Inis

Today's review is of the 2016 release, Inis.  For 2-4 players, it takes 60 minutes.

Overview
A newly discovered land begs for colonization; your goal is to be elected High King over disparate clans.  To do so, you must satisfy the most victory conditions:
- be present [have at least one clan] in six or more territories
- be chieftain* over a combined total of six or more opposing clans
- be present [have at least one clan] in territories with a combined total of six sanctuaries

Inis actions are taken using different types of  cards:
- each territory has a corresponding advantage card, given to the chieftain of that territory at the start of a round
- action cards are a common pool of actions, drafted completely each round and reused in subsequent rounds
- epic tale cards are generally obtained by playing certain action cards; powerful, they can be used only once per game

Throughout the game, players will use advantage, action, and epic tale cards to place new clans, citadels, sanctuaries, and territories, move clans between territories, and clash with opponents.

the game's contents; image from here

*the chieftain of a territory is the player who has the most clans in that territory. 

Simplified Gameplay
Inis is played over rounds; each round has two phases: Assembly and Season.

Assembly
- the chieftain of the Capital territory is designated as the Brenn (temporary leader or first player)
- check to see if anyone has won the game (players must have obtained a pretender token the round before to be eligible; the player who has a token and has satisfied the most victory conditions wins)
- each player takes any advantage cards corresponding to territories where he/she is chieftain
- the Brenn shuffles the action cards and manages the drafting of cards as described in the rules

Season
- each player, starting with the Brenn and rotating, can take one action on his turn: play a card, take a pretender token, or pass.  Every card played is discarded; some (action and advantage) will be used again in every round; epic tales will not be
- play continues until everyone has consecutively passed; then a new round begins with the assembly phase
- some cards can provoke clashes, which will force participants to lose clans or cards from their hands until all involved agree they've had enough

a game in progress; image from here

Review
This game initially appealed to me due to the breathtaking artwork- and it is a very 'pretty' game.  The rules are simple, the game moves quickly, and it's pleasantly interactive with lots of decision making.  That said, playing with just two players felt anticlimactic.  It's good, but there's something I can't identify that precludes it from being great.  I need to try this again with three or four participants.

Rating: B+