Review: Sensu

Introduction & Overview

In Japan, the use of the Sensu—the folding fan—carries deep traditional significance: woe to anyone who confuses the wooden fans used in dance and theatre with the iron-ribbed war fans wielded by samurai! Gather the cards you need to craft your own fans using your wits, and always keep the key number of the challenge in mind: 15!

This is the premise behind Sensu, designed by Enrico Vicario as his debut release. First published in 2023 by DV Games in a dual English and Italian edition. Illustrations are handled by Andrea Guerrieri (Green: The Golf Card Game, Atelier daVinci).

It has not been published in Spain, so you will need to turn to the import market to get a copy (the game is completely language-independent). It plays 1 to 5 players, with a recommended minimum age of 8 and an approximate playing time of 25 minutes. The MSRP is €19.90. For this review, we used an English review copy kindly provided by the publisher.

Important: if you already know the game and/or are only interested in my opinion about it, you can go directly to the Opinion section. The Content and Mechanics sections are especially intended for those who do not know the game and prefer to get a general idea of how it works.

Go to Personal Opinion

Components

Inside a two-piece cardboard box (lid and bottom) measuring 17.5×13×4 cm (a standard small box format like Fungi), we find the following components:

• 110 Cards (60×112 mm):
  • 85 Fan Cards
  • 25 Sensu Cards
• 5 Player Boards (cardstock)
• 25 Power Tokens (punchboard)
• 4 Bonus Markers (2 Power and 2 Variety) (punchboard)
• Rulebook

How to Play

Sensu is a game set in the traditional Japanese art of folding fans, where players compete to craft their own fans by managing exact numerical combinations to gather gusts of wind (victory points). Over the course of the game, players alternate turns in which, before acting, they may spend previously acquired Power Tokens to trigger special effects (such as drawing extra cards, adding them directly to their fans, or retrieving them from discard piles). Following this, the active player must choose one of two main actions: drawing cards (taking two from the deck to discard one into their personal pile, or taking the top card from any discard pile, adhering to a 5-card hand limit) or playing a combination. When playing a combination, cards whose values sum to exactly 15 are played to rescue the card with the highest number of sticks and place it into their play area; additionally, if there are at least two cards of the same value and/or the same color, one or two extra cards are rescued (those with fewer sticks), discarding any leftovers. Rescued cards must be placed to start or expand fans in up to five different colors, yielding Power Tokens if they feature the corresponding icon; once a fan reaches seven or more sticks, it is closed with a Sensu Card, granting five gusts of wind if it has exactly seven sticks (Grand Fan) or three gusts if it exceeds that count. Furthermore, Bonus Markers can be claimed by gathering four Power Tokens or by starting fans in all five colors. The Power Tokens allow players to trigger abilities during their turns. The game ends at the end of the round in which a player reaches or exceeds 15 gusts of wind (or if the deck runs out for the second time), scoring points from Sensu cards, unused Power Tokens, and Bonus Markers, with the player with the most gusts of wind declared the winner.

Key Concepts

Let us start with the Fan Cards. They form the central draw deck and come in five colors. Each card shows a numerical value in its upper corner and bottom right, along with an illustration depicting a specific number of folded fan sticks. Some of these cards (specifically those with values 3 and 4) feature a Power icon on their first stick, and there are also multi-value cards. During the game, players manage these cards in hand to play combinations that sum to exactly fifteen points, allowing them to rescue and place cards in front of them to build fans according to the number of sticks they feature.

On the other hand, the Sensu Cards represent fully unfurled fans and are likewise divided into five colors. In the basic mode, they serve as markers to seal and close a fan once a player reaches exactly seven sticks of the corresponding color. In the advanced mode, these cards are double-sided and display different values in gusts of wind (three or five gusts), being used to close fans depending on whether they were completed with the exact stick count or exceeded it.

Each player receives a Player Board. These boards are double-sided, featuring one side for the basic variant and another for the advanced variant. On the basic side, they act as player aids indicating the hand limit, the key target sum for playing combinations, and reminders of the main actions, alongside an icon marking the first player. On the advanced side, the board features five columns (one for each color) with slots at the bottom to store Power Tokens, as well as diagrams detailing the special effect triggered by spending each one. Players earn these Power Tokens by rescuing and adding cards with a Power icon to their fans, placing them in the matching color slot on their personal board (holding a maximum of one token per color). At the end of the game, each unspent token awards one gust of wind, but they can also be spent at the start of a turn to trigger their associated special ability, such as drawing extra cards from the deck or discard piles, or placing cards directly into fans under construction.

Lastly, we have the Bonus Markers, exclusive to the advanced mode, which award three gusts of wind at the end of the game. They are divided into two types: Power Markers, awarded the first time a player gathers four Power Tokens on their board, and Variety Markers, claimed the moment a player has fans of all five colors in their play area simultaneously (whether completed or not).

That is enough to get started.

Preparación de la Partida

1. Shuffle all Fan Cards and form a face-down draw deck in the center of the table.
2. Separate the Sensu Cards by color and set them aside within reach of all players.
3. Create a general supply with the Power Tokens and Bonus Markers. In games with two or three players, use only one Bonus Marker of each type, returning the rest to the box.
4. Randomly deal one Player Board to each participant, ensuring the board with the first-player icon is included. Each player places their board in front of them with the advanced side facing up. Return unused boards to the box.
5. The player who receives the board with the start icon will be the starting player.
6. Finally, each player draws two cards from the deck to form their starting hand.

We are ready to begin!

Game Flow

A game of Sensu unfolds over an indefinite number of rounds. In each round, players take turns in clockwise order, starting with the first player.

On their turn, the active player proceeds as follows:

1. Perform a Power Action. The player returns one Power Token from their personal board to the general supply to immediately resolve its designated effect:
   • Pink: Draw 3 cards from the draw deck.
   • Red: Draw 2 total cards from the top of any discard pile (they may both come from the same pile).
   • Green: Take the top card from any discard pile and add it directly to a fan under construction (it does not award a Power Token, even if it shows an icon).
   • Blue: Draw 2 cards from the deck, keep one, and discard the other. The chosen card may be added directly to a fan under construction (without awarding a Power Token) or kept in hand.
   • Yellow: Choose a card from hand and add it directly to a fan under construction (without awarding a Power Token).
2. Perform a Main Action. The player resolves one of the following two options:
   • Draw. The player chooses one of these two options:
     • Draw 2 cards from the draw deck and then discard 1 card from hand onto their personal discard pile.
     • Draw 1 card from the top of any discard pile (their own or an opponent’s).
   • Play. The player reveals a set of cards from their hand whose values sum to exactly 15. The combination may contain at most one wild card (values 1/2/3, 3/4/5, or 5/6/7), choosing one of its three values.
     • Next, they rescue cards from the combination:
       • Rescue the card with the highest number of sticks.
       • If the combination contains at least 2 cards of the same value, rescue 1 additional card (the one with the fewest sticks). Wild cards do not count toward this bonus.
       • If the combination contains at least 2 cards of the same color, rescue 1 additional card (the one with the fewest sticks).
         • In case of a tie in stick count, the player chooses freely. Unrescued cards are placed into their discard pile. If this leaves the player with no cards in hand, they immediately draw 1 card from the deck.
         • If a player rescues cards that cannot be placed into a fan, they are placed into their discard pile.
     • The player must place all rescued cards into their play area to start or expand their fans (maximum of one fan per color across the five colors):
       • Each fan can only contain cards of its matching color, overlapping them so the stick count remains visible.
       • If a card of value 3 or 4 is added (which displays a Power icon), the player takes the corresponding Power Token from the supply and places it on their board (provided they do not already hold that color’s token).
       • Power Bonus Marker: The first time a player gathers 4 Power Tokens on their board, they take a Power Bonus Marker from the supply (if available).
       • Variety Bonus Marker: If a player has fans of all 5 colors simultaneously in their play area (whether complete or under construction), they take a Variety Bonus Marker from the supply (if available).
     • Closing a Fan: If placing cards causes a fan to reach or exceed 7 sticks, it is closed immediately by stacking its cards and placing a matching-color Sensu Card on top:
       • If it contains exactly 7 sticks (Grand Fan), the Sensu Card is placed with its 5-gust side face up.
       • If it exceeds 7 sticks, the Sensu Card is placed with its 3-gust side face up.
       • A player cannot start a new fan of a color they have already closed.

Afterward, if the player holds more than 5 cards in hand, they must discard the excess onto their personal discard pile. Finally, play passes to the next player.

Game End

The game ends at the conclusion of the current round once a player reaches or exceeds 15 gusts of wind (or if the draw deck runs out for the second time, completing that round as well). The player with the most gusts of wind is declared the winner. When evaluating a player’s final score, count:

• 1 gust of wind for each token remaining on the personal board.
• 3 gusts of wind for each Bonus Marker obtained (Power or Variety Bonus).
• 3 gusts of wind for each completed fan with more than 7 sticks, or 5 gusts of wind if completed as a Grand Fan with exactly 7 sticks.

The player with the most gusts is crowned the winner. In the event of a tie, the victory goes to whoever closed more Grand Fans (5-gust Sensu cards). If the tie persists, the players share the win.

Variants

Basic Mode. Played without Power Tokens, using the basic side of the player boards. Power icons on Fan Cards are ignored and Power Actions cannot be resolved. Fans can only be completed with exactly 7 sticks. The final round triggers when a player completes three or more fans. Once the final round ends, the player with the most completed fans wins. In case of a tie, the player whose completed fans contain the most Power icons wins.

Solo Mode. The player tackles a puzzle against a reduced 40-card deck (cards marked with the fan icon). Three card columns and a discard pile are laid out on the table. Each turn, the player draws a card from the deck and chooses between two options: discarding it (placing it at the bottom of a column or onto the discard pile) or playing a combination summing to 15 by adding the drawn card to between 2 and 4 available cards (taking only the bottom visible card of each column and/or the top of the discard pile). By summing to 15, the player rescues cards and builds fans using advanced mode rules (must place all rescued cards and close at 7+ sticks), with the advantage of being able to complete multiple fans of the same color throughout the game. When the draw deck runs out, the game concludes and the player tallies their score: 3 or 5 gusts per closed fan, 1 per open fan, and 1 per Power icon in their fans to determine their final rank.

Personal Opinion

For those of us who grew up in the eighties, it is practically impossible to look at a folding fan without our minds instantly drifting to the impossible choreographies, padded shoulder pads, and pointed shoes of Locomía… — Disco, Ibiza, Locomía ♪♫ —. That traditional item, usually associated with folklore or warm summer afternoons, was seared into the collective imagination of an entire generation as an extravagant, magnetic piece of pop culture.

Thus, when a board game chooses to place these accessories at the heart of its theme, one cannot help but smile nostalgically before even laying the deck on the table. Let us see, then, how this Sensu behaves on the table, not without first thanking DV Games for providing the review copy that makes this lengthy review possible.

Sensu transports us straight to feudal Japan, where these accessories transcend mere decoration to become status symbols, ritual instruments, and even tactical weapons of war (think of Mai Shiranui, the Fatal Fury fighter who dual-wielded fans and handed out beatdowns left and right). The premise sets us the delicate task of assembling traditional pieces, distinguishing the subtle woods used in court dances from the heavy iron ribs forged for samurai combat.

Mechanically, we are looking at a snappy hand management and set collection game where players must assemble Fan Cards whose values total exactly fifteen. Each turn, the decision tree boils down to drawing cards to shape your hand or playing a combination that hits that exact magic number.

Doing so lets us discard the unused cards while “rescuing” the one with the highest stick count to add to an in-progress fan of the matching color. If we optimize the play by matching identical values and/or colors, we can retain extra cards to build up to five distinct fans in our play area, one of each color.

The goal is to complete these fans as quickly as possible. They require at least seven sticks, and while adding more is allowed, doing so reduces the victory point payout the fan yields. Added to these points are bonuses that create a race dynamic to be the first to start a fan of every color or hoard four special action tokens.

These tokens are gained by adding value 3 or 4 cards to developing fans; besides converting into endgame victory points, they can be spent during play to trigger bonus effects at the start of a turn (though spending a token sets you back in the race to hoard four).

The game ends once a player amasses fifteen or more victory points across completed fans, bonus markers, and unspent special action tokens, finishing the round to crown the highest scorer. And that is all there is to it.

Now that you have a general sense of the design, let us talk about the overall experience and dynamic. The most engaging part of the concept lies in the set collection system requiring players to put together card combinations totaling exactly fifteen. Beyond hitting that target—which is fairly straightforward—the real intrigue comes from maximizing your play: creating combinations with matching values and colors to keep up to three played cards.

One of the most interesting mechanical elements is its discard system. Each participant maintains an open personal discard pile accessible to everyone else, creating tension whenever you draw from the deck, as a quick glance at your opponents’ fans reveals how risky it might be to leave a particular card up for grabs. This mechanic brings to mind titles like Arboretum (here is its tocho-review), though discarding here is certainly not as cutthroat as in Dan Cassar’s design.

I find the introduction of power abilities via special action tokens to be a smart touch, as they help regulate the game’s tempo. The ability to hoard and trigger these special powers offers an interesting degree of flexibility, turning a simple race into a tighter contest where timing is key.

Even so, the addition of these effects and bonuses does not reinvent the wheel or turn the experience into something profound. From your very first play of the standard mode, it is clear that Sensu is an unpretentious hand management and set collection filler aimed at light entertainment. The added powers spice up the simple core mechanics and inject some extra interest, but they fail to elevate the game to a whole new level.

The fundamental issue arises once the basic rules are internalized, at which point games shift almost entirely into autopilot. The decision space is rather shallow, boiling down to a straightforward script: if there is a useful card visible in a discard pile, grab it; otherwise, draw blindly from the main deck and discard the least useful card. The moment your hand adds up to fifteen reasonably well, you play it without hesitation. Ultimately, everything hinges on optimizing combinations heavily dictated by card draw luck, leaving little room for engaging strategic depth.

Because of this, the design clearly works best at lower player counts. With two or three players, the flow remains manageable, making it relatively easy to track which colors or values opponents need and giving discard choices real tactical weight. At four or five players, however, the dynamic becomes overly chaotic: the deck empties fast, discard piles churn continuously, and raw luck takes the wheel.

Consequently, replayability takes a serious hit. Some games get away with simplicity and autopilot turns because they harbor subtle depths that keep them engaging, like my beloved Jaipur (here is its tocho-review). Sensu operates in a similar space, but with less bite, higher randomness, and a slightly busier ruleset. The advanced mode abilities fail to produce the desired spark, leaving this filler stranded in no man’s land.

Where the product does outshine most competitors is in production quality. The cards feature embossed gold foil detailing that looks genuinely gorgeous. In addition, they boast a solid cardstock weight, excellent snap, and a very pleasant linen finish. The cardboard punchboard pieces have decent thickness and density. The rulebook is clearly organized and leaves no ambiguities.

Visually, the art reinterprets traditional Japanese aesthetics through a modern, stylized lens, reminiscent of a blend between classic ukiyo-e and contemporary illustration. The color palette is vibrant and rich, utilizing striking contrasts dominated by warm, golden, green, and crimson tones. The cards combine classic motifs (lotus blossoms, breaking waves, koi fish) with stunning gold flourishes.

And let’s wrap this up. Sensu presents itself as a breezy card filler blending hand management and set collection around a simple math puzzle: reaching the number fifteen. The core tension lives in the open discard piles, where managing the options you leave for opponents and timing your special abilities provide a neat tactical layer. However, the experience deflates quickly once its basics are mastered, turning into a flat exercise where autopilot kicks in and heavy draw luck leaves little room for more engaging plays. A light, passable diversion that ultimately leaves no lasting impression. For all these reasons, I give it a…