Inoka (2018)

Overview

In Inoka, you are your village's representative to the once-a-generation Achkai tournament to determine the next Nature's Emissary. Each player starts with a set of nine tactic cards (three of each tactic: Attack, Block, and Taunt). At the beginning of each round, you set your hand by selecting five of your nine tactics, setting aside the remaining cards until the next round.

In the two-player game, players engage in a series of clashes, using each card only once. (Tactic cards are discarded after use.) They secretly select their tactics, then simultaneously reveal them and resolve the clash: Attach beats Taunt, Taunt beats Block, Block beats Attack. The winner of a clash takes possession of the Leaf Totem, and whoever possesses the Leaf Totem at the end of the round scores a point. The first player to 3 points wins.

In a three- or four-player game, the first clash is a free-for-all clash for the Leaf Totem. After that, play proceeds around the table in a king-of-the-hill style. Each challenger clashes against the current totem holder. If you can defeat all challengers consecutively without losing the totem, you score a point. As in the two-player game, first to 3 points wins.

—description from the publisher