Khan of Khans (2016)

Overview

Fast-paced family game by Reiner Knizia, set in Greg Stafford's world of Glorantha. Players are khans of different fantastical tribes on the Plains of Prax, each riding a unique animal that confers special abilities. Everyone attempts to amass the biggest herd, meanwhile fighting off enemy magic, stampedes and attempts by other players to steal their cows.

Each player chooses a Khan to play, and receives a set number of corral tiles (depending on the number of players in the game). Each Khan has a different special ability. For example, the Morokanth player gets one extra Corral tile, and the High Llama player can sneak one cow card into each of their corrals after the gate has been closed.

Players take turns to raid different locations, drawing cards from 10 different stacks. Each stack contains the cards, in random order: 1 x 100, 2 x 50 and 1 x 20 Cows, a Stampede card (discard highest value cow card), an Enemy Magic card (discard all cow cards), a Tribal Champion card (protects against Enemy Magic), and a Waha's Blessing card worth 20 cows, which a player can swap for another player's Cow card.

Each players' cow cards are placed face-up in front them as their herd. Instead of drawing, on their turn a player can corral their cows. Corralled cows are safe, but each corral can only be opened once in a game. Uncorraled cows count towards the final score at the end of the game, but remain at risk of Stampedes, Enemy Magic and Waha's Blessings. Because each player has a limited number of corrals, a key element of the game is deciding when to corral them. The player with the most cows—including those in corrals and in their herd—at the end of the game is the winner and acclaimed "Khan of Khans".