Anaphylaxis

Anaphylaxis is a minimalist and razor-sharp trick-taking game by Japanese designer Naoki Hashimoto. You collect valuable bee cards for points, but if you are stung twice by the same bee, you suffer an anaphylactic shock: you are knocked out immediately and score zero points.

You play with a compact 28-card deck in which the highest bees appear twice. Following suit is mandatory, and a fixed trump cycle, a bit like Pokémon weaknesses, makes a different colour trump depending on the colour led. Each round you may pass twice, even if you could follow suit, so you can dodge dangerous tricks. You also pass cards to your neighbour, which shifts your hand just enough to be nasty. Every bee you capture scores one point. The game lasts as many rounds as there are players.

Fast, tense and ruthless: every decision could be fatal. A great short trick-taker for in between.