Okija Board Game

«Okija» is a fast-paced duel board game by the famous Bruno Cathala. The game is done in a Japanese style and elegantly depicts the struggle of two geisha houses for the emperor's favor. The victory will go to the most... attentive and logically thinking player.
Game Feature
The main component of the game «Okija» consists of 16 garden cards, made up of 4 sets. Each set depicts one plant: cherry blossom, maple, iris, and pine. Each plant corresponds to 4 features: rising sun, rain, bird, and tanzaku (paper leaves with wishes).
Each player also has a set of tokens of their color. The essence of the game lies in sequentially replacing garden cards with players' tokens, following simple rules.
How to Play
At the beginning of the game, players choose the color of their tokens, shuffle the garden cards, and lay them out face up in a square formation of 4 by 4 on the table. Active players take turns taking one garden card of their choice, placing it aside, and putting their token in its place. The garden card removed from the field determines the rules for the next player’s turn, namely: the player can only take the garden card where the plant or feature matches the last card removed from the field.
To win the game «Okija», a player must:
lay out a line of 4 tokens of their color (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally);
lay out a square of 4 of their tokens;
block all moves of the opponent so that they cannot take any cards.
 
Game Duration: 10 minutes
Number of Players: 2