Inis Board Game

Product Information

Get out there and try Inis! That is, if you’re like me, and think about power, and how we’re supposed to deal with it. Hopefully you and your friends can find a leader instead of a despot.

Finally, each player adds the two cards he held to the two cards passed to him. He looks at all four Action cards, chooses three to hold, and passes the other one to the next player. A player has units present in territories with at least 6 sanctuaries (a type of building in the game).

Glossary

The game play has been easy to learn so far and has a fun dynamic. Playing with more than 2 people definitely adds a different dynamic. The game is very different at 3 and 4 players. I cannot say I would recommend 2 players (it sounds awful, as this game is really reactive and with 2 players it seems like a lot would be missing), but I haven't played it that way. With three players the game will last around an hour (maybe less, if you are all experienced), and end when someone sets up a turn really well and makes sure the opponents used their ability to interact with other players before showing their hand. While it is usually true that you lose knowing you could have played better that turn, it is also sometimes true that you couldn't have - you either weren't in a position to do so, never got passed the cards to do so, or couldn't have played around a particular red card. Play is driven by drafting cards (leaving you with a hand of four) and then playing these cards to change the board state in the main phase of the game. Cards in Inis will do everything: adding to the map, moving units, making a territory a safe space, adding buildings, and more. Inisis a game deeply rooted in Celtic history and lore in which players win by being elected King of the Island (Inis). Players can try to achieve one of three different victory conditions: These conditions do not in themselves win you the game. Each time you accomplish 1 or more of them, you can take a pretender token, which allows you to win at the start of the next round, provided you don’t tie with another player for most total victory conditions. Unless that player is the Brenn, a player who is chieftain of the capital territory. That player can win in the case of a tie. Some adorable little sculpts.

Instigator: The player who initiated a clash, typically after moving some of his clans into a territory. Players keep their Deed tokens in front of them and visible at all times. Each Deed token can act as a "wild" toward meeting any one victory condition by adding "1" to the number of specified requirements. In Inis, you play a band of Celtic warriors, competing to claim ownership of a newly discovered island. This is achieved using cards to recruit and move troops, explore new parts of the island or of course, through war! First Impressions When a clash is initiated, the owner of the incoming clan is the "instigator". When it is a card that initiate a clash, the player who is the instigator is indicated on the card. Then the clans present in the territory need to decide among them how best to settle their differences-either aggressively or peacefully. At the start of each round, players draft a hand of four action cards (with 13 action cards for three players and 17 for four players) during the Assembly. Action cards not played at the end of one season are not held for the next. Players also have access to leader cards for the territories that allow it and where they were elected leader during the assembly. Each Assembly reallocates those cards. Finally, they collect "epic tales" cards that depict the deeds of the ancient Irish gods and heroes, like Cuchulainn, the Dagda, Lugh and many others. These will be kept and used to inspire the clans and achieve extraordinary feats...under the right circumstances. The cards provide a variety of actions: adding clans, moving clans, building/exploring, and special actions.

As soon as a clash occurs, players immediately resolve the clash before continuing on with the round. if the Brenn is not among the tied players, there is no winner. If there is no winner, all Pretender tokens are returned to the supply, and the game continues for another round, proceeding with the rest of the Assembly phase. Sanctuary: A place of worship. Being present in territories with Sanctuaries is one of the three victory conditions, and placing new Sanctuaries in a territory allows a player to draw an Epic Tale card. The Triskel cards can be played at a time specified on the card and include effects such as cancelling another player’s action, or gaining advantages in battles. Battles can be important in determining chieftains, which not only helps you on to your way to one of the victory conditions, but gains you an advantage card. These are cards specific to each territory which is claimed during the first phase by the chieftain of that territory. They range from pretty useless (I’m thinking of you, swamp) to allowing you to swap an action card, or gain an advantage in battle.

At the end of the Assembly phase, each player has four Action cards in hand and maybe some Advantage and Epic Tale cards. Players are chieftains leading their clans beyond the seas from Ireland to a newly discovered island. They settle the land, explore the surrounding area, harvest resources from the mines, and construct Citadels and Sanctuaries for their protection. Leadership:Be the leader — i.e., have more clan figures than any other player — of territories containing at least six opponents’ clans.Kingmaking” is a term that gets bandied about in board gaming circles, often with a snort of derision. It refers to a state within many board games where a player who is not in the running to win the game gets to make a decision that ensures (or makes pretty darn sure) that another player will win; thus, kingmaking. Each figure is a clan. Each player has 12 figures of one color. There are multiple sculpts, but the different sculpts do not affect gameplay. If a player has all 12 of his figures on the board, he cannot recruit more clans until some of them have been returned to his reserve. Buildings Season Phase: This is the core of the game, during which players perform various actions and effects by playing cards from their hand. When all players have consecutively passed, the Season ends. Players keep all Epic Tale cards in their hands, but they must discard all Action cards. If a player has an Advantage card in his hand and he is no longer the chieftain of that territory, he places that Advantage card faceup near the play area.

If the Capital territory does not have a chieftain, the Brenn does not change- even if none of the current Brenn's clans are present in the Capital territory. The Brenn can change only at this time, not during the Season phase. A clash occurs when one or more clans are moved to a territory where any opposing clans are already present. Also, some card effects can cause clashes to occur without any clans moving. A clan that is "placed" in a territory (such as the "New Clans" Action card) does not initiate a clash.The drafting mechanic works well. All actions cards bar one are used in every round, so you know which other cards are held by the other players, just not which player has which card and every round has tough decisions. Which card do you play? Some cards have two very valid options. Will they agree to a truce if you invade or is it going to result in a brutal war? In a war, should you throw away that really useful action card or lose your last man?