Kanagawa

It’s 1840 and Master Katsushika Hokusai, famous for painting Great Wave off Kanagawa, is looking to recruit students to his painting school in the Bay of Tokyo. Follow the Master’s teachings to expand your studio and create a more harmonious print than your rival students.

Kanagawa, published by Iello and created by Bruno Cathala and Charles Chevallier, is a card drafting and hand management game for two to four players with a slice of push-your-luck.

Each round, players choose whether to draft from the cards laid out on the school board (which is made from bamboo) or whether to push their luck and pass for the opportunity to draft more cards. You can use these dual-function cards to improve your studio or flip them and add them to your landscape (if you have the relevant brushes). When adding to your landscape print you will need to be aware of the seasons and the characters and animals in your print, as they can be a great source of harmony and points.

Improving your studio will involve acquiring new paint brushes, the assistant (first-player) pawn, or abilities such as being able to hang on to cards in-hand between rounds or move a paint brush.

As a budding artist you’ll want to gain diplomas – the moment your print meets the requirements of a diploma that hasn’t already been claimed you must immediately choose whether to take it or leave it - if you leave a diploma, you can attempt to take a more difficult diploma in the same category later, but you can never go back and take the one you declined. This can lead to some agonising decisions and missed opportunities, but can also lead to glory!

The game ends when either the lesson deck is empty or at the end of a complete round when one or more players have at least 11 cards in their print. You will then earn points for every lesson card in your print, one point per lesson card in your longest sequence of identical seasons, positive or negative harmony points from your print and studio, points from the diplomas you’ve earned and two points go to the person currently in possession of the Grand Master pawn.

Will you be top of Master Hokusai’s class and create a painting to last the ages?

Player Count: 2-4
Time: 45 Minutes
Age: 10+