A player “can then tell one teammate something about the tiles in front of that teammate.” -Antoine Bauza, Hanabi

                The tile game Hanabi unfolds a lot like solitaire, except you’re playing with a team—my favorite is two people—and no one can see their own tiles. Instead, they can see everyone else’s. Then players share information through specific rules so everyone knows (or can guess) what to play next. It’s wonderful.
                And, okay, maybe I’m biased, because communication games have been my favorite for a long time. My partner and I have been playing a lot of them lately. Hanabi, and Sky Team. Maybe it’s because in these kinds of games everyone can only win together. It’s a shared thing, the game we’re playing. Maybe it’s because communicating is really hard. Figuring out when everyone’s free to come together and play a game? That’s hard. Coordinating schedules for summer visits to family far away? That’s hard. Working out the gentle intricacies of this is what I’m hoping for, this is who I am, this is how I can meet you—it’s hard. I spend a lot of time thinking about to share with the people I want to share with. And then sometimes there’s a delightful colorful game that makes magic out of all that with these tiles that, tic, nudge each other and smile.