Meister Makatsu  

• Designer: Reiner Knizia
• Publisher: AMIGO
• Players: 2-6
• Age: 8+
• Time: 20-30 min
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

In Meister Makatsu, players compete with their ninjas for the favor of the renowned master by demonstrating their mastery of perfect timing and strategic moves. Meister Makatsu is the most famous ninja mentor in the land. To be trained by him is considered a great honor. Every year, different schools, so-called dojos, present their best ninjas. Over three days, these ninjas take a number of tests to impress Meister Makatsu with their talent. However, he’s on the lookout for even the slightest mishap!

Everyone has their own deck of 24 cards, with cards numbered 1-8 in yellow, blue, and purple.  Each player shuffles their deck and then draws a hand of four cards. 

Each round, the starting player plays a card from their hand face up. Then, going clockwise, all players do the same.   Then repeat the process so that each player has two face up cards in a stack – be sure that the numbers on both cards are visible. The two unused cards are placed face down to be used in the next phase.  Once you put cards into this facedown stack, you may not look at them again.

You must play your cards wisely over three rounds because each turn whoever plays the highest card in a suit receives a penalty token(s).  If more than one player played the highest number, only the latest played card gets penalties.  The tokens are worth 1 point in the first round, 2 points in the second round and 3 points in the third round.

The penalty differs by color, and you should always resolve the colors in this order

Blue – one token

Yellow – two tokens

Purple –  one token and the Meister Makatsu figure

(If no one plays purple, Meister Makatsu doesn’t move)

Played cards are removed from the game, whereas unplayed hand cards will be used in subsequent rounds. Whoever has Meister Makatsu leads the next round. 

When you cannot draw from your deck (after six rounds), the first round is over.  Shuffle all the unused cards from the first round to form your deck for the second round.  Repeat the process, though there will only be three rounds played as you have only 12 cards.  The tokens in the second round will be worth two points however.

In the final round, again shuffle your cards. In this round, you do not discard your unplayed cards in the first trick. Instead you keep them and add the final two cards to your deck. You only play two tricks in the final round so your final two cards are unplayed.  Of course, the penalty tokens are worth 3 points in this round.

In the end, whoever has the fewest points wins.  Well, unless there is a tie then you ignore the points entirely, and whoever holds Meister Makatsu wins.

My thoughts on the game

Meister Makatsu is a deceiving game.  The rules and components look so simple, yet there is a surprising amount of decision making to be had in what looks to be such a trifle of a game.  Everyone has the same deck of 24 cards, and each will play 22 of those over the course of the game – and it turns out to be quite a challenge.

Each round, you have to make the best you can out of the four card hand that you draw.  In the first round, the single point penalty isn’t too bad, and it’s a pretty decent time to shed the higher value cards.  A guaranteed 1 point penalty is oftentimes better than a high likelihood of a 3 point penalty in the final round.  Of course, everyone else is thinking the same, so your middle cards will end up becoming the new high cards in the next round…. Also, sometimes, your hand won’t allow you to play all your high cards; if you are dealt 6-7-7-8, welp, two of those high cards will be forced to move into the next round whether you like it or not.  

Players should also keep in mind about the different penalties for the different colors.  Yellow seems to be the worst suit to win as you always take double penalty.  Purple seems next worst as this pushes you into leading the next trick, and this feels to be the least advantageous spot to play cards from.

Some people might be able to count cards in this game, but man, I find this well above my ability.  I try to maybe remember the 8s in each color, but in a 5p game, even that is a difficult thing to do.  This bit of uncertainty in the cards left near the end of the game adds a delicious bit of suspense/tension to the card play.

Turn order can affect your play as well.  Players early in turn order are at a little disadvantage as they have to play first, though they do lose on ties.  Players later in turn order get to see more information but at the cost of winning any tied tricks.

Meister Makatsu gives players a simple game with plenty of hand management situations as well as the opportunity for clever tactical card play.  I have been pleasantly surprised by just how many decisions I am asked to make in each game.  As usual, Herr Knizia has come up with a game that is a treat, and this is one I will be playing a lot more this year.  AMIGO never fails to find interesting card games, and with 3 Chapters, they have provided me with two of the best ones of the year thus far.

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

• I love it! Dale Y
• I like it.
• Neutral.
• Not for me…