. In order for the group to succeed together, they must set each other up to do well.
But, how can I play a card in the correct location, when I don't know what I have in my hand? Your teammates can tell you what you have, but you're on a (figurative) time crunch so they can only tell you incomplete information. So as an example, you have three white cards, a red, and a blue in your hand. Your teammate can tell you, you have three white cards, and can point them out to you; however, you are still left in the dark as to what numbers you're holding, and that you're holding a red, and a blue. Later on you get more information from another teammate, your red card (that you don't know is red) and one of your white cards, are both 1's. By process of elimination, you now know that you are holding a white 1, a 1 that isn't white, two more white cards, and a dud that your teammates don't find valuable for you to know about yet.
To make things more difficult there are more than one of each card in the deck. In fact there are three of each color of 1's, two of each card 2-4, but only ONE 5 in each respective color. This allows you, and forces you, to discard these extra cards. Now, this dynamic opens up many possibilities. On your turn you have one of three options. Play a card, discard a card (and redraw), and give your team information. As we know, information isn't free. In order to give your team some knowledge, you must use one of your 8 knowledge chits, in the community knowledge pool. This seems like not enough information to complete the game, and it isn't. Fortunately you can earn it back, via discarding those extra cards that you don't need. (The two extra 1's and the one extra 2-4's). Once you declare that you're discarding a card, you can move an information token from the used pile, to the ready to use pile.
Additionally you may want to go bold, and say that you're going to play a card but you're not 100% sure where it will go exactly. If you get lucky, and it is a playable card you did well, if it's not a playable card, it gets discarded, and your team loses a fuse token. Lose 3 of them and the game ends early. So play smart.
Hanabi was given to me as a gift, and I greatly appreciate it, as it has become one of my favorite games to try with new people. Get your copy HERE!
Hanabi is anything but simple and lacking strategy, because of one simple fact. You don't get to look at your own cards. Yes you read that correctly. Your cards are viewed by your teammates, and NOT by you. This turns the game into a pseudo team building exercise. In order for the group to succeed together, they must set each other up to do well.
But, how can I play a card in the correct location, when I don't know what I have in my hand? Your teammates can tell you what you have, but you're on a (figurative) time crunch so they can only tell you incomplete information. So as an example, you have three white cards, a red, and a blue in your hand. Your teammate can tell you, you have three white cards, and can point them out to you; however, you are still left in the dark as to what numbers you're holding, and that you're holding a red, and a blue. Later on you get more information from another teammate, your red card (that you don't know is red) and one of your white cards, are both 1's. By process of elimination, you now know that you are holding a white 1, a 1 that isn't white, two more white cards, and a dud that your teammates don't find valuable for you to know about yet.
To make things more difficult there are more than one of each card in the deck. In fact there are three of each color of 1's, two of each card 2-4, but only ONE 5 in each respective color. This allows you, and forces you, to discard these extra cards. Now, this dynamic opens up many possibilities. On your turn you have one of three options. Play a card, discard a card (and redraw), and give your team information. As we know, information isn't free. In order to give your team some knowledge, you must use one of your 8 knowledge chits, in the community knowledge pool. This seems like not enough information to complete the game, and it isn't. Fortunately you can earn it back, via discarding those extra cards that you don't need. (The two extra 1's and the one extra 2-4's). Once you declare that you're discarding a card, you can move an information token from the used pile, to the ready to use pile.
Additionally you may want to go bold, and say that you're going to play a card but you're not 100% sure where it will go exactly. If you get lucky, and it is a playable card you did well, if it's not a playable card, it gets discarded, and your team loses a fuse token. Lose 3 of them and the game ends early. So play smart.
Hanabi was given to me as a gift, and I greatly appreciate it, as it has become one of my favorite games to try with new people. Get your copy HERE!
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