Onitama Board Game, 2 players

Onitama is an incredible board game that offers a fresh, exciting twist on traditional chess! I absolutely love the unique gameplay—it’s easy to learn but offers strategic depth that keeps every game engaging. The concept of the “master” acting like a king and the “students” functioning like pawns is such a clever idea. It adds an interesting layer of strategy and keeps the game dynamic. The game is fast-paced, making it perfect for quick sessions, yet each move requires careful thought. The design is sleek and the components are high-quality. It’s quickly become one of my favorite games to play with friends and family. Highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys strategic games with a fun twist!

Onitama is one of those perfect 2 player games that lives up to all of the hype you may have seen or heard before. I have nothing but praise for the game myself; I often like playing the app version of it as well with friends or random opponents. It is quick, simple to learn, and the victories are quite rewarding. Players who are very experienced with the game and love strategy and planning your moves in advance will find a wealth of possibility and options for how each game plays out. After opening the amazing magnetic box that Onitama comes in, you'll unfold a high quality neoprene mate, place the Master and Student pawns along the bottom of the board and select randomly 5 cards from the deck of 16 that come with the game. These 5 cards form your pool of movement cards which detail how your pieces may attack and position themselves. Unlike something like Chess or another favorite 2 player game Hive; your pieces do not have set moves they can perform. Practicing the different forms of martial arts in Onitama allows all pieces to move in any direction so long as it mimics the positions on one of the two movement cards you currently have access to. When you have completed a move the card you just used move off to the side and will eventually be a card in your opponent's hand. This cyclic movement of cards keeps games fresh and always changing even between individual turns. You can win this tournament of skill either by capturing your opponent's Master or by moving your Master across the board to their seat of Power. Having two victory conditions and random movement cards each time really makes for exciting games. Much like Chess you can try to bait someone into a trap or focus on being aggressive in how you play, much will depend on how far in advance you can visualize some of the end game moves and the luck or hope that your opponent plays the card you need to advance your plans. It's a wonderful back and forth dance between players with movement cards being themed around martial arts styles and having correlated flavor text at the bottom of the cards to enjoy. Game length can vary a lot just as it would with Chess, you might fall victim to a feigned sacrifice and the game end early or the both of you might find yourself in a clear stalemate situation and it take someone losing a bit of focus to turn the tides. I never mind how games of Onitama play out, they are all fun and I think each time you play you'll pick up a bit more skill and strategy for next time. An absolutely wonderful game, amazing production quality, and is a great choice for anyone who likes and enjoys Hive or Chess. We play all three of these games pretty regularly and love when Onitama is out on the table, it also falls into a category for us of games that travel well and can be played anywhere!

I will start by saying my wife does not like chess, and while I dabbled with it I did not get into it much myself. Onitama is an improvement in all aspects. It's simple yet it retains the strategy component of chess, in fact there is added depth in the form of using the move cards and planning around moves that are not optimal. You are still mentally dueling with your opponent but there is a lot more "fun factor" with this game. Matches move fast and it didn't take long to become a favorite around here. It's easy to pull this game out as an easy filler between other games like Star Realms but quite often we reach for Onitama first and just keep playing it until we need a break. The neoprene mat is very nice, it will flatten out with time especially if you fold it the other way every now and then. The pieces feel good and look good, and the box is very high quality. Physically this is a well made game set and worth every penny, it's more premium than stuff you expect to buy at the target or walmart. The instructions are functional. In the game you have to deal with the cards you are dealt, literally. Your opponent may use a good move against you but then it's shuffled to you the next turn to likewise use against them. Or you may save a good move waiting for the right time to strike. Sometimes you get hit in an unexpected way that surprises you even after you spent a few minutes looking at the board trying to predict your opponents possible next moves. I find it surprising how they boiled chess down to 5 pieces on each team on a 5x5 board and retained strategic depth. The speed of gameplay is a big part of the appeal to Onitama, a game is done much quicker than many other board games. This quicker turnaround time means you can play several games in a row and/or take breaks at the end of a match instead of in the middle of one. Highly recommended. The base game is a must-have, the expansion that adds another set of move cards is very nice and also recommended. The other two expansions with the wind spirit and ninjas are not needed in my opinion. They start adding unnecessary layers and complexity to the game that slow it down and throws off the delicate balance of speed, simplicity, and tactical depth that the base Onitama game has delivered perfectly.

Onitama is a beautifully designed game simple to learn, yet full of strategic depth. Perfect for couples or game nights when you don’t want to spend hours. The components are high quality, and the artwork adds to the experience. Highly recommended for fans of abstract games like chess.

This is an interesting 2-person game. I've only played it a few times and watched others play a few times, so I'm no expert. It's easy to learn how to play, but it will take some more playing to really develop strategy. It's sort of like chess, but each game is different. You deal four move cards each game (so each game is different), and those cards rotate between the players throughout the game. Each card shows a few squares you can move a piece to in relation to where it is, and you choose which of your two cards to use, and then that card goes to your opponent. You have to pay attention not only to what moves you can choose to make this turn, but also what is coming up when you get the next card, and what moves your opponent will be able to make when (s)he takes the card you just played. I don't really like playing chess, but this game is better and faster, and I don't think serious players would have as great an advantage over casual players as in chess. I could be wrong....

This game is great! It really challenges you to think two steps ahead, which keeps things interesting and strategic. It’s simple enough for my teenager to catch on quickly, but still engaging enough for adults to enjoy. What I love most is that no two games are ever the same. The mix of cards you get adds a lot of variety, and the fact that you can only use five cards at a time makes the strategy even more exciting. It’s the perfect balance of easy-to-learn and hard-to-master, which makes it a hit every time we play. Highly recommend for family game nights or casual gatherings!

I bought this as a gift. Fortunately I was able to play it with them. It’s a very fun game for 2 persons, 15 minute quick game. Definitely not difficult but does require some strategic moves. Each game will be totally different which adds to the fun. I really liked the quality of the card stock, the play mat and the box it is kept in. We camp a lot and this box will take up hardly any space. This game could be played by young to older folks. I am going to be ordering another one for myself. I highly recommend this game. I think the price is fine for the quality of the products.

Amazing two player game! Similar to chess, but easier to learn, typically quicker to play, and a more interesting replayability factor. There is also enough variety introduced with the cards to increase the level of startegy that can be used while playing. The only luck involved with this game is in the drawing of the cards at the beginning, other than that this game is all strategy. Simple enough for my 7 year old, but still interesting and fun for adults. Would love to see it in a tube for better transportation, but the components are decent quality and I'm really happy with this game. I'm sure I will buy the expansions and I'm sure this game will be going camping with us since it's so portable.