The Ravens of Thri Sahashri: Cooperative Card Game for Two Players - Perfect for Date Nights and Family Game Evenings (Osprey Games)

Ravens of Thri Sahashri is an asymmetrical 2-player cooperative game that comes together quite unlike anything else I’ve seen.Gameplay:One player takes the role of Ren, a young girl in a coma with her mind and soul being consumed by darkness, and the other plays Feth, searching through Ren’s dreams for the fragments of her fading memories that will restore her heart. The fantasy theme is a imaginative, solid framework for the game.The two character’s mechanics are VASTLY different. Feth draws (face up) hands and builds a central repository of cards (called the Atman), from which Ren draws one card each turn to either discard or add to rows of a “poem” in front of her that starts with four hidden cards representing Ren’s heart. If the players can complete the poem and have all visible cards in the Atman matching the colors of Ren’s heart, the “dream” (round) is completed. Players must complete three dreams to win the game.On each turn, Feth draws an many cards as he wants into a face up row in front of him. Once he’s done any ravens (which I’ll explain later) drawn are moved to a second row, leaving only memory cards in the top row. Feth then plays as many cards from the top row as he wants into the Atman. At the end of his turn any memory cards not played are discarded.The faded sections of each memory (card) determine how it can be added to the Atman. When placing a card at least one faded section must overlap with an existing card in the Atman, and any overlapping sections must be of like type (faded or clear). Cards in the Atman can be completely covered in certain circumstances, and no longer count as part of the Atman until / unless they are uncovered later.Feth can also “restore a memory” for Ren by forming an uninterrupted block of the same color of cards that totals a value of 7. When this happens the raven of the same color is chased away (removed from the game for the current round) if present in Feth’s bottom row and any cards under it are discarded, and Ren can reveal one of her “heart” cards that matches the color of the restored memory. At the end of the dream revealed heart cards are kept by Ren in a special score pile to be used during the final dream.The five ravens in the deck, one for each color, represent the dark forces trying to destroy Ren’s memories and cause her to drift away forever. If at any point all five ravens are in Feth’s playing area, the game is lost. The ravens can also “eat” Ren’s memories. When a raven is in Feth’s playing area, any cards of the matching color that would be discarded are placed under the raven instead. Any cards underneath ravens at the end of a dream are “eaten” (removed from the game) and will not be available in the following rounds.Mechanics-wise Ren’s turns are much simpler: she removes one visible card from the Atman and either discards it or adds it to her poem. Ren’s poem starts with one card for each of the lines face down (hidden from Feth). These cards represent her heart, and only the colors of these four cards may be visible in the Atman at the end of a dream. Ren is trying to complete a Japanese poem form called Doidotsu, which has a 7-7-7-5 rhythm. So she must place cards in the first three lines such that each line (including her heart card in that line) adds to a total of 7, and place cards in the final line to reach a total of 5. The lines must be played in / completed in order, and once the last line is completed the poem is finished.The only communication between players is meant to be through card choice, which is where the challenge for Ren comes in. She does much less on each turn than the Feth player, but her choices on which cards to take from the Atman, and whether to use or discard them, is crucial to providing Feth with information about what she needs and what colors are in her hidden heart cards and must be the only ones in the Atman at the end of the dream.It is possible for the Atman to be “split” (have sections that are not visibly connected) during the game, and Ren’s other big ability is choosing which part of the Atman remains and which is discarded when this happens. This is another key way to pass information to the Feth player and work towards their mutual goals.There are other details to the mechanics that add to gameplay, such as special powers on the memory cards that Feth has access to for any face up cards in Ren’s poem, and added restrictions and abilities during the third and final dream of the game.General Thoughts:As I mentioned above Ravens of Thri Sahashri is quite original, and it takes a bit of start up time to wrap your head around. There are a lot of details to learn before beginning to play, but it all fits well once things get going and everything adds to the game in an important way.There’s a nice “press your luck” element to drawing Feth’s hands: draw too few cards and Feth will lack options and limit Ren’s ability to play, but draw too many and Feth risks losing the game by revealing all the ravens or draining the deck.Ren’s turns are much shorter than Feth’s and she seems to to have less to do, but I played her and really enjoyed it. What Feth chooses to do on his turns provides extremely vital clues towards what colors he thinks are important, etc and so I was as engaged in the game during his turns as I was during my own. I found trying to figure out how to pass useful hints by only removing a single card from the Atman challenging and rewarding.The game increases in difficulty from round to round, due to both unavailable cards that have been either eaten or set aside in Ren’s score pile and to extra limitations placed on the players during the final dream. It’s somewhat difficult to judge how the game is going during the middle and there is a large luck component related to card draws, but co-op games should be a challenge and I feel Ravens dances the line just right.We were slightly lax on the silence in the one game I’ve played, allowing some rule discussion (which I highly recommend when learning the game) as well as the Feth player thinking out loud a bit here and there without me responding. I’d probably try forbidding that last part in future games to see how it plays, as in retrospect him ruminating about what colors he thought my be in my heart cards did affect some of my choices.I LOVE the visual design here. I’ve looked at pictures of the original version and it’s even more polished here, using faded gray coloring instead of bars for the faded memory sections to make the cards less busy and let the marvelous artwork shine more. Each card’s art is beautiful while keeping all gameplay related elements and information clear. The production quality is excellent in general, with a sturdy, striking outer box, appropriately large and thick cards, and vivd colors and printing.Adding a final touch of mystery are three sealed envelopes, to be opened only when players win a complete game, which provide additional story context and legacy gameplay elements.Overall:The lack of table talk and a fairly sizable learning curve for a card game definitely puts Ravens of Thri Sahashri in the “not for everyone” camp, but I found it to be a wonderfully original game that forces players to approach cooperation in a unique way. The asymmetric roles and legacy rule changes add even more longevity, and I can see myself coming back to this again and again for a long time.Crazy fun, challenging, two-player assymetrical co-op. The theme is so weird! The cards are lovely, but often slightly disturbing.It's hard, and just gets harder because there are some envelopes to open to increase the challenge when you succeed.I love this game. Highly recommended.I thought it would be fun to try a cooperative game with my best friend... I had no idea. I thought we'd love the art and enjoy it. I had no idea we'd spend most of our weekend together playing this! We HAD to rock it at EACH level to save Ren. Then another weekend in the opposite role. IT WAS AMAZING. Thank you for this game and the wonderful times it gave us! <3This game is going to have a learning curve, but once you get the hang of the mechanics it is a phenomenal two-player game. Each new "level" as you recover pieces of Ren's soul adds new rules which make the game more challenging. If you are having trouble getting started, there are some good video tutorials online. Definitely worth a purchase, and one of our most-recommended games to friends.This is one of the well made cooperative card game for two players. It requires bit of luck and strategic play to win (there are so many ways to lose the game). I was bit confusing to learn to play but the developer's tutorial video was very helpful. The gorgeous artwork makes this game more enjoyable.this is a pretty unique game. I like the art , as it's quite beautiful. the game is a little confusing to learn, but overall, it's worth it for something different.Very difficult but very intresting gamethis is probably the most unique game I have ever discovered. The art and concept are simply beautiful. The materials are top notch. Well worth the price. I hope there are more like this coming..Es ist schwierig, gute assymetrische Co-op Spiele zu finden, umso schöner, dass man mit R3S genau das bekommt. Durch die etwas esoterisch formulierte Anleitung ist das Spiel nicht unbedingt im ersten Lesen zu verstehen, dafür versinkt man sofort in der Atmosphäre. Es ist klar, dass Kuro sich Gedanken über die Hintergründe des Spiels gemacht hat. Die fremdartig anmutenden Bezeichnungen, spiegln tatsächliche Konzepte aus Literatur und Philosophie/Religion wider.Ich empfehle das Studium eines, um komplette Regelsicherheit zu erlangen.Kurz zum Gameplay: Ein Spieler legt Karten aus, der andere nimmt Karten weg, um sie für die Lösung eines Puzzles zu verwenden. Da dieses vollkommen schweigend passiert, muss der legende Spieler durch die Karten, die der andere verwendet und verwirft, erkennen, welche benötigt werden, und diese bereitstellen. Dieses wird jedoch von fünf Raben erschwert, die Karten stehlen. Man kann sie zwar verjagen, aber das ist nicht immer die beste Strategie. Hinzu kommen noch Sonderfähigkeiten auf Karten, und man hat ein Spiel mit einfachen Grundregeln, aber tiefer Strategie.Der Preis mag etwas hoch für ein Kartenspiel wirken, aber man erhält ein Produkt mit hoher Qualität, das locker zwanzig Stunden Spielzeit verspricht, bevor es "aufgebraucht" ist. Der Nervenkitzel beim Bearbeiten eines Rätsels, sowie die Befriedigung, es gelöst zu haben, sind ziemlich groß.Während das Spiel in der Anfänger-Version noch einfach ist, steigt der Schwierigkeitsgrad mit jedem erfolgreichen Spiel. Zudem kann man auch die Rollen tauschen, und erlebt damit einen völlig anderen Aspekt des Spiels.Aber: Ein signifikanter Faktor des Spiels besteht darin, mit seinem Mitspieler nonverbal zu kommunizieren: Ein Spieler versucht, seine Bedürftnisse durch Wegnahme von Karten zu signalisieren, während der andere Spieler diese zu interpretieren versucht. Es gibt Persönlichkeiten, die mit einem solchen Spielprinzip nicht klar kommen. Wenn ein Spieler zu sehr auf einen Gewinn fixiert ist, oder als "Alpha-Gamer" den anderen Spieler zu kontrollieren versucht, wird Probleme mit diesem Spiel bekommen.Wenn beide Spieler jedoch über Reife, Geduld und Humor verfügen, erwartet sie ein hervorragendes Spiel, dass etliche schöne Stunde bereitet.Beautiful game, though not as difficult as advertised. Will be increasing difficulty through house rules. Still, great purchase.