presentation

Kuan

Five in a row

KUAN is a version of the x-in-a-row mechanism, this time featuring Red vs. Blue and formation of an orthogonal or diagonal row of five pieces of one color.

You do not have your own player color, but each player begins with five red and five blue pieces, the winning five-in-a-row formation, however, consists of pieces of the same color.

Players alternate their turns and place any of their pieces. If you place a piece so that it – together with a second one of the same color – encloses one or several pieces of the second color in a pincer movement, orthogonally or diagonally, you take all pincered pieces off board into your stock. The other player must then replace all those pieces with pieces from his own stock, but in the color of the two pincer pieces. Then this player becomes active player and places any piece from his stock. Pieces that you removed to your stock after a pincer movement are available to you without restriction. If a row of five pieces of one color is formed, the active player wins, even if it was formed by a pincer replacement; such pincer replacement by the opponent is deemed to be part of the active player’s turn.

If the opponent must place a piece and cannot do it – he has, for instance not enough red pieces in stock to remove two replace blue pieces taken off board, he loses the game instantly.

Fewer rules than those are not really possible, and more interesting game play with such few rules neither. Both colors for both players and the refilling rule after a pincer move offer tough tactical challenges. By the way, a red piece placed between two blue ones, or vice versa, is NOT pincered!

Players: 2

Age: 8+

Time: 10+

Designer: Hajime Watanabe

Artist: Kotaro Kawa

Price: ca. 15 Euro

Publisher: kua / Japon Brand 2018

Web: www.japonbrand.com

Genre: Abstract, placement

Users: With friends

Special: 2 players

Version: jp

Rules: de en jp

In-game text: no

Comments:

Very few rules

No specific player colors

Tactically challenging

Compares to:

Abstract games for two with removal of enclosed pieces

Other editions:

Currently none

Chance (pink): 0

Tactic (turquoise): 0

Strategy (blue): 3

Creativity (dark blue): 0

Knowledge (yellow): 0

Memory (orange): 0

Communication (red): 0

Interaction (brown): 3

Dexterity (green): 0

Action (dark green): 0