This is Day 29 of my Game-and-Blog-Every-Day-in-November Challenge. Search my blog for “Daily Game Challenge” for previous entries.

Hanamikoji

One of the reasons why I immediately liked Hanamikoji is its tug-o-war scoring. It reminded me of one of my other favorite two-player games, Sun-Tzu. Hanamikoji, though, is a much quicker game and the focuses is entirely on outwitting your opponent.

You each have a hand of cards and you choose one of four actions, which will have you and/or your opponent either discarding or taking each other’s cards. I love the I-split-you-choose action, which is always a tough decision. You then place your cards on the geisha cards; whoever has the most cards on each will gain their favor. If you gain the favor of four geishas or their total is 11 or more, then you win.

For a 15-minute game Hanamikoji is packed with tense decisions and it’s one of the best two-player battle of wits you can have at the tabletop.