Inis Board Game

Product Information

Inis is a deep game. It’s a deep game about power struggles, and it’s one that makes a very interesting statement about them. 2-4 players are competing to become ruler of the island, and each player is a pretender to the throne. I’m not going to dive too deeply into the specifics of the rules, but I will outline the three different victory conditions with some granularity. A Season card may be an Action card an Advantage card or an Epic Tale card . The player plays the card, resolves the indicated effect, and then discards the card:

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. Careful drafting, hand management, good timing, bluffing (especially once players understand the importance of passing their turn), and a precise understanding of the balance of power are the keys to your victory. After a discovery-level game you'll be ready for a full and epic game, where an undisputed player will be king by the Assembly for his wisdom and merit. Each chieftain believes to have the most legitimate claim to the throne of this new island. Only time will tell who among them will ascend to become Ard-Ri, the High King of this new realm! 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. Leadership: Be the leader — i.e., have more clan figures than all other players — of territories containing at least 6 opponents' clans.How to Acquire: During the Assembly phase, the chieftain of each territory takes its matching Advantage card. The rules are pretty simple to learn, but there is a huge amount of strategic depth to the game, and the three different victory conditions mean that most players are fairly close to winning when the game ends. There is very little downtime between your turns as well, and plenty of interaction between the players.

Inis is a really brilliant game that I can't recommend highly enough. Whilst it may initially appear to be a war game (especially when played with just two players), it soon becomes apparent with higher player counts that a long protracted war will often leave those players affected at a significant disadvantage to the other players. There are two building types: Citadels and Sanctuaries. There is no limit to the number of buildings a territory can contain. If a player attempts to place a new building in a territory, but there are no more buildings of this type in the reserve, he cannot place this type of building. Each player looks at his three Action cards, chooses two to hold, and passes the other one to his opponent.Allowed to Keep: Once an Advantage card is in a player's hand, that player keeps it for the entire round until he chooses to play it. Inis is 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: Over the course of the game, players also earn deeds, typically chanted by bards or engraved by master crafters, that reduce by one the magic total of six for any condition. While one victory condition is enough to claim the title of King, a game of experienced players usually has a tight balance of power, emphasizing the leadership of the capital of the island. Action cards are discarded in a facedown discard pile. Players can look at the cards in this discard pile only when a card effect allows it, such as the "Druid" Action card.