I think what's interesting about this game, from reading other people's comments, is how different everyone views it. Some talk about its strategy, some talk about it as a negotiation, some about optimal players. I think that alone is a good sign.

I really love Inis. I've only played it 4 players and have no desire to play it with any other player count. To me, the highlight of this game is a bluffing game (I've said this in another post, so if this sounds familiar that might be the case), and I haven't see anyone else bring this up ever and it's a complete shock to me. I don't understand how this isn't a key part of everyone's games if they're playing with 4 players.

I'll keep it short, but everyone's turn is very limited. You have 4 cards (plus extras for territories and ones you've gained), and if you're paying attention you kinda know what 4 other people have (and don't have, which is important). But the important thing is that besides the very first turn in a round, anyone can pass their turn, and passing your turn does not exclude you from playing later in the round. This is important because being able to perform your actions unopposed is a huge advantage, so everyone really wants to pass, hoping others will play first. But if everyone passes, the round is over. So it's a big game of chicken, where people want to play cards to gain advantage and "catch up" to those who've played cards already this round, but they also want to pass their turn so their cards will gain more value. Near the end of the game, this is highlighted even more, since to win you have to take a token declaring "I'm gonna win next turn." But you want to take that last, since once someone takes it everyone tries to stop them. So you hold off on taking the token in hopes that people will play their cards or someone else will take a token first, meanwhile everyone else realizes someone either can take a token or is extremely close to it and is holding THEIR cards to be able to counter it. We've had rounds end where everyone has at least 2 cards, 2 people meet victory conditions, and no one has taken a token just because the game of chicken failed and no one wants to take the first move.

There's other stuff to mix it up, like cards that want to be played early or the variable red cards, but that core gameplay loop of chicken and bluffing is what's the most interesting to me, and what I think the game was designed around. In theory, the token you take to declare you winning would just be taken absolutely last in a round and no one could counter it, but in practice that is never the case (unless, maybe, everyone blew their load stopping someone, and a second player gets to swoop in under the radar) due to everyone delaying the play of their cards. I've played the game a lot and continue to want to play, since it's much more about reading other players and trying to be innocuous than some sort of grand strategy.