Petiquette, a deceptively simple card game about spotting patterns among hat-wearing animals, has won Best Game at Japan's Golden Box Awards. The selection committee, made up of more than 40 professionals from Japan's board game industry, called it "a brilliant and sharp work typical of Oink."
Designed by Thomas Sellner and published by Oink Games, Petiquette presents players with a lineup of five cards, each showing one of three animals wearing one of three hats and bearing a number from one to five. Your job is to find the pattern in the lineup and pick which card best fits. The twist: there is no single correct answer. You score points when other players choose the same card as you, making the game as much about reading the table as reading the cards.
It plays two to six people in about 20 minutes and works both competitively and cooperatively. The illustrations by Hisanori Hiraoka, known for Dungeon of Mandom VIII, give the whole thing a playful charm that fits Oink's signature tiny-box style.
The Golden Box Awards, now in their fourth year, are voted on by members of Japan's board game industry and recognise excellence across several categories. Other winners this year included Nusutto Cat for game design, Sweet Lands for art, Tornado Splash for graphic design, National Economy for production, and Down Down Dungeon for best rulebook. Petiquette beat out Banana Governance and The Match Girl Millionaire for the top spot.
Oink Games has built a devoted following by punching well above their weight with pocket-sized games like Deep Sea Adventure, A Fake Artist Goes to New York, and Startups. If you haven't tried one yet, Petiquette looks like a fine place to start.
Sources: BoardGameWire | Oink Games | BoardGameGeek