Publisher: Arcane Wonders
Release Date: April 2016
Price: $29.99
Game Designer: Shimpei Sato
Format: Board/Card game
Number of players: 2
Game Length: 10-15 minutes
Age Rating: 14+
Product #: AWGDTE02ON
ICv2 Rating: 4.5 stars out of five
This game is a marvel of simplicity, a cross between chess and martial arts. One of our game group with martial arts training was able to recognize how some of the moves of the game derived from traditional fighting movements.
What makes the game so much fun and so replayable is that you have very limited movement options, which vary from game to game. Only five movement cards are in play in any single game, and each player only has access to two of them at a time. Each card permits one of your pieces to make a very limited set of moves. After you use it, your opponent will soon be able to use that same move.
Winning the game requires you to either capture your opponent's "king" piece, or for you to move your own "king" to the other king's starting place. Neither one is easy, but your ability to maneuver and control territory can force your opponent into a mistake… or he can force you into one. In fact, that is the game’s only real flaw, that it is almost always decided by an error, forced or unforced. Players who have trouble with details or planning ahead will not enjoy this game, but for the intended audience, it’s great.
Once the initial cards are dealt, there is no further luck involved in the game, and it is impossible for a "good" draw on the first turn to determine the winner, due to the responsive nature of the movement system. It is pure strategy. Most games range from 5-15 minutes, so 10 is a good estimate. This would be an excellent tournament game for conventions, because the rounds would be very short.
The physical components are beautifully simple. Even the box is elegant, closing magnetically around a rolled-up cloth board and the finely molded playing pieces, along with the simple and easy rules.
Players younger than 14 will be able to handle this game if they can play chess, checkers or Go skillfully.
--Nick Smith: Librarian Technician, Community Services, for the Pasadena Public Library in California.
