Wicked Game (Hanamikoji)

I can think of no game with a simpler ruleset, published with a lovelier, more pleasant, appealing, and understated graphic design, or played with a more head-crushing metagame-rich strategy than Hanamikoji. 

Learned in less than five minutes, Hanamikoji presents more difficult decisions in four basic action tiles than many point salad euros can manage in a box full of custom wooden components.

Hanamikoji (2013)

Designed by Kota Nakayama

Art by Maisherly

Published by EmperorS4

Hanamikoji is the name of a street in Japan’s old capital city, Kyoto, that was known as a hub for geisha (or geiko in Kyoto’s dialect). Wikipedia defines geisha as “women who entertain through performing the ancient traditions of art, dance and singing, and are distinctively characterized by their wearing of kimono and oshiroi makeup.” In all honesty, beyond having a very cursory understanding of geisha, my actual informed knowledge is lacking, to say the least. I can say that with lots of Googling, I’ve learned that geisha are still present in Gion today, the district in Kyoto that has historically been known for them.

Lowdown (How to Play–in a Nutshell)

In Hanamikoji, players compete to win favor of the seven geishas on the street of Hanamikoji. The game is built around four identical action tokens each player has, and relies heavily on the “I split, you choose” mechanic.

At the start of the game, the seven geisha cards are laid out across the center of the table between players. On each geisha is a scoring token used to track which of the two players has “favor” of that particular geisha. Then each player is dealt a hand of six cards. The cards in the game correspond to the geishas on the table (with the #2 geisha having two cards in the deck, the #3 having three cards, and so forth). On your turn, you simply draw a card, then choose one of the four action markers, do the action, and flip over the token to show that it has been completed. The four actions are: 1. Hide a card face-down in front of you (this will remain secret until the end of the round when it will be revealed and scored), 2. Choose two cards from your hand and place them face down in front of you (these will remain hidden and not score at the end of the round, they are functionally discarded), 3. Choose three cards and reveal them to your opponent; they will choose one card to place on their side at the matching geisha, you will take the other two and place them on your side, 4. Choose four cards and reveal them to your opponent; they will choose two cards to place on their side, you will keep the other two.

Once each player has taken all four actions, each player will reveal their hidden card and play it to any geisha on their side. Next, the players will progress down the row of geisha, and for each geisha, move the favor token towards the player that has more cards played on their side at that particular geisha. Each geisha has a point value (ranging from two through five), and the game will end if one player either has either the favor of four geisha, or the favor of geisha whose point values total 11 points or more. In the event one of these conditions is not met, you collect all cards, shuffle, and play again, but do not move the favor tokens back to the center of each geisha card.

Tea for Two (Scaling for Two Players)

This game is playable only as a two-player game, and as such it’s perfect.

She’s So Cold (The Bad Stuff)

It will be difficult to divorce the good from the bad here, because I can imagine someone balking at Hanamikoji’s subtleties that I enjoy. With that in mind, let’s talk about what seems to be the most divisive aspect of the game. I’ve read bad reviews for Hanamikoji online, and it seems to be the fly in the ointment here (for some) is how deceptively simple it is to play.

Certain players feel as though their are no real decisions to be made. The four actions are so straight forward, simple, and limiting, it doesn’t really matter what you pick. You could close your eyes, play randomly, and have an equal shot at winning. The cards you draw and the actions your opponent happens to play will dictate whether you win or lose. I won’t argue, at first blush, it does feel like this is true–a feeling exacerbated by one-off games. Which cards should I bury? Does it matter? How can four actions leave me feeling so lost? How can I know which cards my opponent will take when I offer four cards to them? I will say that after a few plays–especially with the same player, it becomes clear that there is, in fact, a ton of game here. To claim that an inexperienced player will have an equal chance at winning against a very experienced player (as some reviews have posited) is simply incorrect.

There She Goes, My Beautiful World (The Good Stuff)

It’s hard for me to complain about Hanamikoji, because I think this game is simply stellar. The amount of hard decisions that are crammed into 21 cards and four action tiles is remarkable. And as is the case with some–but lamentably few–two player games, repeated plays against the same player become infinitely more rewarding. More often than not, you will be playing the person across from you (literally) rather than the game, i.e. doing your best to read what it is they are going for, or what it is they may be going for because it is most advantageous for them. There are two methods of winning (securing the favor of either four geishas or winning the favor of geishas with a total point value of 11 or more), and this means that depending on what cards you have in your hand, you may be pushed towards particular geishas.

If you find yourself with a hand full of cards matching the #5 geisha, perhaps you’ll want to try to secure that geisha, meaning you may have better luck trying to tie down the 11 points for the win. On the other hand, there’s no way of guaranteeing you’ll get to play a card beyond saving one card for the end of the game. Other than that action, each time you play cards, it will be with the “I split, you choose” mechanic, so there’s no way to know for sure which cards the other play will choose. So you can try to “sweeten” a split with a card for them. For example, if you see them trying to go for the #3 geisha and you don’t want to fight them for it, you can offer it up in hopes of getting them to pass over a #4 card you’re looking to keep.

But again, and I want to emphasize this, you are very limited in simply “playing a card.” Even the action that lets you save a card until the end of the game is limiting, because if you play it too early, you may pick a card that turns out to be worthless by the game’s end. On the other hand, if you hang on to it for too long, you may be left with only junk cards in your hand.

Every choice feels like a dilemma. Each time you select an action, you’ll want to keep all of your cards, but that’s simply not possible. And you’ll understand quickly that many of the cards you’ll end up playing will be out of your opponent’s hand, so you can’t even see them in the traditional sense.

Hanamikoji is a game in which you’ll find yourself counting cards. Have all the 4s come out yet? I have to win the #4 geisha to take the game to another round, otherwise I’m toast. You’ll also find yourself silently–or maybe not so silently!–imploring the other player not to pick that card you’re desperately hoping to keep. And all the card counting in the world can’t compensate for the two cards you’ll each discard, or the one card that is removed from the game each round during set-up. In Hanamikoji, you just can’t account for everything.

The End (Final Thoughts)

“Brain Burny” is a decidedly made-up adjective modifier frequently used to describe games where you can all but feel your brain’s gears grinding against each other. So many hard choices, so little room for error. Hanamikoji plays in about 15-20 minutes, and each minute will be dominated by seemingly lose/lose decisions. If you’re lucky enough to play repeated games against the same opponent, you’ll certainly remember what they did last time, their mode of thinking, their strategy (whether it be good or bad), and how they made it to the end of the game. This is a game that will teach you what the term “metagame” really means.

As I said, this core of hard decisions is, in my opinion, the best and most rewarding part of Hanamikoji, but others may find it arbitrary or unforgiving. I firmly stand against the idea that it’s arbitrary–there’s definitely strategy here–but the game can be unforgiving. In so short a game, you will feel like you’re walking on a razor’s edge, but for me, the game’s brevity also makes it infinitely more palatable compared to a swingy or unforgiving long game.

It’s a two player only that single-handedly illustrates the shortcomings of Board Game Geek’s “Weight/Complexity” rating. Is it complex? No. Is it heavy? Arguably, yes. 

This game belongs in every two-player gamer’s collection.

Player One

Eric

Hanamikoji
by Kota Nakayama

Hanamikoji epitomizes the cliche “Easy to learn, difficult to master,” and exemplifies a smallbox game that should be in every two-player gamer’s collection.

Hearty recommendation.