There’s probably not a gamer here who hasn’t at least heard of Race for the Galaxy or Res Arcana, two of Thomas Lehmann’s more famous designs. Given that the designer has put out two games I consider to be excellent (Race and Roll for the galaxy) and one game I have tried to like and just can’t (Res Arcana), I wasn’t sure what to expect from Chu Han, Lehmann’s take on the very trendy trick taking/ shedding genre, but I was eager to give it a try.
Chu Han is a two-player trick-taking card game, with a listed playtime of 25 minutes.
Gameplay Overview:
Chu Han can be played in three different ways: standard, with the addition of an event deck, or across two campaigns. For each variant, the core gameplay, outlined below, remains mostly the same.
The object of Chu Han is to be the first player to reach 31+ points. Points are gained by playing all of the cards in your hand. Each player is dealt fifteen cards from the forty-six-card deck, and sixteen are set aside to form a draw pile. The game uses a pyramid deck with a higher quantity of lower-numbered cards and fewer higher-numbered cards, ranging from values of 1-9, with a special 0 card that can be used as a wild.
During a hand, the lead player will play a set of 1+ cards of the same value, and their opponent then responds with a set containing the same number of cards of any higher value. So, if the lead set is four 3’s, the responding player could play a set of four 5’s, for example. Play goes back and forth until one player passes, relinquishing the lead for the next hand. When a player “goes out” by playing all the cards from their hand, they win the round and score points equal to the number of cards left in their opponent’s hand (to a maximum of 5), plus one point per “writ” in front of their opponent.
In addition to playing a set on their turn, a player can take one writ tile to draw two cards from the deck, as well as play cards for their power instead of in a set. Card powers allow a player to bend the game rules, such as letting them take from the draw pile or forcing the opponent to respond to their own trick. The game will last a number of rounds until one player scores 31 points or more, at which point that player immediately wins the game.
Game Experience:
This game is kind of a flawed treasure. The biggest flaw being, in my opinion, a pretty bare-bones rules manual, which leaves room for a lot of guesswork. Fortunately, the designer posted a FAQ online, but the extent of that FAQ only goes to show how confusing the rulebook is.
After reading the rules, I played through a game, and that first play was pretty rough, lasting much longer than any small card game should. I watched a rules overview video after that and read the FAQ (thankfully, I seemed to have gotten most of the rules right), then played again with my husband. The game flowed a little better as we got a feel for it.
It seems to reward risky play over a more cautious approach. Playing cautiously will cause the game to last much, much longer than it should, but if you take big risks, utilize the card powers and abilities, and use the event deck to spice things up, you have a pretty quick, sneaky feeling little game with lots of potential for clever back-and-forth.
That being the case, this very much feels like a game that wants to be played a specific way. Every game has optimal strategies and new layers that are introduced as you become more familiar with the mechanisms, but this one is perhaps a keener example than most of a game that is easy to play “wrong”, which will extend the game to a point that players may not be eager to return to it. Even once you start to figure it out, and I’m no expert, games can outstay their welcome, and shuffling the deck again and again and again gets tiring, with or without sleeved cards.
The ability to take a calculated risk and draw cards mid-hand is an interesting twist. There will be times where your opponent is close to going out and you have a bunch of cards, but taking that writ to draw ends up being enough to turn the tables.
You also need to pay attention to the powers in your hand, as playing them at the right time can make all the difference. There’s also a little bit of deduction as to what your opponent might have in their hand, and that will influence your strategy. I think playing with the events is the best way to experience this game, though some are more fun than others. Campaign is a bit more tedious, with adding and removing specific cards each round, than the basic game. The campaign book gives historical context for the setting and every character in the game, which is interesting.
Final Thoughts:
Chu Han gets better as you understand it and play it more, but so much shuffling, an iffy rules manual, and the game’s tendency to outstay its welcome, especially during early games, might be enough to prevent players from coming back to it. But the mind games you play, the little bit of push-your-luck, the sneaky and clever card plays will have you reaching for your copy of Art of War for tips on outsmarting your opponent. Whether the game is worth overlooking a few flaws, however, will depend upon the individual player’s preferences.
Final Rating: 3 Stars – As Sun Tzu said, “He who wishes to fight must first count the cost”.
Hits:
• Game rewards careful tactical decisions
• Great aesthetics and dual storage solution
• Nice middle ground complexity
Misses:
• Games can get tiring and last too long
• Rules could have been clearer
Source: Board Game Quest
