Designed by: team SAIEN
Elements (previously published as Khmer) is, despite the alleged theme, an abstract card game of deduction and a little bluff. Your goal is to get rid of your cards, but how you do so is a mix of shrewd play, a modicum of maths, and a smidgen of luck.
Both players are dealt cards numbering between 1 and 6, and on your turn you have four options: dump a 6-value card from the game, play a card to the table, claim a card from the table for yourself (this stays visible but is considered part of your hand) or knock.
You may only knock when your hand cards score lower than the table cards – or ideally, exactly the same. Both players reveal their hands and the player closest to the table cards (or under – you’re bust if your hand is higher) wins, with the non-knocking player winning any ties. A round is worth two points (or a single point if you won a tie) and the first player to hit six points wins.
No direct conflict, but players might be able to work out what best spoils things for their opponent.
Low
There's a bit of low-duty maths, but the burning here is more a calculation of why your opponent just did what they did, and how you can manipulate things to your own ends.
It's not a game with huge variety, but it's unique, clever, and plays in ten minutes.
2-2
Players
8+
Years
5-15
Mins
Sam says
What it lacks in theme and variety Elements makes up for in brevity and the unique feel of it: a combination of calculation (the best use of your own cards) and deduction (figuring out what your opponent is up to). The first couple of rounds can seem pretty random, but then you start to figure out what's a bad move and what might be a winning one. Neat.