Kōhaku

Players build a personal koi pond by drafting paired Koi and Feature tiles from a central pond board and placing them into a growing grid. Tiles stay where placed and ponds can take any shape, so placement decisions are permanent and spatial planning matters. Points come from arranging features and koi to meet scoring conditions: surround flowers with koi of matching colors, place frogs next to koi that show dragonflies, shelter baby koi near rocks, align butterflies for line-of-sight bonuses, and use turtles and statues for steady scoring. The game ends when koi tiles can no longer refill the central board, and players total feature scores to determine the winner.

Players: 1–4 best 2
Playing time: 30–45 min
Age: 10+
Complexity: 1.7 / 5