Hanamikoji Review - with Tom Vasel

[@caseydraven]

I bet Sam healey is proud you finally came around! Lol. It is a great game!

[@acidfloyd2]

This is a fast and very intriguing game. It blew my mind how mant threads of strategy are involved as I played it.

[@eternity_complex]

Absolutely phenomenal game! My favourite point, which wasn't really covered in the review, is that the "best" actions for you to understand your opponents strategy use up a LOT of cards from your hand. As you only draw one each turn, you could shoot yourself in the foot if you're left with duff cards on the draw. But on the flipside, scoring a single card as your first action may also be entirely inconsequential. It's a brilliantly tough game of bluffing and attempted mind reading, in my mind the best of it's ilk.

[@danielrowland663]

I have the old version. The middle cards are double sided one with the card value one without. I wonder why they changed it.

[@SanjuroSan]

Kickstarter as of today is going right now for Hanamikoji 2 that also has options for this game. 16 days left as of this post!

[@sAKecOkE]

This is a 2 player game you can play with almost any non-gamer and you will both enjoy it. You can't say that about many games, even great ones (like 7 Wonders Duels for example). One of my favorites for sure, no expansions needed!

[@davidburkhardt5265]

Great game, I was curious how Tom would feel about it. Very excited for the modular expansions.

[@Xaezero]

Love this game. So simplistic in it’s mechanic yet provides such a deep experience. Very nice to have a game that makes you think hard but plays so fast! Only minor point for me is that the art on those cards in the middle are only one way, which means one player is always looking at them upside down 🙃

[@Naruga]

I usually play with each one alternating direction to try to alleviate that a bit lol.

[@Komirowsky]

This game is even better if you play against person you know really well sometimes it becoming really brain burner it this situation.

[@c.w.2000]

I both love and hate this game. It burns my brain and causes AP more than almost any other game I’ve played. I play against my spouse, who is objectively smarter than I am, and I know he sees things I don’t. So, I sweat, and he almost always wins. I know it’s good for my brain, though, and I admire the cleverness of the design. I can’t really say this game is fun for me, but I’ll never get rid of it and try to play it at least once a month. I’ll have to look into the expansions.

[@un-ku_son]

This game to me is design perfection. I am cautiously excited about the expansions.

[@evanhaut]

The geisha cards have been printed recto verso with the card numbers on either one of the sides...

[@lordoftheflings]

i just got my copy of this and while you gave it a silver seal of approval, on the box it has a golden dicetower seal of excellence. So which is it?

[@MrJmarzetti]

Great game that I love to play! I'm not sure about the original printing, but if you can get "Jixia Academy" (which is exactly the same game with a male theme) solves the number issue on the main center tableaux cards. The Jixia version has the numbers printed on one side of the card. Or, choose to play w/o the numbered side if you wish. Also, I like the sabers better than the flower tokens, since they are easier to handle for bigger fingers.

[@rafad5767]

The previous edition had numbers on the geishas.

[@nurseruben5431]

Get it on Kickstarter while you still can!!!

[@lukasvitroler2178]

Isnt hanamikoji a dt excellence game? Or did sam only give it approved too

[@atlusfox1531]

I have some of EmperorS4 games and most are a lot of fun 2 player games. Nice thing is that they are inexpensive, easy to learn and play.

[@MartianOrion]

Probably my all time favorite 2 player game

[@expatmeeple]

I love this game, i can't wait to receive the new expansion

[@refreshdaemon]

This was out of print when I was interested in getting it, but Jixia Academy, the male scholar themed version of this game, was so I got that and it's been fun playing it. Not sure I care at all about the theme, but it lends some nice artwork to this very abstract game.

[@rachsounds]

I have Jixia academy too but I guess we will not be able to get expansions easily next time

[@dr.masquesretroelixir5360]

Thanks, Tom. This is a great game!

[@npckse8508]

I need to consider this as a 2 player game. It moves quickly and is easy to catch on. I won my first play against a better player, likely through some luck, but still I consider that a good sign. Not sure about these expansions for it.

[@Poiuytrew.Q]

I would be more interested if the game had the player be the geisha.

[@EfrainRiveraJunior]

Kon'nichiwa.

[@ozzyperez3190]

This game is a tough little nut to crack

[@NewEarthAwakening]

I’m interested in the game but also feel conflicted about the premise. I think for me to want to play in a way that feels more empowering towards women, I would need to view the game as buying lessons from women who are masters in cultural arts like music, tea ceremony, calligraphy/ literature, dance, etc. with the hope of winning them as a mentor. A person wins the game by becoming adept in a range of arts.

[@nshaw1299]

I really REALLY am fascinated with this game... But, (and I know its a cultural thing) it's so weird to me to play with my kids and explaining to them 'get favors from Geishas'. Even in Jixia Academy - why do you want to influence a teacher? Why can't it be pirate themed and have all center cards be treasure chests? I would get that in a heartbit!

[@revimfadli4666]

Then it would raise the question, why would you split potential crews evenly with your rival pirate?

[@Naruga]

Explain to them that they are like celebrities and having them be patrons of your shop will boost the reputation and make your shop popular. I am not sure there but here if a celebrity visits a shop it is common for the shop to have a photo of their visit displayed to improve reputation. Also for Jixia Academy, you winning the favor of the scholars is you impressing them with your research, knowledge etc and them recognizing your academic potential. Hope that helps you with understanding the themes.

[@nshaw1299]

@@Naruga celebs and 'likes' they would understand :-) not my 'go to theme', but they would get it.

[@nshaw1299]

@@revimfadli4666 that part is anyways abstracted out... the issue is just 'what are these pictures in the middle'... they could've been colored numbers.

[@nshaw1299]

@@Naruga just to add, the thing that feels 'problematic' (in either hanamikoji or jixia academy) is that the prizes are people, if I need to pinpoint the issue. I prefer my prizes to be less... sentient.

[@Sajatzsiraf]

cult of the new!

[@marcosseven8872]

I can't seem to like or understand this game. You do your actions but the whole time it feels like whatever you do it's not in your control. Just not a nice feeling, the whole game feels like that. Had to get rid of my copy.

[@xshadowscreamx]

It’s a game of sacrifice.

[@duckwantbreads]

Suprised you felt that way, you have so much information at the start of your go it's pretty easy to form a strategy in your head of how you want to play and I rarely feel like I lost because of bad luck. Remember that if you win favour on round 1 then you only need a draw on round 2 to keep the favour, so you don't need to try and win all 4 favours in one go, you can win a couple on round one and build from there.

[@charliedc4728]

Is it gorgeous? Sure...I guess. Is the game mechanics good? Sure. Do I want to play it? Not really. The theme does nothing for me. Everytime I've played this I wonder why I care about getting these goods for these woman.

[@charliedc4728]

I think I've held on to this, because it's literally the first game I bought when I got into the hobby. Maybe, time to move it along...

[@KabukiKid]

Yeah, this isn't a game you play for the theme... it is basically an abstract card game. Personally, I love it... and I'm generally a thematic gamer.

[@MedicSV93]

I use it as a quick filler, play couple of rounds, and move on to the more thematic games.

[@shanerion]

Theme matters to you so much that it can ruin a game that you admit looks and plays great?

[@charliedc4728]

@@shanerion after initially playing it a few dozen times, it hasn't hit the table with any of my gaming peeps in years. Maybe, the game wasn't as good as I thought (for us) or I'm done with it (many great games get old after a while) or the theme doesn't catch me (which it does not) and I would rather grab a different smaller game off the shelf.