Elements (game)

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Elements
Game data
author Team Saien
graphic Dennis Lohausen
publishing company JapanJapan Japan : Saien (Khmer), Japan : Arclight, Germany : Pegasus Spiele , Spain : Ediciones MasQueOca
JapanJapan 
GermanyGermany 
SpainSpain 
Publishing year 2013
Art Card game
Teammates 2
Duration 20-30 minutes
Age from 10 years on

Elements , first published as Khmer , is a card game for two people by the Japanese game designers Team Saien . The game was published under the original name in Japan in 2010 by Saien and was published in 2016 as Elements in German and English by Pegasus Spiele , in Spanish and Portuguese by Ediciones MasQueOca and in Japanese by Arclight.

Theme and equipment

The game is a contest between two players to achieve the best possible hand of cards in relation to the display. The game is about using the five elements wood, fire, earth, metal and water as well as yin and yang as a balancing element. In addition to the game instructions, the game material consists of 16 playing cards and 12 victory point markers. The cards are each two cards with the values ​​1 to 5, which correspond to the elements, and six cards with the value 6, which are assigned to Yin and Yang.

Style of play

To prepare for the game, all 16 playing cards are shuffled, then both players receive 6 cards each and the remaining 4 cards are removed from the game.

Possible moves
  • Play card
  • Take card
  • discard a 6
  • Beat
  • To give up

The game is played over several rounds depending on the respective round result. A starting player begins his action and can either place a card in the display or discard a 6 and thus remove it from the game. Then the two players play alternately and can each play a card on the display, pick up the last card played, discard a 6 or end the round by "knocking" or "giving up":

  • to display a player places one of his hand cards face up in the middle. If there are already cards there, it is placed in a fan-like manner on the cards already on display so that the values ​​remain visible. Then he announces the total amount of cards on display as the "limit".
  • If a player decides to take a card, he takes the topmost card on display and places it face up in front of him and announces the new limit of the display. The cards in your own display may not be played later and remain in place until the end of the round.
  • in order to reduce his own hand of cards, a player may discard a 6-card. These cards are removed from play for the round.
  • in order to knock, the player must have a hand of cards that, together with the personal display, is equal to or less than the limit. When a player knocks, he reveals his cards and shows them to the opponent for verification. Then the opponent reveals the cards. If one of the players has a higher value than the limit, the opponent receives two victory points. If both card values ​​are below the limit, the player with the higher value receives two victory points and if both players are tied, the player who did not knock receives two victory points.
  • if a player sees no chance of winning the game, he can resign. In this case the opponent receives one victory point.

The one who scored in the round becomes the starting player of the next round and deals the new cards. The game ends when a player has 6 victory points after a round. That player wins the game.

Development and reception

The game Elements was developed by the Japanese game designer team Team Saien and published in 2010 by Saien's own publishing house as Khmer with simple number cards in Japan. In 2016 it was published for the Nuremberg Toy Fair as Elements in German and English by Pegasus Spiele , in Spanish and Portuguese by Ediciones MasQueOca and in Japanese by Arclight.

Due to the way it is played, the game is sometimes compared to the classic card game with seventeen and four or blackjack . Comparisons with Love Letter refer mainly to the small number of playing cards.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d Game Instructions Elements
  2. ↑ Versions of Elements in the BoardGameGeek game database (English); accessed on August 8, 2018.
  3. ↑ Elements , game review in the blog angewandte.de, July 15, 2016; accessed on August 8, 2018

Web links