The rules are pretty simple to learn, but there is a huge amount of strategic depth to the game, and the three different victory conditions mean that most players are fairly close to winning when the game ends. There is very little downtime between your turns as well, and plenty of interaction between the players.

The game is beautiful and has Matago Games typical elaborate production values (cool miniatures, beautiful and unique game board, nice cards). I love the Celtic theme, that the game does a pretty good job of integrating into the mechanics. The artwork is largely based on famous Celtic artist John Fitzgerald, and oozes a kind of mysterious, magical and mythical setting. But where the game really stands out is how it's played. It's well, like much ancient Celtic myth, story and culture, familiar and at the same time, unlike anything else around it. Inisis a game deeply rooted in Celtic history and lore in which players win by being elected King of the Island (Inis). Players can try to achieve one of three different victory conditions: Careful drafting, hand management, good timing, bluffing (especially once players understand the importance of passing their turn), and a precise understanding of the balance of power are the keys to your victory. After a discovery-level game you'll be ready for a full and epic game, where an undisputed player will be king by the Assembly for his wisdom and merit. The Triskel cards can be played at a time specified on the card and include effects such as cancelling another player’s action, or gaining advantages in battles.A Deed is earned through Action or Epic Tale cards. A Deed is a "wild", which allows a player to supplement a victory condition Festival Inis is a game deeply rooted in Celtic lore and history in which players win by being elected King of the Island (Inis). Players can try to achieve this via one of three different victory conditions:

Players are chieftains leading their clans beyond the seas from Ireland to a newly discovered island. They settle the land, explore the surrounding area, harvest resources from the mines, and construct Citadels and Sanctuaries for their protection. A Season card may be an Action card an Advantage card or an Epic Tale card . The player plays the card, resolves the indicated effect, and then discards the card: Religion: Have your clans present in territories that collectively contain at least six sanctuaries. If no player has a Pretender token, then there is no winner-even if players currently meet one or more victory conditions. There are several components of the game I am glossing over in this review, not because they are bad, but because in evangelizing for this game, I have to focus on what it’s about— getting overly bitty about the bits will distract from what’s cool.

Components

Battles can be important in determining chieftains, which not only helps you on to your way to one of the victory conditions, but gains you an advantage card. These are cards specific to each territory which is claimed during the first phase by the chieftain of that territory. They range from pretty useless (I’m thinking of you, swamp) to allowing you to swap an action card, or gain an advantage in battle. Deed tokens can be gained through certain actions and allow you to use them to reduce the victory target (i.e. instead of requiring you to have people in six different areas, you could have four with two deeds tokens). So it is any good? Whoever solely achieves one of these wins, or if multiple people have achieved victory conditions, whoever has achieved the most of these conditions wins. The Brann will always win a tie, and with them going first each round, it makes this a desirable position.

As mentioned above, the Brann will go first and then a disc is flipped to see which direction play proceeds. At this stage a player can pass (although if everyone else passes, the round ends), play an action card or claim a victory token if they’ve met a victory condition. For your first game of Inis, we recommend that you play the discovery scenario. The rules are unchanged, but you must set up the game as follows:Leadership: Be the leader — i.e., have more clan figures than any other player — of territories containing at least six opponents' clans. This occurs in many games, and can generate soreness around the table. Kingmaking can often break immersion. If we’re playing a game where we’re big noble space empires fighting over a map, and someone’s choice of a “culture card” or an “auxiliary action” causes the dominant player to lose the game, that takes you out of what can be a powerfully immersive experience. During the Season phase, an Action card allows a player to perform important actions such as recruiting new clans or placing new Sanctuaries. Brenn: The Brenn is a tribe leader who is chosen to guide all the tribes into the island. He is the highest authority until the High King is elected. The Brenn organizes the Assembly, acts first during the Season, and has a great advantage in case of a tie for victory. He is determined at random at the start of the game and can change over the course of the game. At the end of the Assembly phase, each player has four Action cards in hand and maybe some Advantage and Epic Tale cards.