In week #2, we played the card game Hanabi. Hanabi is a cooperative card game played in small groups (I believe we played with four or five), in which players are trying to set off fireworks by placing cards in numerical order based on the color of the cards. Hanabi, unlike typical card games is unique in that the players hold their cards facing towards the group instead of towards themselves. In this particular game, the group than must help each other to recommend to each player which card to play. This is probably the most challenging aspect of the game, because players have to rely only on the information they are provided. In some turns a player may no nothing about their cards, and that can cause them to make decisions which negatively impact the team.

Overall I found the concept of this game to be extremely intriguing. The game relies a lot on trust, which can be difficult with a group of people you have just met, as I somewhat learned playing this early in the course. Unfortunately, we were only able to play one round of Hanabi and I don’t think my group played the game entirely as it was intended. We were so fearful of choosing the wrong card to play that we slowed the game down to where at points it was boring. If you choose to play Hanabi I would recommend that you try to keep decision making to a quick 30 seconds to a minute and try not to worry about making mistakes, after all the game is designed with that challenge in mind. If you worry less about being perfect and more about having fun you will enjoy this game a lot more!

I would definitely recommend Hanabi to strategy game lovers that may be looking for something quick, those who like easy set-up and players that want a challenging non-competitive game. The first person who comes to mind in my family that would really enjoy this game is my sister Samantha. She dislikes long games, prefers games that are not overly taxing on the mind but also require more thinking than a simple dice rolling game, games that involves words, patterns or colors and games that can be explained simply and require minimal set up. I think Hanabi provides just the right amount of challenge to keep players interested, without the stress and time consuming elements that make some people choose not to play a strategy game.

The most important leadership topics in Hanabi are trust and anticipation. In the game trust is most present in the reliance of others to provide you with helpful information and to steer you in the right direction, while anticipation is present in making early decisions that will prepare your team for success in the long run. These are both important concepts in leadership. As a leader you want to build a strong group around you and trust that you can delegate tasks to them and they will be accomplished, while likewise trusting that they will be their for support and share in your passions to achieve a common goal. Anticipation is important in leadership because it is necessary to think about the future of your team, org, or business and not just about its current needs/budget, etc. but also about its long term success and goals!