Today we will be taking a look at Kodachi from Wizkids games. Designed by AB West and Illustrated by Drew Baker, this card game plays 2-4 players.
Gameplay/Setup
To set up the game, players will each take 12 starting cards and shuffles them to create a personal draw pile. Each player then draws 6 cards. The starting player gets the shuriken and one guard, one elite given to other players in turn order. The house deck is shuffled as the Envoy, Rumor, Skill. Each clan token is stacked from the top number down as well.
There are two phases to the game, Invading the House and Taking Cards. Gameplay continues until a 4th clan token or the last one is taken. The game ends and the player with the highest score is the winner!
In Invading the House, you draw the top card from the House and Guard deck and place them face up. After seeing those cards you must decide if you will invade through Strength or Stealth, determining if you are playing a dojo card that is higher or lower than the Guard. This will lock you into this choice for your turn, you can’t change this decision. You can play the dojo card by itself or you may also play a dojo with a skill card. You must do all the effects on the skill card you play. You can also play an Envoy card as a specific type of dojo and gain the Envoy’s clan bonus. These tokens will add to your score at the end of the game.
Watch out for the Elite guards that are more powerful than the regular ones. The deck will show you when an Elite guard is coming, so be prepared for those to hit a little harder! Some of the guards show a low and high value, the low number is for Stealth, the higher one for Strength. At some point you can stop and take cards from the display. After you defeat each guard, you must decide to stop or continue. Be careful-if you cannot defeat the guard your turn will immediately and you will be unable to take any cards from the display!
In the next step Taking Cards, you will be able to take cards from the display. Guard cards are free but House cards will cost you treasure. Remember if your Invasion failed, you can’t take any cards! The number of cards you can take depends on the number of Guards you defeat. Guard cards are treasure that can be used now or on future turns to buy House cards. House cards that are purchased are immediately put into your hand.
Each House card costs you treasures in some combination. Gold is a wild and then there are four other types. After you take cards or fail your invasion, each player starting with the one on your left has the option to take one card. This continues until everyone has a chance or there are no cards left. At the end of the turn, discard any remaining house and guard cards, redraw your hand and discard or keep unplayed cards in hand.
The game ends when a player gains their fourth clan token, continuing play until all players have had an equal number of turns. Players total all their points on all cards, most points wins.
Impressions:
Kodachi brings a quick, fun game to the table that is strong on theme throughout. The Strength vs. Stealth decisions for your invasion move is an interesting mechanic that you must decide on each turn, giving some additional thought behind each turn. The push-your-luck mechanic of how far into your invasion you want to go is fun and the core of this game. Hand management plays a big part of the skill needed here as well. The addition of the skill cards bring some change and good decision making turns as well. Kodachi is easy to set up and get in a match or two at the start of a game night or whenever you want to play a push-your-luck game that will really “push” you to be the best ninja in the land!
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