Waka Tanka

About this board game

Waka Tanka is a very light bluffing card game for 3–6 players, with games lasting around 30 minutes. Players take the roles of Native American shamans seeking to impress their tribe by conjuring animal spirits and holding long discussions with them.

Each turn, a player places an incantation card face down in front of an animal totem. The card is meant to call the spirit represented by that totem—but the shaman may not remember the correct incantation. They might instead call the wrong spirit and hope the other players fail to notice.

Other players can challenge the play if they believe the incantation does not belong to that animal. This creates a constant contest of confidence and suspicion: the active player must decide whether to bluff, while everyone else weighs whether to call it.

A player may also attempt a full ceremony when they think enough incantations have been placed for a particular animal spirit. The game offers two paths to victory:

• Get rid of all your incantation cards.
• Successfully fulfill two ceremonies.

With its face-down card plays, bluffing challenges, animal totems, and alternative victory conditions, Waka Tanka focuses on reading the table and choosing the right moment to act. The 2016 release keeps the central idea simple: remember the incantations, conceal mistakes, and persuade the tribe that your ceremony is genuine.