Itten has various meanings, one point, turning point, speck, dot, only a little… it is also a Japanese table top game company that released its first game, Tokyo Highway, back in 2016 and has not turned back since, they have gone from strength to strength and their games are, well, something else. We have a range of their games in the cafe to purchase and play so we thought we’d take a look at some of their wacky wares! Hold on to your hat, it’s going to get a bit surreal!
Become the fried-egg-master
This is Nice Egg! and it’s a five minute dexterity game. Take it in turns cracking your egg over the egg white and when everyone has had a go if your egg yolk is highest you keep it as a point. You also get a point if your egg yolk is closest to the original yolk, unless it’s covered up. Simple, but beware! If you knock out the original yolk the round ends without scoring and you lose a point! Set a target for a winner and there you have it.
Oh my, this is silly but great! It’s only 5 minutes… if you don’t like it, what have you lost? Nothing. But it’s actually challenging and fun. You owe it to yourself to get eggcited about this one. Also, so many puns, it’s eggcellent, no yolk! Like it? Shell out some cash and take a copy home with you, we hope it pans out. Best played on a Fry-day.
The Moon is a harsh mistress
What a beautiful, yet stark place the moon is. In Moon Base you are looking to use ring modules to create settlements on the moon and place resource bases. As well as contributing to research, for all mankind (nerdy reference, you’re welcome). Still, this is a 2-player abstract strategic game which lets you gaze at the beauty of your joint creation whilst gleefully rub your hands at the evilness of your last move.
Yes, serenity may be the name of a Mare on the moon’s surface but you will not be feeling that way for long.
With a handy summary sheet for each player showing how they place rings on the board and how scoring works too, you’ll be drafting over 6 rounds and aiming high for maximum points.
The fun never wanes in this game so shoot for the moon and take on a friend to see who can lasso the moon the best.
A shy, retiring creature that has never harmed a soul…
Nessie has been spotted and Nessie’s True Identity could be discovered. Keep it from those pesky reporters and keep the mystery alive!
At its heart Nessie’s True Identity is a light-hearted deduction game for any number of players although it works best at 5 or 6 players. One person selects a noun for the ‘answer’, selects a clue card randomly and gives everyone a clue and the others will guess, a hot/cold mechanism using a small boat that draws closer to the lovely Nessie figure helps the players figure out when they are near the truth. If they say the right answer a Scoop Conference is called and they vote, majority get it right, win! If not then the ‘witness’ wins for keeping the secret. Play as many rounds as players and see who scores best!
This is a beautiful and easy to play deduction game, the round markers are stunning little letters that spell out WHAT? and the scribble pads are also really well made.
All we can say? Beast of Loch to you playing this game!
You’d be nuts to not enjoy this…
That was low hanging fruit (consisting of a hard or tough shell protecting a kernel which is usually edible)… *doh*
Welcome to Nuts a GoGo! a manic free-for-all of cupping nuts. Yeah, I typed that sentence.
Shout out “Nuts a go!” and use one hand (normally your own) to get as many nuts as you can in your cup. These take the form of little (and not so little) wooden shapes. Filled your cup? Grab Antonio P. Nuts from the box and countdown from 10. Then, the game begins… The nut holder will shout out a type of nut and everyone must put one of those in their hand and on the cry of ‘Let’s Eat!’, reveal, you got the right nut? You stay in the game, if not, you’re out! Last player still in, wins. It’s that simple, at least in the base game. There are four variants in the rules to chew on.
So, as long as you’re not allergic to fun, fill your cup to overflowing and get cracking. Don’t be shell-shocked, you knew the puns wouldn’t be a tough nut to crack.
Not one drop more.
Let’s end on something a bit odd… a pair of Kappa siblings that share a bowl on their heads, unlike the normal Kappa. Try not to spill their life force, else you’ll lose!
This is Kappa Bros! our final offering today, in this you will throw two fish and obey their challenge of either placing water in the bowl on the head of one of the brothers or, doing it twice, or moving said bowl from one brother to the other, you spill water, you lose! That’s the whole game. You’ll be using a straw to transport the water from a glass and, it sounds crazy, it really is. Surface tension meets balance and a steady hand. We do love a simple dexterity game.
Please note, we don’t keep this out on the shelf as it needs to be looked after and dried thoroughly between uses… if you want to play this one just have a chat with one of the staff, they’ll go get it for you to try.
___
So, Itten… a little bit surreal, but in a very good way, as always we can’t wait to see what they come up with next! We’re in though.