From Season to Season is a cute game of winning by losing. Coming in a small confectionary-sized box, the labeling and design is that of traditional Japanese sweets. The game really plays to the idea of hospitality and ometenashi, with players giving points to others, and the player with the fewest points wins.
Ingredients
Product Name: 四季折々 From Season to Season (game)
Ingredients: 60 Japanese Sweets tiles, 8 Player Cards, 8 Point Markers, 1 Tea Marker, 1 Turn Marker, and 1 Manual.
Expiration: Never
Seller: Nanatsumu
One ingredient to take note of is the “Tea Marker”. Each player may, once per game, take the Tea Marker from the center of the table. That player is “making tea” for the others, so until their next turn they cannot receive any tiles. The marker is returned to the center of the table at the end of their turn and another player may take it.
Gameplay
At the beginning of the game, the Sweets Tiles are divided into three piles in the middle of the table. The top tile of each pile is then turned over, allowing players to choose between three options. On their turn, a player draws a single tile and flips the next tile over. They then place the tile in front of another player. In this way players assemble a 3×3 set of cards in a square. The trick is you can’t place tiles in your own set; only the set of others.
Once everyone has a complete set, the person with the fewest points wins. Bonus points are given for aesthetically pleasing layouts (no duplicates), seasons, consecutive months, and crests. The card border indicates the season; the number indicates the month; and finally each card has a crest on it. Additionally, each player has a randomly selected season that is kept secret from other players and provides a bonus to cards of that season.
I played with three other people, and we were constantly teasing each other with false modesty using overly honorific language. Lots of laughs were had, and it was a fun game to play.
There’s a video (in Japanese) of the gameplay if you’re interested in seeing what it looks like:
| From Season to Season | 四季折々 |
|---|---|
| Time | 20 minutes |
| Players | 3-6 |
| Ages | 8 |
| Maker | Nanatsumu |
| Retailer | Amazon JP |