Yes, there are many red squiggles under the title of this article. But it is worth it for the word play. Schotten Totten is a new to me two player game that I tried on BGA. I like trying two player games on BGA because often times they go quickly. And if they are designed for that, hopefully they create some tense decisions in what you are doing. The downside of playing so many two player games is that I compare them all. So is Schotten Totten a game that worked it’s way up or just middling?

How To Play Schotten Totten

Schotten Totten is a lane control game for two players. In this game you want to either win three adjacent locations or five total locations. You win locations by playing better sets of three cards on your side than your opponent can on their side.

So What Wins?

In this game you are playing “poker” type of hands. At least you can think of that for rankings. If you play a straight flush (of three cards), that is the best, then three of a kind, flush, straight, and total value of the cards. So you can see the order is pretty similar to poker. But there is no pair options.

And when you win, for example, I play a straight flush of 9, 8, 7 – in any order, that can’t be beat. Even if my opponent plays the same thing, I did it first. So when I complete that, the token comes to my side. And at that point in time my opponent can no longer play there.

Note: The game calls them color and runs for flush and straight.

Playing Cards

So I already mentioned how you can get locked out of playing in some spots. It is also important to know that you must always play. So as you play out cards or figure out what cards are left in your hand, you need to think about where you might play in the future. And the more your opponent wins the fewer options you get.

You also need to think about the cards available in the deck. Because there are six colors 1 through 9 in each color. What is the likelihood that you are going to get a card from a middle of a run that you are trying to create? Better if it isn’t a straight flush but not great. So it is possible that you might find your opponent or you win a location simply because they are no longer able to beat what you placed down. For example, if they need a six to beat your run and you play that six, you lock them out.

What Doesn’t Work

There is a level of luck to this game. And that is needed. If it were a zero sum game, by that a mean a game where you know all the information, a player with a better starting hand would win. There is no need to play it out. But depending on your preferences for games, it might feel like too much luck. But that is kind of the point of the game.

What Works

This game is simple to learn and play. It is just laying out the tiles, which don’t matter what order they go in just that they are in a line. And then you shuffle up and deal cards. I think that I could get a new player playing Schotten Totten in less than five minutes.

Hand Management

And there is a nice strategy to knowing when to pivot from a location or when to invest more at a location. That is where the meat of the game is, so to speak. You need to know when you can still dig for a card. And you need to play out cards onto locations you might not win.

Why, because you need to manage your hand of cards. You might get stuck with three ones that don’t go anywhere, and now those are dead cards in your hand if you wait too long. And three dead cards or cards you don’t want to play isn’t that bad. What happens when it is the majority of your hand? Can you figure out which spot to maybe throw a card and lose, or do you keep everything alive.

Tension

The final thing I want to talk about is tension. The tension of that choice when you decide to give up on a location. The tension of when you want to show that you’re strong at a location and when you want to hold back. Or even when it gets down to it, the tension of the draw to see if you can get the one card you need to keep your opponent from winning three adjacent locations. The game always feels tense at some point in time.

Who is Schotten Totten For?

This is a two player only game. So I think this is a good game for couples in an evening when they don’t have a ton of time. I put it in that range of a game like Lost Cities where it’s easy to get to the table and play. But it is not going to be your whole evening. That is probably a sweet spot for two player games most of the time, and where most of the ones I play on BGA land. But that is who that is for, you do need to like that bit of luck and very head to head game play.

My Final Thoughts and Grade on Schotten Totten

I like Schotten Totten a lot. I think the games in the two player realm that I’d compare it to most are Lost Cities and Hanamikoji. It is less thinky than Hanamikoji for sure. So it is more on par with Lost Cities in terms of weight. But I like the fact it is just win locations, not see if you can get points like Lost Cities. I think that is easier to learn and teach than the somewhat complex rules for Lost Cities in terms of points. Mainly the negative points. So I appreciate that ease to the table when teaching a new player.

I personally think I like it better than Lost Cities. But it is not up there with Hanamikoji which is one of my favorite two player only games. I think that one just adds in enough more puzzle that it’s more interesting. That said, I think that Schotten Totten is likely to end up in my collection. Why, because it is a small game and one that is easier to teach and play than Hanamikoji. And I really like it for that.

My Grade: A
Gamer Grade: B+
Casual Grade: A-
Strategy (out of 10): 6
Luck (out of 10): 4

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