Description

Jan-Ken-Po (a Hawaiian name for Rock-Scissors-Paper) is a collectible card game with eighty cards in total, of which each box contains a random and poorly collated fifty. It is possible to get five of the same weapon in one set.

The game is set on Krone II (according to the box) or Pangea (according to the rulebook), where a centuries-old war has created three clans: the Paper Clan (yellow), the Scissors Clan (magenta) and the Stone Clan (blue). Most cards show badly drawn members of each clan and their weapons.

Players simultaneously reveal the top card on their deck, and stone cards beats scissors cards, scissors beat paper, and paper beats stone. With the exception of resolving ties and a 3-player version, that's the rules. Except there are rare monsters that beat all the clan cards, the wizard Jan-Ken-Po who beats everything, and a 'You Lose!' card ('the Herb of Destruction'), which must be played on yourself and makes you lose.

An attempt to cash in on the CCG boom of the mid 1990s, the game is noted for its low production values, amateurish art that is often printed sideways on the cards, a backstory that makes no sense, and gameplay that takes Rock-Scissors-Paper and removes all the skill and tactics.

—user summary