Brian Boru: High King of Ireland

There is a real appetite for trick-taking with a bit of body to it: games that preserve the neatness of the trick while giving it consequences beyond a small private triumph. Brian Boru: High King of Ireland lands in that gap rather nicely, in much the way Trains once gave deck-building another dimension. It also looks splendid on the table; the production lends a small sense of occasion to an ordinary Tuesday after work.

At its centre is trick-taking, except that winning a trick is not left to sit there congratulating itself. It feeds into the wider contest for space, so a hand carries more weight than the cards alone. The interesting decision is whether to press for the trick or accept that the more important prize lies around it.

Players are not merely collecting hands, then; they are competing over what those hands will mean in the shared shape of the game. We played with five and the pressure was quite right, and I do not expect four to alter that character very much.

Brian is lean, quick, and pleasant, and it delivers its promise without making a fuss. I only wish the trick itself retained a little more of the game’s attention; still, this is a solid, carefully made game that deserves to leave the shelf.