Hanabi
2-5
8+
30
Hanabi : a surprising and amazingly innovative game.
In this collective game, all the players work together to create a beautiful firework display. But every player has to hold his cards back to front: you cannot see your own cards! So you have to give your partners smart advice and remember all the information collected.
images © Abacusspiele
User Reviews (28)
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Hanabi is quite the interesting little game. Its theme is unique amongst games, having you and the other players work together to make the most wonderful fireworks display possible using numbered cards of five different colors. It also stands out from other cooperative games in that players start off with no knowledge of what is in their own hand. You’re only allowed to look at the backs of your own cards, and it’s up to the other players to give you hints as to what colors and numbers of fireworks are available to you. You then have the option to discard or play a firework card, hoping it was the right one.
It’s a simple game of deduction, forcing you to keep track of every card that’s been played or discarded and figuring out what’s left through process of elimination. It’s a fun, light game that’s a good filler while setting up something bigger, and there’s not really any way to ‘lose’, per se, you just might not achieve a perfect win. The only other downside is that the quality of the cards is kind of low, the edges already getting some wear as soon as I got them out of the box.
Easy to learn, a lot of fun to play and quite challenging when you really get into it. How amazing are your fireworks? If you wanna know how to play but don’t feel to comfortable with the english language, check out this video of our german review of Hanabi as part of our “nerDEyROLL” series. 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2JuIEdd9mI&list=PL_q9sETKzlQ70pK8Dt7jxPVLbEf2pcm2i&feature=c4-overview-vl
Hanabi does everything right.
It has a simple ruleset that can be taught in 2 minutes. While easy to learn, it can be difficult to master. It scales well for different player counts. While I find it easier with 2, it is still able to be won with higher player counts.
Each game provides new and varied challenges. The luck of the draw is enough to make each game different from the last and some games slightly more challenging than others but there is still a large amount of skill that goes into winning the game.
I cannot recommend the game highly enough.
The game is fun enough if you break the spirit of the communication rules. My biggest problem is that the art is too similar. We often find this a bar or restaurant game fav but in less than pristine lighting it is very hard to tell Suits apart. The little bomb chits are hard to see as well. I here the deluxe version uses tiles and there is an oversized version that has a rack Sotheby’s annoying part of holding the cards up all night while trying to sip your drink are eliminated. It is definitely party game only. There are just so many better party/ deduction games out there.
I love me some Hanabi. Holding your cards face-out, giving each other clues about which plays to make, and working together with as few words as possible all make this game refreshingly different. I’ve played Hanabi with avid gamers and non-gamers alike and all were able to enjoy themselves. Once players understand 1.) the objective and 2.) what can and cannot be said in the game, it’s all fireworks from there!
My boyfriend recently debuted Hanabi at a board game night and it was a big hit. I wasn’t sure how fun a game about fireworks would be but I was pleasantly surprised. We ended up playing the game the entire night when we had two others lined up.
It definitely helps if you know the people you are playing with well to be able to read between the lines of their hints. It took some getting used to for us to remember not to look at our cards when we picked them up after being dealt.
This is a great game for gamers of all ages and I also think it’s a good intro to unique card games for non-gamers.
This is a simple game that is very much a competitive and social pleasure.
The mechanics work well, and the emphasis on both remembering what you have and trying to be tactical in play and work with others means that you are juggling both facts and your tactics as well.
It is a clever premiss and we often find ourselves being competative against the game its self, which is a very strange place to find your self.
I really enjoyed this game, but the lack of holders for the cards took away from the game play a bit. It was a lot of fun, but I was taken out of the mindset of gaming too often to make this an instant buy. Hard to argue with the price, though. An excellent filler, once someone makes custom components for it, or a multi-tiered filing system which would be really sweet.
The tension that inevitably results in having to make a blind choice, and not wanting to let your fellow players down is real. Who knew fireworks could be stressful?
edit – a member of our gaming group made components to hold the cards out of wood, and it was fantastic