Launch Your Rockets!

Hanabi is easy to learn and easy to get out of the box, but difficult to master.

Hanabi is a game that punches far above its weight class. This small game is just a deck of cards and a rulebook, but provides one of the most exciting and tense experiences in all cooperative games that leads you to launch a Grand Fireworks Finale!

Since the hit release of Pandemic in 2008 cooperative games have become a cornerstone of the board game hobby. They provide a way for groups to share in winning or losing together equally, however some cooperative games suffer from “quarterbacking” or one player dominating the group and telling everyone what plays to make. Hananbi is a cooperative game that has a brilliant solution to the “quarterback” problem: not giving all the players complete information. In Hanabi all players hold their hand of cards facing outwards; you can see what other players have, but you can’t see your own cards. The goal of the game is to play as many cards as possible, without playing cards out of order. Players share information about each other’s hands as the game goes on. As a result of not knowing your own cards, the best turn is usually not obvious to any player.

The nuance in Hanabi comes from the possible actions. On every turn the active player has three choices: play a card, tell another player about their hand and discard a “time token”, or discard a card and regain a time token. Each turn is filled with excitement and danger, if you play the wrong card you come closer to losing the game, if your information is misunderstood it waste resources or worse, lead your teammate to make a wrong play, and if you discard the wrong card you may no longer be able to finish a suit.

Hanabi is easy to learn and easy to get out of the box, but difficult to master. The teamwork and trust required to win set it apart from other cooperative games, which are usually focused on solving some kind of puzzle. Hanabi is a game that relies on meaningful communication and exciting action, anyone looking to add a cooperative game to their collection should take a long look at this little gem.

.