Let’s be honest here: I’m not an abstract strategy game kind of girl. Growing up, I could never beat my father in checkers. In junior high, I encountered a chess player who assumed I must not be intelligent, since I didn’t play chess. That put me off abstract strategy games (and chess players) nearly entirely, and more than three decades later, I still don’t play chess. Maybe I’ll get around to learning it someday. Or, you know…not.
I’ll never understand how I managed to give birth to a son who so thoroughly enjoys chess. Where did I go wrong?
Okay, I’m jesting. Maybe. A little. He really does enjoy chess, and I really enjoy gaming with him, but in this house, “chess” and “with mom” are mutually exclusive. What we really needed was a game that feels chess-like, but plays faster and lighter.
Enter Onitama, published by Arcane Wonders.
I love this game.
Here’s why: