Oboro Ninja Star Trick（朧ニンジャスタートリック）, Tori Hasegawa's trick-taking game

Today I will introduce "Oboro Ninja Star Trick（朧ニンジャスタートリック）", Tori Hasegawa's trick-taking game for three players.

朧ニンジャスタートリック (Oboro Ninja Star Trick) is a three-player trick-taking game where the players must follow suit (play the same color as the card that was lead) if possible, and the player who played the card with the highest value wins the trick regardless of the color. In case of a tie, the player who took their turn later among them wins the trick.
Sort the cards you have taken into three color piles with the lowest value card taken from the current trick on top of each pile. Among the players with the total value of cards on top of their piles ("Ninja Power") not exceeding the specified Mission Value, the players with more Ninja Power receive more points.
Meanwhile, the players with more Shuriken pieces, which can be gained by the card "6", receive more additional points.
(A quotation from BoardGameGeek)

In the past, I introduced Tori Hasegawa as an illustrator.

Tori Hasegawa, Japanese board game artist and his recent works

Also, he designs two trick-taking games ever.  The first one is 8bit Trick in 2016 and the second one is Oboro Ninja Star Trick in 2017.

Ninja Power is the most essential element of this game.  Ninja Power means how much ninja can play an active part, but if you have too much Ninja Power, you will be conspicuous. Ninja should not be conspicuous.

Players must continuously control Ninja Power during the game, not only his one but also those of other players.  For example, you can lose a trick with a big number card so that your opponent's Ninja Power exceeds the Mission Value, or you can lose a trick with a small number card to decrease your opponent's Ninja Power.

Shuriken is also an important factor.  When five Shuriken pieces are taken, the player with the most Shuriken pieces receives three points.  This is the same points as the player with the most Ninja Power receives at the end of the round.  Players often face a dilemma between Ninja power and Shuriken.

Oboro Ninja Star Trick requires tactics, but it is not cumbersome.  Tori Hasegawa restricted the number of players to three and reduced the number of cards, thereby achieving both tactics and clarity.  Since only three players can play, chances to play less, but it is an excellent trick-taking game.