ONITAMA: Gotcha! An elegant and simple game for 2 players.

[jokoko99]

Looking forward to playing here.
'squatter'

[claybones]

Great addition, can’t wait to see what next week has in store!

[BobbaFaht]

'No luck involved' is almost correct. However the cards dealt at the start have a huge impact, depending on what cards are in the game. Certain constellations lead to one player being able to withhold a dangerous card from the opponent. Since this varies with the overall available cards in a game, it is not a particular card that is the linch pin. However, in many games I have played, the elephant, tiger and dragon cards were excessively strong, and one player usually sat on them to hold the threat over the opponent.

I'd say, there is luck involved. I agree with the overall feedback though: Great addition!

[thoun]

It’s a huge mistake to make the game Premium so soon: the old Onitama app from Asmodee died because the community was too small, and by making the game Premium you are now dramatically limiting the possibility to grow a thriving community, like the one many other similar games have (Hive and Santorini, for example).

Most of the strong, regular players from the Asmodee app have already started playing here (myself included), but unless you make Onitama free you won’t capture more than these 10-15 regular players in the long run, almost no new players will join.

Please consider making Onitama free again, at least in the beginning, to give the game the chance it deserves to thrive: it is a great game and it should reach as many people as possible, we are all anxious to have a nice, active community with players of all levels!

FHenker (high ranked player in the Asmodee app and here)

Players without premium can play premium games, they'll just get an opponent slower. And afaik is the publisher choice to put a game premium, not Bga. Maybe fans of this game will consider premium to play quicker

[DrClick]

Players without premium can play premium games, they'll just get an opponent slower. And afaik is the publisher choice to put a game premium, not Bga. Maybe fans of this game will consider premium to play quicker

Not forgetting that being Premium will also help the publisher

[Zugzwang]

Which cards are implemented? Just the base game, or also the expansions? What about the various promo cards out there?

[FHenker]

'No luck involved' is almost correct. However the cards dealt at the start have a huge impact, depending on what cards are in the game. Certain constellations lead to one player being able to withhold a dangerous card from the opponent. Since this varies with the overall available cards in a game, it is not a particular card that is the linch pin. However, in many games I have played, the elephant, tiger and dragon cards were excessively strong, and one player usually sat on them to hold the threat over the opponent.

I'd say, there is luck involved. I agree with the overall feedback though: Great addition!

I disagree with you: with very few exceptions (the most obvious one being a game with 4 forward cards and only 1 diagonal), the initial hand or the starting player matter very little to the outcome of the game, because there are plenty of opportunities to outplay the other player.

You mentioned the Dragon as being one of the strongest cards of the game, but it is the weakest card in the game. Tiger indeed warps games, but not because it is too powerful, but rather because it adds a new element to the game; however, strong players will know how to defend against it. The Elephant is indeed one of the strongest cards in the game, similar in strength to the Rooster/Goose, but again only the better players know how to take full advantage of it. None of these cards break the game and create an unbeatable advantage.

Holding on to a specific card is one of the mistakes that many beginner/intermediate players make, and which better players can easily exploit. With very few exceptions (like the example I mentioned in the beginning, or very specific endgames), holding on to a card leads to weaker game structures and to a loss against good players.

[nicko333]

Very nice game

[lordofwatersheep]

Does Onitama mean 'Ogre Egg'?

[TreffnonX]

'No luck involved' is almost correct. However the cards dealt at the start have a huge impact, depending on what cards are in the game. Certain constellations lead to one player being able to withhold a dangerous card from the opponent. Since this varies with the overall available cards in a game, it is not a particular card that is the linch pin. However, in many games I have played, the elephant, tiger and dragon cards were excessively strong, and one player usually sat on them to hold the threat over the opponent.

I'd say, there is luck involved. I agree with the overall feedback though: Great addition!

I disagree with you: with very few exceptions (the most obvious one being a game with 4 forward cards and only 1 diagonal), the initial hand or the starting player matter very little to the outcome of the game, because there are plenty of opportunities to outplay the other player.

You mentioned the Dragon as being one of the strongest cards of the game, but it is the weakest card in the game. Tiger indeed warps games, but not because it is too powerful, but rather because it adds a new element to the game; however, strong players will know how to defend against it. The Elephant is indeed one of the strongest cards in the game, similar in strength to the Rooster/Goose, but again only the better players know how to take full advantage of it. None of these cards break the game and create an unbeatable advantage.

Holding on to a specific card is one of the mistakes that many beginner/intermediate players make, and which better players can easily exploit. With very few exceptions (like the example I mentioned in the beginning, or very specific endgames), holding on to a card leads to weaker game structures and to a loss against good players.

I must agreed with Bobba. While it is true, that a stronger player will usually beat a (relatively) lesser player, two relatively equal players do depend on the initially dealt cards. It is not a perfectly symmetrical game (but it is really close). As Bobba mentioned, it is not particular cards, but particular constellations. Sometimes the cards monopolize a certain move, usually a diagonal, Sometimes 1 forward, or a sidestep. Of course, not ever playing such a card is a mistake. If you just keep them, you play with one card less, which is obviously a hinderance. But the fact that in certain situation you *could* play it forces your opponent to play around that. Which card/s make the difference strongly depends on the available cards though, I think.