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Inis board game
Inis board game

Inis

77
149 Ratings
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Overall Rank: #58 | Trending Rank: #13

The game's mechanics combine card drafting and area control to produce a system rich in strategic options and interpersonal interactions. The tiles give every game a unique, gradually unfolding geography. The art brings Ireland's ancient epics and audacious heroes to life.

There are three different types of cards in Inis:

Action Cards - These are drafted each round and provide the base actions to deploy troops, move troops, attack, and play new regions.

Advantage Cards - These are acquired as a result of controlling certain regions. Each region has its own Advantage Card you receive as a result of having the most troops in it.

Epic Tales Cards - These unique and powerful cards evoke the Celtic gods and heroes to inspire the clans to accomplish legendary feats.

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User Ratings & Reviews

  • by
    Don't like this game, at least in Bloodrage you can feel something akin to a viking clans sudoku'ing for glory. In Inis 1 of 3 win condition is that you harvest enough? The cards is more interesting than bloodrage, but the lack of common action weight it down and make it even more a card game than BR
  • by
    Strategy light-war game with an amazing drafting mechanism. I think it's a clever game and stand on its own among the others of the genre. One of my favorites. Works well with 2, 3 or 4 players.
  • by
    I like card drafting games so this one hit the mark for me.
  • by
    I have many more plays than I have recorded, since I bought this before I even considered a BGG account. This is among the first board games I bought for myself when getting into the hobby beyond bringing my copy of Resistance Avalon anywhere there'd be 4+ friends or playing others' copies of Smash Up and Cards Against Humanity in high school. Unlike some of those games, Inis only seems to get better with age.This is a beautiful, subtle, and tight area control game. The Epic Tale Cards add a layer of both strategy and randomness, but not necessarily luck. It doesn't feel like they decide games. Rather, they dictate the power moves that you'll consider building toward. Whatever luck they create is offset by their intensity during play-- having the Dagda at a key moment leaves the table in uproar every time.I can always go back to this game. No matter how much I play, it continues to feel unlike any other game. There is no replacement or alternative for this. Many dudes on a map games have a similar core despite a number of mechanical differences. But Inis is not just a refinement of a system or mechanic, nor is it one that will be copied or refined heavily in the future-- it's too distinct and complete a vision to be easily imitated. To borrow a cliche, it's like this game always existed and Christian Martinez just discovered it in a pile of cardboard and plastic. Another word for this type of game: classic.Also scales very well, from a chess-like 2p mode to a grueling 4p war. And Jim Fitzpatrick can now say he illustrated the best looking board game of all time.
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Top Forum Posts

My Top 10 Favorite Game Art [Roam, Wingspan, Everdell, Nemo's War (Second Edition), Century: Golem Edition, Bruxelles 1897, Tapestry, Irish Gauge, Inis, Oceans]

by | updated 18 days ago

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Love little lists like this!

  1. #Food Chain Magnate - The heavy game itch has been getting me recently and this bad boy is at the top of my list. 
  2. #Clans of Caledonia - I've heard a lot of good things about this one and I want to give it a shot. The streamlined, shifting market interests me, as well as the spatial element the board provides. Just looks like a nice, solid euro.
  3. #Inis: Seasons of Inis Expansion - Going to nab this one whenever it finally restocks. Which, hopefully, will be very soon. #Inis at 5p sounds fun and the cards and tiles really intrigue me.
  4. #El Grande Big Box - Been eyeing this one for a while. Another great area control game that works better at higher player counts, which is something I'd love to add to the collection. The auction mechanisms and surprise of the Castilla seem right up my alley.
  5. #Imperial 2030 - Board Game Barrage put me onto this one. Their description of it is very intriguing and I'm a big fan of Concordia, another Mac Gerdts game. 

Great post!

This is not necessarily games I'm expecting to receive for Christmas, since some are more expensive and I am fully aware that not many people want to spend $60+ on a board game for someone, especially if they aren't familiar with the going prices for new board games. But these are the top games I'd like to acquire in the near future, whether that's through a gift exchange, or simply buying them myself:

  1. #Baseball Highlights: 2045
  2. #Inis
  3. #Battle for Rokugan
  4. #Aquatica
  5. #The King is Dead: Second Edition
  6. #Shards of Infinity: Deckbuilding Game

I'd also love to pick up the #War Chest: Nobility expansion, but it seems to be out of stock everywhere at the moment.

  • I am uncertain. #Inis looks interesting, but I don't know much about it. The artwork is nice, but I'm not sure how it plays.
  • If I had $200 to spend right now (about £120?) I'd probably go for a couple of more expensive games simply because I tend to justify buying the smaller games that my family will play with me anyway. I'm not too sure what specific games, though. Perhaps #Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Change Is Constant and #Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 or #Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated?
  • I'm willing to give most games a try, and I'm not sure I have any strict preferences. Most of those games look interesting but none that I would be desperate to get hold of right now. If I won one of them, I would likely spend days or weeks checking reviews and playthroughs, and I might consider trading it instead to someone who *really* wants it rather than opening it up myself.

Yeah, #Inis was the highest game on my wishlist this season and I was resigned to not being able to find it. So I am very excited for this win!

I feel like we need to figure out a way to game together, since we love a lot of the same stuff (I mean I can't imagine I won't love #Dune). #Inis is currenty the only game on my wishlist that's for me.

Haha, I was more referencing the fact that he tagged me in a post right before announcing the #Inis giveaway. Ice cold lol

Ah man I was excited when I read #Inis haha! But it sounds like you made the right call. Think you'll be able to get a proper game of it with your wife played anytime soon?

#Inis is very good. I've played it at all player counts. It's worth a go at 2 but for me it's definitely a 3 or 4 player game. I say that because when multiple players are ving to control one area, it's really exciting. The table talk with 3 or 4 players is cool too because there's a lot of "you better not be attacking me!" type stuff which is just more fun with more voices involved, if that makes sense. When one person pulls away and declares they're going to win, the other players start negotiating and planning to kill the king. That's where the game shines. Anyway, not to deter you, you will still love it at 2, but that was my experience.

#Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale - Played with my wife on Sunday! And I was right. She does like it more than #Welcome to... because it's a slightly deeper game. She was already having fun coming up with a "title" for herself and the name of the kingdom, so it was a good sign. I've learned from past mistakes that I should never go easy on her, so when an ambush/monster card came up, I drew it on a rather weird spot for her and she knew it was on lol. She wasn't too aware of how monsters work and drew mine on a space that actually worked better for me. Knowing that, when the monster card came up on the second round, she immediately drew it in the most awkward spot on my map and I loved it! Definitely our best under 30/45 min kind of game we have so far, and if we ever get some chill coffee date times in the future, I could see myself carrying it around (not that I drink coffee, since my stomach is pretty sensitive to coffee but not to alcohol for some reason...)

#Inis - Okay, we didn't get to play this. We got it out and I explained the rules, but by the time we were about to start playing, I sensed that we'll end up having to end the game at mid-poin