Why Do I Own This? - Part 9

Haggis
How did I get this? After several games of it...

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We love it, too, but you play Hanabi very different from my wife and me. It’s not a memory game for us. It’s totally okay for us to ask what hints we have had about a card. If you don’t want to do that, it might help you to flip the cards you’ve learned something about. And we are constantly demanding clues and discussing strategy.

Funny how such a simple design can lead to such different playstyles.

Well, left to my own devices Hanabi becomes much more laid back. If I play with my wife alone, we are a lot squishier about what information can be communicated. But most of my friends who play take the more series approach, establishing conventions and being quite strict about what can be communicated. I still find the game fascinating in that setting, but suffice to say I'll be the weak link at the table if that's how we're playing.

I've come to really enjoy Haggis, which I consider a lot less opaque than Tichu. Never got into Tichu, mostly because of the partnership thing; I prefer to sink on my own and not drag anyone down with me.

I'm a fan of Clowdus' games, too, but Hemloch wasn't one of his that grabbed me. I owned the original version and compared with his other hit, Omen, I just found this game lacking so I traded it away. Plus I felt the game's setting was somewhat odd. As you said, John seems like an auteur in this hobby so it's always worth checking out his works when one has the chance. I'm glad you found something more appealing than I did in it.