Chinese Flower Card

Chinese Flower Card is a Malaysian designed game from Specky Studio. It is based on the 24 solar terms and the 72 pentads in Chinese tradition. Before I wrote this post I did not know these English words "solar terms" and "pentads". I only know the original Chinese terms 二十四节气 and 七十二候. One pentad is 5 days in the Chinese calendar, and one solar term is three pentads. The Chinese calendar is neatly divided as such, and every solar term has its own name. Some of them mark the solstices and equinoxes. There are various traditions associated with them. The game is also partly inspired by Japanese hanafuda cards. This is a set collection game. The cards have various point values, and when you collect cards of the same month, you score bonus points. 

The basic cards in the game score 1 point each. Cards with animals, insects, relics, special sceneries and farmers are worth more points, ranging from 2 to 5. Cards are grouped into 12 months, and there are six cards for each month. As soon as you start collecting the second card of a month, you score bonus points. If you collect all six cards of a month, you will score a whopping 15 points.

Every round, twelve cards are drawn from the deck and laid out in a 4x3 grid like this. Each player has three butterflies in their colour, and you take turns placing them along the edges of the grid. Only one butterfly can be placed in a segment, so if somebody has placed a butterfly, you cannot use the same spot. However, each row and column has two ends. If only one end is occupied, the other end is still available. When you place your second and third butterflies, you get to claim cards at the intersections marked by your butterflies. Make sure you mark 2 columns and 1 row or 1 column and 2 rows, never 3 columns or 3 rows. That would be pretty dumb. Normally you will claim two cards per round.

The core mechanism is very simple. The game is for two to six players, but the play experience can be quite different at different player counts. With two or three players, the game is quite chill, and this is the exact word one of the designers Buddhima uses to describe the game. Most of the time you will be able to get valuable cards. With five or six players, the game is more challenging. Not only will you find it harder to get what you want, sometimes you might not even get two cards.

Specky Studio specialises in educational games. The concepts in Chinese Flower Card are all based on the Chinese calendar and Chinese tradition. You get a glimpse into Chinese culture and history. Every card is a painting, and the elements in the paintings have meaning behind them. If you look closely at the cards, you will find tigers mating, because that particular card indeed represents mating season. If you are a teacher familiar with Chinese culture, this game offers many opportunities for you to tell stories and share knowledge. Since this is a simple game, non-gamers and even primary school children can easily pick it up and enjoy it. One story which Buddhima shared with me was how this game became a shared pastime between a grandfather and a grandchild. It created moments of conversation and passing knowledge to the next generation. Yes, games are just games, and at the same time they are also our heritage and shared memories.