Instinct just went online

Saturday, March 22, 2025 by Sparhawk

Enter the duel in a gloomy forest full of mystical creatures. 

Instinct is a tactical tile laying game for two players. Battle it out in a gloomy forest full of mystical creatures! Take turns placing cards in a 4x4 display. Make your choices carefully to score points. Sometimes it‘s all about the right timing! The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.

Instinkt is a pure 2-player game and plays fast — about 20 minutes on the table. It’s our first game by Udo Peise, but already our third release by publisher Board Game Circus, the other two being CuBirds and Rollecate.

We’ve worked closely with Michiel de Wit from Gam’inBIZ, who handled the Dutch localization of the game. Here’s what he had to say about Instinkt:

The first time Daniel from Board Game Circus showed me Instinkt, I was completely blown away. I instantly fell for its art and slick gameplay. Instinkt is a cracking little puzzle that plays out in just 10 minutes and really challenges you. The rules are simple, the choices pretty straightforward, but every game has surprised me with some sneaky move or clever twist.

Gameplay-wise, Instinkt kinda reminds me of Hive, that classic abstract game with hex tiles. In Instinkt, the play area's just a 4-by-4 grid, but during the game, this grid can shift about, which is really cool and one of the reasons I find Instinkt so fascinating to play. Everything’s well balanced—never gets dull, though. Like the artwork, there's sharp contrasts between moves, scoring chances, and strategies. I absolutely adore that about the game.

The rules of Instinkt are super easy: each player starts with the same 12 square cards. Each turn, they chuck down one of their 3 hand cards. The numbers on the cards sort out who goes when, but going first isn’t always a bonus. Most cards (9 of them) offer a specific scoring chance, usually needing a certain placement. The other 3 cards don’t score points but give you a one-off special move that can shake things up. I’m especially fond of the Stag, as it can really flip the game on its head, keeping everyone on their toes.

The digital version of Instinkt on Yucata is super sleek. While the gameplay is smooth in both versions, scoring in the tabletop game requires a bit more attention to track. Yucata handles that beautifully by offering intermediate scoring updates, giving you a clear idea of where you and your opponent stand. This feature makes the digital game even more addictive than the tabletop version already is. I can totally see loads of folks playing Instinkt during their lunch breaks and over a coffee, both online and off.

This is the 22nd board game implementation by be_com4. Since each developer spends many hours implementing a game, it might be interesting to hear how they choose their next project. Here's what Bart shared:

Since we got the license before the game was even announced or published, I couldn’t rely on player reviews. But the rules are very short and easy to grasp — and that’s what drew me in.

It’s a very short game where each player has the same 12 animals. In each game, you’ll only play 8 of them on the board. The goal is to position your animals more strategically than your opponent. But watch out for the Deer, Raccoon, and Snake! These animals — when played at just the right moment — can cause havoc!

I found the game especially interesting after a few plays, once I understood the different characteristics of each animal and where they should be placed to score points.

As always you'll find all information here: Game information

We thank Board Game Circus and Gam’inBIZ for the permission to host their game!

This is the first post in our new blog. It’s still pretty rudimentary and will improve over time. You’re welcome to leave comments — but please post bugs and feature requests in the appropriate forums.