
Hanabi
(2-5 players; 25 minutes; ages 8+)
Hanabi is both the top deductive and co-operative game. It’s best with 3-4 players and is the only game that I’ve played where my real objective is to win without cheating too much. Players work together against the game, so a subtle grimace here or a sudden intake of breath there gives a much needed, but strictly forbidden clue to your team mates! I’m sure you will try to play more ethically than me 😉
Hanabi is MathPickle’s 2013 Game of the Year. Perhaps more importantly, it is the first small game that has won gaming’s most prestigious game design award: the Spiel des Jahres. For $15 you can’t go wrong.
I like mathematics because it is not human and has nothing particular to do with this planet or with the whole accidental universe – because, like Spinoza’s God, it won’t love us in return.
Bertrand Russell