Designed by Kamibayashi and published by Lucky Duck Games, Kiri-ai: The Duel aims to be quick and cutting, so too is this review...
The first thing a buyer will notice is the game's packaging. I'm not usually partial to board game 'boxes' that break the mold and refuse to sit on my shelves with the rest but Kiri-ai comes in a package with panache: a replica samurai wallet which consists of decorated fabric containing the small deck of cards that make up the entirety of the game, with gold string to tie it together and keep it pocket sized. I had this game in my jeans and it made the experience of waiting for a plane fly by.
If the name hadn't tipped you off, this is a game for two players. It replicates, in fitting, brutal, minimalist form, two samurai duelling to the death. The game really shines in this respect, with its art, gameplay and tempo mirroring the fatalistic all-or-nothing slashes and swipes that you envision when you picture the samurai fight scenes you've seen in the cinema.
The game is simple to learn and satisfying to master, as all good card games are. Players pick two cards, from their deck of just five base cards, that simulate, in a colourful yet clear manner, movement forwards and backwards, and attacks that hit in your location or in locations where you hope your opponent might have moved to. Much of Kiri-ai is reading, avoiding and tricking the other player, with the goal being to slice them twice to seize the win. This, I love because when both players have got to grips with the rules, and have started to predict each other's movements, one player will inevitably risk playing two attack cards hoping to remove both of their opponent's hit points in one round. If they succeed, they'll win, and smugly at that. If they fail, they may have cost themselves the game; hubris ensues.
The cards are played out with an interesting mechanic whereby the second card you played is not returned to your hand until you play your next hand and replace it with your new second card. Then there are the two stances that you switch between to enable you to perform certain attacks. For a lovely touch of asynchrony, players also have one of three single-use attack cards put blindly into their deck before the game begins; so knowing what card you have gives you a 50/50 chance of correctly guessing the card added to your opponent's deck. To round it all off, there is an advanced mode that provides players with more positions to play from, and into.
In summary, Kir-ai is a quick but calculating game of reading your friend's poker face before disfiguring it with a katana.
(Review by Dale Page)
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