Let’s continue talking about games that I played at Gen Con and have gotten a chance to play some more. Gap by Arcane Wonders is one of those games where I’ve gotten a few plays in. And it’s an interesting little game, so let’s see how it plays and what works well and what maybe doesn’t work as well for this game. Gap provides a number of questions and a different feel depending on player counts.

How to Play Gap

Gap is a simple game where you play down a number and take the matching numbers. With those numbers you create groupings of colors, as each card will have it’s own color. Your goal, and score, is to create the biggest gap between the color you have the most of and the least of.

Like I said, you take the cards of the matching number. But if there are no cards that match your number, you select a card of the adjacent number. And if you don’t have an adjacent number or a matching number, you add a card to the row.

You play Gap over a number of rounds. At the end of each round everyone tallies the biggest gap between a color you have the most of and the least of. And that score is added to the previous score until a point threshold is hit. In the round the point total is met, the player with the most points wins the game.

What Doesn’t Work

This is an interesting game because after several plays, I think there are some elements that don’t work super well. Firstly, at higher player counts, Gap is a game of luck. And I like some luck in a game, but Gap becomes a game purely about luck of what is out there for you to take. There is no strategy to what you are taking, or minimal at best. You might try and set yourself up to get as much blue as possible, but if someone else is taking blue, you might be unlucky when it flips out.

I also think at higher player counts, the game is too long. A short game, I believe, is to 15 points. 15 points is too long at higher player counts because of that randomness. It is common in a lower player count game to score one or two points as the top scorer in a round. And that, shockingly, can make for a long game. I think at five or six players, I would play to a round total, say four rounds, and whoever has the most points then wins. That is an alternative rule that they call out, but I think, generally, that is a better rule

What Works

Turn Speed

Now, I talked about game length being too long at higher player counts. I do think that turn speed is in the favor of this game. Gap is a game where it keeps moving quickly. Your choices are limited to what cards are available to pick up. It’s a group of four cards, or sometimes at the end of the game more, to create that gap from. So even at higher player counts, it is a very quick moving game around the table.

Scoring

Another area where I think it could have gotten bogged down in rules or slowed the game up is that the scoring is simple. You look at the color you have the most of and the color you have the least of, but that you do have. And you must have a color in play in front of you to score it. So that is very simple. And it is set up to keep the game moving. I see worlds where it is the color you have the most and second most of where that would slow the game down more.

In fact, this is a great piece of strategy to the game. You collect as much of all the colors you want, except for one, so you get the biggest gap possible. I like that twist on the game. It reminds me, in some ways, of Parade. The mechanisms are very different but collecting colors and a scoring puzzle or strategy to improve your scoring is clever in Gap as well.

Lower Player Count

Finally, I like Gap probably best at lower player counts. To bring up another game, Ohanami is like this where strategy greatly changes depending on player count. Gap is the same way because at higher player counts it is random, mainly. But at lower player counts, you can interfere with what your opponent is doing. Or you play a more strategic game overall for when you grab colors, and how you play around what is or isn’t on the board. I wish that were the case at higher player counts but understand that a lot of card games are this way with more players, or at lot of games really.

Matching Number of Adjacent Number

With the strategy, I like that you do have a choice as you play down. You either can play down a matching number to take all the matching numbers. Or for an adjacent number. And you don’t need to play down a matching number if you don’t want. So you decide the speed, potentially, that you add cards in front of you for scoring. But, if you can add a card for scoring via a match or adjacency, you must.

Who Is This For?

Gap is one of those games where I feel like it’s a holiday game. It’s the game you take to your grandparents and play with your cousins at Christmas time or whatever holiday. It’s what you take on summer vacation because you want a game but not a big game.

But, because of it’s length, it isn’t a filler game. Maybe at two players it is, but it’s a sit down and play a simple game while you chat over an hour. That is what Gap is to me, and I think that really describes the group and setting that Gap makes the most sense.

Final Thoughts on Gap

This is one that I find interesting. I both enjoy the game and find it to just be okay. I like Gap for what it is. When I describe the situation to play it above, I know exactly who I might play it with. And, actually, I am going to see my parents in under a week, this is a game that I likely will take up with me. It is simple but there is just enough.

It is also a game I wonder about with games like Ohanami and Parade in that same group. Is there room to play Gap over those games? Right now the answer is yes, there is room. It is a new game, but over time, is that going to be the case. I wonder this about a lot of games. For me, it is a bigger question with Gap because, I think I’d want it to be a game that plays well at all player counts. And I think it likely just hits a limited range for players.

Still, the game is fun, and the game knows what it is. It comes in a flashy box that doesn’t pretend to be a big strategic game to play. For that reason, I enjoy Gap quite well.

My Grade: B
Gamer Grade: C
Casual Grade: B+

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