Humans who go into the forest may come across some Yokai. Moved by boundless curiosity, the little ones draw these spirits in their notebooks to understand their nature and learn from them.
With a set collection core mechanic, the goal of Yokai Sketch is to get more Yokai points than the other player by completing sketches of the elusive forest spirits. The game consists of two decks of cards: in one we find 4 types of Yokai, each one associated with an element (water, fire, earth and wind) and a numerical value that corresponds to victory points. In the other, the sketches made by humans and in which, in addition to two of the four elements, there may also be some special ability.
With a very simple preparation and with very few rules, you will immediately start playing. At the start of the game, the Yokai cards are stacked in the center of the table into 4 decks (one for each type of card) and three sketch cards are dealt face down to the players. On their turn, players draw a new sketch card and slide one of their four cards under one of the four decks in the center of the table, so that it reveals the element associated with that Yokai. If by doing this the Yokai reaches or exceeds the number of sketches needed to draw it (adding the sketches on both sides of the card), the player who has accumulated the most sketches on his side of the table takes it.
The winner's sketch cards will be placed in the discard pile, and the other player's will stay where they are, as they will be used for the next Yokai card of that type from the next turn. If there is a tie in the number of sketches on both sides of the card, the Yokai is frightened and lost. In this case, neither of them manages to finish the drawing and all the sketch cards on both sides of that Yokai pile are discarded. Sketch cards can also include powers: call the Yokai or distract the Yokai that will allow you to move some cards. The game ends when one or more Yokai decks are empty.
Yokai Sketch is part of Devir's pocket collection, which is characterized by bringing great games in a reduced format and at an affordable cost. In addition to their portability, which makes them great travel companions, they are versatile titles available to all audiences. Yokai Sketch duels will be resolved in a very short time and it is very possible that you will chain one game after another. Get your notebooks ready, sharpen your pencils, and hunt down the forest spirits!