Inis

A solid game, and good craic as well. Shipped fast and a fair price; absolutely lovely.

I used to like heavier euros before I picked this game up, but it has since eclipsed them by far (even though one of them was Eclipse). What I love: The game is extremely simple and accessible, but it presents an incredible amount of flexibility and decisions. It is the extreme of clean design, deep choices, and a lot of variation between plays. The game is extremely interactive, to the point that it makes it quite a reactive game, with nobody really being able to snowball a lead because there are consistent answers that people can have to any kind of lead. You see victory coming many turns in advance, and there is plenty of opportunity to try to prevent a victory while setting yourself up for a victory in the future. The game has an incredible amount of replayability. We've gotten to the point that we know all of the red and yellow cards by name, and the red cards add a huge amount of variety to every game. Things to consider: The game is very different at 3 and 4 players. I cannot say I would recommend 2 players (it sounds awful, as this game is really reactive and with 2 players it seems like a lot would be missing), but I haven't played it that way. With three players the game will last around an hour (maybe less, if you are all experienced), and end when someone sets up a turn really well and makes sure the opponents used their ability to interact with other players before showing their hand. While it is usually true that you lose knowing you could have played better that turn, it is also sometimes true that you couldn't have - you either weren't in a position to do so, never got passed the cards to do so, or couldn't have played around a particular red card. With 4 players the game is completely different. It can sometimes last a really long time if people are playing well, but all the while the game is tense and no one person can say they couldn't win. Everybody is interacting, reacting and setting themselves up. The only issue is that the deed tokens - the things that let you meet victory conditions much easier - are much easier to get in this mode, meaning that the game either ends quickly and - I would say - satisfyingly, OR another person gets a victory condition while someone else being the Brann (something much harder to accomplish in a three player game). When the latter happens, the game can last a while. I will say though, it is tense throughout. Every turn FEELS like the last turn, it feels like you could win every turn if you play your cards right.... it just ends up being that most of the time, the game can continue with ties that get harder and harder to keep until it explodes. When it lasts too long, the end just feels anticlimactic, like you could have won four turns in a row but at the end the person who got ignored or who you were counting on ends up taking the win. This is really rare, but this is also why some people might get the experience of it dragging out. It usually doesn't, but unfortunately the more evenly matched you are, the more it can happen.

I purchased this game specifically to be part of a St. Patrick's day celebration due to all the Celtic references (we have Irish family). My spouse and I are game lovers and I thought this would be a fun surprise. The game play has been easy to learn so far and has a fun dynamic. Playing with more than 2 people definitely adds a different dynamic. The quality of this game and the art is AMAZING. The exterior box is nice thick sturdy cardboard and has the most beautiful high-quality print showing off the impressive art. Additionally, inside the box the inserts are designed well to hold everything in place perfectly. The "boards" are also a quality thick cardboard in fun shapes. The tokens or "clans" are plastic pieces, so naturally they get a little bent due to the delicate detail, but it's nice that they aren't all the same. The cards in the game are larger than standard cards, so no running them through our card shuffler, but they also have great art and clearly explain how to be used. Lastly, there's even information in the instructions on each of the "characters" in the game, which I think is a really nice touch.

Inis is a great medium weight board game, it only take between half-hour to an hour to play on average and since it usually goes quick you’ll often play 2-3 games easily before moving on. The components are all above average quality (some minor warping on the small figurines b/c soft plastics), and the art is ABSOLUTELY wonderful. I love this game, we play it often and have not gotten tired of it. One of the best things in Inis is the speed of play: the game is not bogged down and turns are fairly quick. The card drafting mechanic (which governs ALL actions in the game) is executed perfectly. You spend a fair amount of time mulling over who could have what cards in hand (there are only a total of 16 basic actions cards in the whole game, with other cards for more unique special onetime actions) and because of this you often get to play some really fun surprise attacks or nutty combos on opponents. It’s a really well designed game and again the art is just incredible. Usually only takes 1 game to learn most everything, biggest mistake people make is assuming everything needs to end in bloodshed or combat. Yes there is “combat” in the game, but it literally always ends in pointless attrition that can knock you out of the game, instead this game is primarily area of control where you have to occasionally learn to live with your rowdy neighbors. Love this game.

Inis (pronounced IN-ISH, for those of you non-Celtic (Irish) speakers out there!) has split my gaming group like no other since Agricola (I hate that game, btw! :P )...and the Disney Star Wars movies!!! Some (like me) love it; others hate it, and have vowed will never play it again (or so they say!)!! The game is beautiful and has Matago Games typical elaborate production values (cool miniatures, beautiful and unique game board, nice cards). I love the Celtic theme, that the game does a pretty good job of integrating into the mechanics. The artwork is largely based on famous Celtic artist John Fitzgerald, and oozes a kind of mysterious, magical and mythical setting. But where the game really stands out is how it's played. It's well, like much ancient Celtic myth, story and culture, familiar and at the same time, unlike anything else around it. Inis also has a lot of different, even unique, gaming mechanics that make it completely different from any other "minis fighting on a map" type game (i.e "Cyclades, Kemet, etc...) I've ever played. It's combat system feels unique. It's card drafting and card-based action selection feels unique. And the game has some of the most unique (bizarre?) win conditions I've yet seen in a game of it's type. Despite how different Inis feels, everything seems to work. But I think it's all those out-of-left-field game mechanics, that separate inis from the masses and give a it's unique feel, that are the most divisive elements of the game! Some old time 'miniatures on a board game' players seem to have trouble rapping themselves around how Inis 'works'. I could see more then one player struggling to discover just what strategies to follow for victory. One player almost tossed his cards up into the air in frustration! I've not seen that in ANY game I've played before...at least since Agricola! I was worried that Inis would make our AP-prone players head explode! I kid you not! The biggest issue seems to be just how RANDOM Inis feels. Your actions are limited to 4 (usually) actions, DRAFTED, from a RANDOM CARD DRAW of action cards. Of which there are only 17 actions TOTAL in the game, that will come up in random order. I think you can see where this is going. Long term strategy seems all but impossible. Therefore, Inis is, without a doubt, one of the most TACTICAL minis war games you may ever play! Your strategy must literally change from turn to turn, or even CARD TO CARD!! Inis is essentially controlled chaos! Some players, like me and about half my group, LOVE this aspect of the game. It's scratches a unique itch that very few games ever do. Long term players of such classic games like Cyclades and Kemet may be aghast at such a notion. But there it is. Inis is a game that will test your sanity if you want your war games to reflect order and deep thinking and reward strategic genius; or tweek the affection of those who see beauty and the sublime in chaos and disorder!. Choose wisely before you try Inis!

I have found that this board game has been an excellent introduction board gaming for my less exposed friends! 1. The theme is cool! It's easy to get people excited about a Celtic theme, colorful cards, and a pretty board. 2. It is easy to setup and teach. Every player will understand almost all of the cards after the first round/ 3. It's still very fun as a two player game. I will say that the only downside is that the game doesn't have the most replay value. I've played it about five times now, and don't individually have the feeling that I neeeeeed to play the game. But my friends love it, and I've never had a bad time yet!

This game is my absolute favorite game I own and the production value of the board tiles, cards, artwork are just tremendous. I have played 4 games already and we have not had a single game that was alike and no one has won the game twice yet!!!! The variety of ways you can win/lose the game are so easy to understand but are absolutely pain staking to accomplish. This is the first game that I have finished playing and everyone wanted to play again and again! It is a must have game and I honestly don't know how any other game is going to top it.

I'm updating my review (I should have done this a couple of years ago). I bought this game because friends and I were going to Ireland together and the game came with cards that were in French. I was angry when I wrote the original review. I contacted the publishers thinking they wouldn't do anything, but to my surprise (and now embarrassment for the bad review) they sent me the correct cards. It came after the trip so this game sat on the shelf till now. It's a fun game that's great for a St Patrick's Ireland theme game night. I'll definitely add it into my game night rotation and the publishers are awesome and helpful.

Have not yet played it, but the quality of the build, cards and artwork are some of the best I've seen in a game.

I bought this as a gift for my niece and nephew (11 and 13) and they absolutely love this game. It's strategic and tactical at the same time and requires you to change your plans constantly in order to win. You might think you're well off but a single bad move and it's over for you. It's overall easy to memorize the cards and learn how to play but difficult to execute. The artwork and theme of the game is beautiful. Only complaint are the rather cheap plastic figurines and I wished they had used plastic instead of cardboard for the tokens and other pieces for durability.

El arte de este juego es increible, solo por eso ya explica su costo. La dinámica es competitiva y las reglas una vez entendidas son bastante simples de explicar. Hay algunas cartas que no se entienden bien su función, pero nada que una búsqueda en google no solucione. Tiene modo para 2 o más jugadores. Super recomendado si buscan juegos de estrategia o competencia.

Great game. Arrived promptly and in good condition. thank you.

Excelente juego de control de área. Mejor que el blood rage en mi opinión. Yo creo que es un juego sencillo de explicar pero difícil de perfeccionar. Se seleccionan cartas antes de cada ronda (parecido a 7 wonders), ya seleccionadas todas se juega la ronda hasta que todos los jugadores pasen. Durante la ronda pueden irse agregando figuras a los territorios, nuevos territorios o se tienen habilidades especiales si es que se controlan algunos territorios. La victoria se da cuando hay una, dos o tres condiciones de victoria cumplidas. Recomendado ampliamente.