里山さすてぃなぶる (Satoyama Sustainable)

里山さすてぃなぶる (Satoyama Sustainable) is a card game from Japan, themed on the Satoyama landscape that exists in Japan. Satoyama is the area between arable flatland and the foothills of the mountains (sato 里 means village, and yama 山 means hill). In the game, players are placing cards in a pyramid, representing the food chain in a Satoyama area. The players' goal is to keep the area healthy by maintaining a good balance between vegetation, herbivores and carnivores. The cards show anime-style images of the plants and animals as cute girls. Foreign or alien species must be kept out to allow the native speices to flourish. A good balance must be kept, otherwise the ecology will collapse quickly. If there is too much food, the predators will increase and overload the system. If there is not enough food, the predators will die out. Players can win in different ways. By eliminating alien species, they can achieve an aggressive win. By causing the other players' ecosystems to collapse, or eliminating three native species, they get a passive win. By maintaining a system and scoring more points, they gain a judgement win. The designer likens the game to Tsume Shogi, which are Shogi puzzles in which a player must force a win or lose immediately. The game is designed to show the fragile nature of ecosystems in Japan. The game can be played solitaire. A revised edition was published with extra cards, improved graphic design, added trivia and a supplementary set of rules by the designer. user summary