Over the weekend, I got to play three new to me games, plus Red Dragon Inn, but I’ve already or my wife has already reviewed that one. But each of the three board games had a gimmick that went with the game. And while I’m not ready to review them all yet, it does ask the question, are the games worth the gimmick. Or is there more than just the gimmick to make the game worth it?

Beat the 8 Ball

Beat the 8 Ball is a game of timing. In it you have an eight ball that is spinning down a funnel. Your goal is to beat that eight ball and get points. So when it starts spinning you just release your ball and beat it, not that hard. Well, it’s trickier because you need to release it after someone else does, or everyone else and beat the eight ball. If you don’t beat the eight ball you lose points. If you’re the first person to beat it, you get no points.

The gimmick of the game, this big setup of a contraption for releasing the players balls and the funnel for the eight ball is cool. And I like the scoring of the game because it does make there be pressure. There is a skill element or a recognition element to the game. The more you play, the more you’ll know when the eight ball is going to drop. The downside is that this game could go on for a long time. It didn’t take too long for us, but if people are riding that line too closely no one will hit 10 or -10 to end the game. Or at least it’ll take a while.

Diced Veggies

You’re using dice as veggies to complete recipes and score you points in Diced Veggies by Kids Table Board Games (KTBG). To get your veggies you are using a cleaver to cut them off of a block of veggies (dice) in the middle. That’s the gimmick of the game. With the added twist on how you can cut the veggies, mainly that you can’t have more than 10 pips worth on the dice you cut.

Other than that, it’s a pretty straight forward collection game to fulfill orders or recipes in this case. And the recipes are easier or harder and give you a varying number of points. Plus you can play “hype” cards which augment a recipe. So I might have to discard another die to get a bonus four points. Or if all the dice I use on a recipe are the same value it’ll give me more points per die on the card.

My one concern about this game is the longevity of it. That’s probably true for Beat the 8 Ball as well. The game is simple and I’m not sure that the strategy will massively change over time for Diced Veggies. The upside is, it’s really easy to teach, learn, and play.

Fun Facts

Finally a cooperative party game from Repos Productions. I’ve talked about them before because they made Just One and So Clover, to great cooperative party games. While those are more game, more strategy to them, Fun Facts is more like a fun ice breaker than a game. In Fun Facts you put down a number answer to a question, like how seductive are you 0 to 100. And each person on their turn is trying to add it to a row of everyone’s answers so it’s in the right order.

Then you score points for the lowest to highest and all of them in the right order between. And you play that out over eight rounds. The gimmick is the dry erase boards, which nice raised edges so it won’t slide and erase. It’s also that trying to know your fellow players and how they’d rate themselves.

It’s a fun game because the players control the fun. And it’s about the “You’d spend that much to go to a park with actual dinosaurs?”. Or “After that weird look you gave me I assumed I was more seductive than you.” Jokes around the table but also getting to know people. And I think it’ll work longer because a lot of is it controlled by the group of players versus the game.

Final Thoughts on the Board Games with a Gimmick

Sometimes a game has a great gimmick. And sometimes the gimmick is the game. For all of these board games, I do think that there is thought put into the game aspect of what is going on. And that makes it fun. Fun Facts has the least game, but it’s a fun party game. And it has as much game as most party games. The other two give you simple board games to play. And I think that might be a downside, they might be too simple in the long run. But I can say, after playing each game, I’ve had fun with each one.

Which of the board games sounds most fun to you?

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