Gameplay

In Hanamikoji players try to win the favor of the geishas by presenting them with various performance objects. They win either by gaining the favor of 4 geishas or 11 or more charm points.

Players start with a hand of 6 and take turns drawing a card and playing one action as shown on the action tiles. These actions all play one or some cards from the players hands to place them underneath a Geisha of choice.

When both players performed their 4 actions, they compare the number of items for each geisha. The favor marker will slide towards the player with the most items. If a player has 4 favor tokens on their side, they win the game. If not, they can still win by having 11+ charm points.

When neither of the players wins this round, they play again and again until there is a winner

Thoughts

Hanamikoji is a beautiful little two player game. Besides enjoying the artwork, I really enjoy the gameplay as well. It's such a game that can become quite thinky if you want it to be.

I want to highlight what a Geisha actually is, a Geisha is a highly educated and well respected Japanese host, who ensures entertainment on events with often an artsy twist. I think it's beautiful they created a game around this.

If you like beautiful and thinky two player games, this is a good one!

7.5/10