The game I played was Hanabi. This is a cooperative card game. The objective is to build a perfect, exciting fireworks display by placing the cards in order by different color. The cards range from 1 to 5 and must be placed in ascending order. Each player holds the cards away from himself or herself, so everyone but the person holding the cards knows what cards are in play.
The hardest part of playing Hanabi was to look at the clues that you gave from our players’ perspectives. In order to achieve the correct sequence of cards, you must provide helpful hints to the other players. There were several times after a hint was given, I could see the next person thinking very hard about the best move they could make. After one round, we seemed to learn each other’s communication style. After this, the next player was often able to finish the hint given by the previous player. We were also able to complete sequences faster and with fewer hints after playing several games.
The leadership themes that we discussed in class included communication and taking charge. Having only one leader in Hanabi would have been extremely difficult because of the nature of the game. I think communication applied a great deal to this style of game. As a leader you must adapt your communication style to what is best for your team. This lesson was seen almost immediately in Hanabi. We had to figure out what hints worked best for each player. We also had to work as a group despite our different communication styles, and I think this is also an important part of leading a team or group.
I think that my mom would enjoy playing this game because of the cooperation and communication it takes. We enjoy playing games like Heads Up around the holidays, which involves teamwork. My family has great memories of working together in games like this, and I know she would like to add this game to the ones we have. I also think that it would appeal to her because it is low conflict and low stress, so we can all relax and enjoy ourselves while we play.