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🌸 HANAMI UNBOXING 🌸

A strategic tile laying game set during springtime in Japan, where players compete for the best picnic spots among the cherry blossoms, collecting Activity Tokens and building influence across the board. Hanami is also a reimagining of Reiner Knizia’s classic Samurai. 🌸

⚙️ Designer: Reiner Knizia
🖌️ Illustrators: Lisk Feng, Ichiraku Shinhanga Seisakusho @liskfeng
📚 Publisher: Keymaster Games @keymastergames

Review copy by: Keymaster Games 🙏🏻

#HanamiBoardGame #KeymasterGames #BoardGameUnboxing #BoardGames #TabletopGames by @keymastergames

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2 months ago

Katie and I have been working as the independent design and illustration studio @emrichoffice for over 13 years. I love the work we get to do and the people we get to collaborate with. But some relationships and our work together stand out.

You don’t want those projects to end. You want to keep following your curiosity. And along the way, you meet people whose skills, talents, and character you admire.

That’s how I feel about the 10-year collaboration I’ve had with my friends Mattox Shuler, Matt Aiken, and the team at @keymastergames. Somehow, they felt the same way.

We’ve been talking about me joining Keymaster full time for a while. The circumstances for a decision like this will never be 100% perfect, but things have finally fallen into alignment—logistically, emotionally, and creatively.

In 24 years as a graphic designer, illustrator, and storyteller, I’ve amassed a lot of experience, skills, and accomplishments. But I’m still hungry.

I want to be a good teammate, not just a player but a good coach. I want to create opportunities for other artists and put all I’ve learned—while acknowledging how much more there is to learn—into something larger than Emrich Office.

Keymaster was started by creatives and artists, and you can feel that in the games they make. I believe deeply in the power of tabletop games to bring people together, create shared experiences, and give us an opportunity to play, imagine, and connect in a world that increasingly pulls us toward screens and isolation.

It’s humbling and a little scary to join a team that’s already so good at what they do and to help shape what comes next. But I’m excited to give it my best shot.

Emrich Office isn’t going away. Katie and I will continue the studio with a smaller number of select clients. I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who has trusted us over the years, and excited to see where that part of the story goes, too.

If you’re an artist or graphic designer who would love to break into tabletop games, DM me. If you make great work and you’re a good person to work with, I’d love to know you and stay in touch for when the right project comes along.

Here’s to the next move! taken in Westfield, Indiana by @keymastergames

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15 days ago

Today we’re featuring PARKS 2 by Keymaster Games… and I’ll be honest… I adored the original. So when Keymaster gifted a copy for review, my first thought was, “okay… can a second iteration really hold up?”
Spoiler: yes. absolutely yes.

This game is stunning. Bigger resources, beautiful art that leans into a 70’s throwback vibe, and every single detail feels intentional and warm. It still carries the same charm of the first PARKS—just expanded, refreshed, and filled with thoughtful new mechanics.

Some of the updates I loved:
🌲 The game plays one round shorter
⛺ New tents + the Shutter Bug
🎲 A D6 for extra resource randomness
💧 And the new player boards with a water canister that lets you choose resources more strategically (3 fills per round with 2 resource options each time!)

And YES—I’m beyond excited for Keymaster’s announcement: PARKS is officially heading to Europe. You better believe that one is landing on this channel the moment it exists.

If you want a light/medium game that ages 8+ can enjoy together, this one is a cozy win.
Your hikers move along the trail, gather resources, make reservations, and visit breathtaking national parks across the USA. (Plus… check out my promo Hawaii park Haleakalā 👀🌺)

Huge thank you to @keymastergames for gifting this copy and opening up a whole new adventure filled with the same wonder as the original.

Play comfy. Stay cozy. Find your joy. One game at a time. taken in Rhode Island by @keymastergames

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a year ago

It's photo day in Furroughfield #cozygames #keymaster #fallfestival by @keymastergames

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4 days ago

Major FALL VIBES 🥹🍁 Let’s unbox Harvest the fancy Golden Edition! It’s BEAUTIFUL! (So proud of some of these magic edit bits hehe)

I backed this AGES ago and I thought ‘tis the season… to FINALLY unbox this cozy boardgame!’

It’s by @keymastergames and it’s so pretty! I can’t wait to play this game!

No voice over because I have yet to play it, but I will soon cause it’s the perfect cozy game for autumn ❤️🍁 Have you played? What do you think?

#cozyboardgames #boardgames #boardgamesofinstagram by @keymastergames

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11 days ago

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🌸 Hanami 🏮
⚙️ Reiner Knizia
🎨 Lisa Feng, Ichiraku Shinhanga Seisakusho
📦 Keymaster
👥 2-4 Players
🛠️ Tile-laying

Rating:🍴🍴🍴🍴🍴 Exceptional Cooking

Hanami is a reimagination of Reiner Knizia’s legendary tile-laying game, Samurai. Instead of fighting for the support of castes across feudal Japan, players in Hanami are wrestling for the most picturesque viewing spots during the springtime, which can actually be quite vicious.

The goal of Hanami is to use tiles to win a majority of celebration tokens. Hanami is Rebirth’s older brother—but even easier to learn, immensely more strategic, and exponentially more aggressive. Keymaster’s gorgeous production belies the gameplay of one of the most brutally cutthroat designs ever. This version introduces some new tiles, powers, rule tweaks, and another board that are fun additions that are great for those who want more variability.

Knizia fans have unsurprisingly critiqued the re-theme. While it’s understandable, I am seeing a surge of new interest in the game because of it, and getting more people who want to try it is way more important for me as a gamer. At the very least, Hanami still pays homage to the Eastern influences that underpin the game. I constantly return to this quote from the doctor about the philosophy of this design: “The Eastern world is not direct, it is indirect.” In Hanami, you have to be patient, and if you play it the “Western way, you run out of energy.” The game requires you to embody Eastern indirectness, “redirecting the power and force of the opponent.”

Hanami beautifully captures the indirect directness of East Asian culture. It’s a game of tactical positioning that rewards not the most aggressive players but those who are silently methodical. It’s a game of explicit conflict but the battles are implicit, lying in the periphery. It’s a game of influence, where the focus is not on the individual but on the collective.

Hanami is one of the greatest games ever made.

Review copy generously provided by @keymastergames

✅ One of the greatest games ever
✅ Heirloom production by @keymastergames

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18 days ago

I’m a buffa star, I’m a buffa pro…but can I beat you at PARKS?

Tag the friend who hoards the 🦬 wildlife.

#Parks #keymastergames #buffalo #meeple #GameNight by @keymastergames

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22 days ago

So… I’m not a huge Knizia fan. Of the thousands of designs he published, I only own Rebirth and San Francisco, the latter being seriously underrated, IMO (have you ever played a game where the VP goes into decimal points?). Our love for Rebirth was what convinced me to give Hanami a shot, and it almost feels like Rebirth’s little sister with its “place tiles on a map and compete for tokens” gameplay.

On our first play (30ish minutes), I really enjoyed how quickly it moves, and the area control felt easy to grasp while still being surprisingly effective at 2p. You only have 5 tiles to work with each turn (although there are plenty of wilds), so every placement feels like making the best of the hand you’ve been dealt.

The special power tiles also add quite a bit of decision-making. My favourite so far is the Copy Machine, which can take on the same strength as any player’s adjacent tile, and it could seriously turn the tables on your opponent in an opportune moment.

We’ve only scratched the surface, we haven’t even tried the back map yet, but we’re really enjoying this surprisingly accessible little abstract game. And while the Japanese theme isn’t usually my cup of tea, I can’t overlook how beautifully designed, and manufactured this entire package is. The production quality is genuinely impressive. I’m genuinely looking forward to more plays.

This game was generously provided by @keymastergames for content creation purposes

The Kingswood LED 4x6 table was generously provided by @boxking_gaming. Use my code TAE10AC at checkout for 10% off and a free accessory! by @keymastergames

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a month ago

🍂 It might not be autumn quite yet, but those cool, crisp mornings are on their way. So let’s start getting ready with board games that are perfect for cozy sweaters, pumpkin spice lattes, and relaxing afternoons around the table.

Here are five games that instantly give me all the fall vibes:

🍁 Parks @keymastergames
📖 The Hobbit: There & Back Again @officedoggames
🐉 Flamecraft @cbalchemy
🦊 Creature Comforts @kidstablebg
🌾 Harvest + the Fall Festival expansion @keymastergames

🍂 Which board game instantly feels like fall to you?

Let me know in the comments—and if I missed one, it might just make Part 2! 🤎🎲

Save this post for your next cozy game night. 🍁 by @keymastergames

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2 months ago

Hagia Sophia 🇹🇷 for @keymastergames !

Card 5/5 for the World Heritage Expansion of the board game Parks Europe.
When I saw it in my brief I screamed! I had recently visited Istanbul and absolutely loved the city 🩵

Thanks to art @emrichoffice , Estefania and Jen for the art direction!

#boardgameillustration #boardgameartwork #keymaster #boardgameart #istanbul taken in Hagia Sophia by @keymastergames

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2 months ago

The Acropolis 🌙 for @keymastergames !

Card 4/5 for the World Heritage Expansion of the game Parks Europe! I think it came out pretty good :)

Fun fact I learned: the Parthenon is now scaffolding-free and fully visible for the first time in 200 YEARS! In particular, I had no idea that the scaffolding on the west side was there for the last 20 years, and now it's finally gone.

#boardgameillustration #boardgameartwork #keymaster #boardgameart #acropolis taken in Acropolis, Athens Greece by @keymastergames

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2 months ago

Mont-Saint-Michel 🩵 for @keymastergames !

Card 3/5 of the World Heritage Expansion pack, for their board game Parks Europe 🐚 A magical, absurd place!

I visited Normandy and Brittany as a kid, but I only saw this town from afar, so it left an aura of mystery for years...✨

#boardgameillustration #boardgameart #boardgameartwork #montsaintmichel #keymaster taken in Mont Saint-Michel by @keymastergames

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3 months ago