On the last hole of a round of Golf card game (and we do mean Golf), a particular kind of panic sets in. There are two decks, six friends, and a mental math problem that would more aptly appear on a calculus test. Who knocked? Did someone knock back? And what about those penalties and … Read more
When you’re playing Phase 10, you’ll get to the later stages of the game where somebody has gone out and laid down their hand for all to see. Now it’s time to sift through what’s left in your hands, slap on some penalty points, recalculate your score and not make eye contact with whoever just … Read more
Unlike most card games that end in the blink of an eye with a quick point deduction or flip of some chips, Hand and Foot end with an audit. With six pile of cards each for every person plus two decks, there’s plenty of mathematical chaos to make a spreadsheet shed tears. The score sheet … Read more
When somebody yells that they’re going out, it’s over. For a split second, nobody budges. Then, well … chaos follows. Hands is slapped onto the table. Cards are neatly stacked in piles. Everybody debates who has what, their voices getting louder with every argument or victory. Suddenly, 500 Rummy is no longer about luck and … Read more
The problem is that most board game evenings end with a mad dash to count your points accurately. Hey, there are only five minutes left. There goes the park deck. Oh no, I forgot about those 10 points in my back pocket. What should of be a climactic moment of strategy becomes instead a bureaucratic … Read more
Arboretum looks like it has a promising hand, but this is a game of risk and hidden information. The goal are to win by having the rights to score particular types of tree. Having the longest path doesn’t matter if your opponent also have more cards in that suit. And rules for which one scores … Read more
At this point you’ve constructed a tower that’s four stones tall. It’s stable, well-positioned, and poised to net six points in the fourth slot. But looking down at the board, you notice that its color matches is weak. Your cleanup options is also poor. Mandala Stones turns into a game of resource management with the … Read more
