Disclosure: Meeple Mountain received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This review is not intended to be an endorsement.
Kanare Kato is an independent abstract game designer from Japan who distributes his games through his own company, Kanare Abstracts. His small box abstract games are simple to learn, yet pack a big, thinky punch. As a one-man operation without an international distributor, both Kanare and his games may be unknown to you. However, if you love abstracts, do I have some games for you to check out.
Stairs is a stacking game where both players start on the first level of the playing field. Move after move, you’ll be building stacks of pieces. When there are no more moves to be made, having one of your pieces on top of the tallest stack means you win the game.
Start by laying out the board with its 6×6 grid of squares between both players. Take the 18 black and 18 white square pieces and arrange them in an alternating checkerboard pattern. Choose a color and you’re ready to play.
On a turn, you’ll take one of your squares that sits at the top of a stack and move it on top of any orthogonally or diagonally adjacent piece.
While that sounds simple, there are two rules that make Stairs a challenging game.
The first is that any piece you move must end up on a stack one level higher than it started. In Stairs, both individual pieces and a collection of pieces one atop the other are stacks. A single piece is a stack of one, while a tower of four pieces is a stack of four. For your first moves, this is straightforward: on a board full of single stacks, you’ll move one of your pieces on top of another stack of one, creating a stack of two.
This also means that later in the game, as stacks of pieces build, you can only move your topmost piece from one stack to another stack of the same size. If you want to move your piece that sits atop a stack of three pieces, you can only move it on top of another adjacent stack of three. This will create a stack of four, leaving behind a stack of two.
The second rule is that you must always move the piece on top of your lowest stack, if possible. Early on, this isn’t an issue, as you’ll be able to move most, if not all, of your starting stacks onto other stacks. As play progresses, however, some stacks may become isolated from others on the board. This means they lack another adjacent stack to move on top of.
Play will often focus on building stacks towards the center of the board. Keep an eye out for helpful stacks on the outskirts of the center, though. Also, try to position your moves to both build atop a taller stack while leaving a smaller stack with your opponent’s tile on top of that stack. If that stack is now your opponent’s smallest stack, you have just forced their next turn.
The game ends when neither player can make a move—or when both players agree that further moves will have no effect on the outcome of the game. The player whose tile is at the top of the tallest stack wins. If there is a tie, compare the number of tiles in the stacks of your color. If those numbers are the same, the player who first placed their tile on top of the tallest stack wins.
Games invariably gravitate towards the center of the board, meaning you’ll need to look at the best opening strategies. After the initial frenzy of moving as many one stack pieces atop other tiles, the strategic depth of the game becomes apparent. You’ll need to balance offensive moves with defense, all the while trying to build stacks you control while trying to force your opponent’s next move.
Stairs is a small box abstract that is quick to set up and easy to play. It’s an approachable, fun puzzle to compete over. It is an easy game to recommend.
For more information about Kanare Kato’s games, check out his website: https://kanare-abstract.com/en.
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