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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Dice Tower Summer Spectacular Publisher Mega Announcements!

Motor City Gameworks

Three Sisters Essential Edition

Solo mode, campaign mode, and more added to Three Sisters. So it’s going to be still the same game, just added modules. A game that I need to try still, I believe that the group worked on Fleet: The Dice Game as well which I enjoy a lot. So this one is on my radar and gives me a great reason to make sure that I get my game played of Three Sisters to see if I’ll want to get this Essential Edition. Oh yeah, new sheets, new bits, new cards, a lot of different new things. Coming to Kickstarter around spring of 2025.

Allplay

They spent a good amount of talking about the games that they have coming out. Lure, Rivervalley Glassworks, and more that they’ve been talking about.

Things and Rings

It’s a party game where you’re trying to get rid of things into a Venn diagram in the right way. But only one person is going to know what way. This sounds like an interesting idea for a party game and is coming to retail soon. To me, this mean I hope I get to demo it at Gen Con and maybe pick it up there because in theory, it sounds like an interesting idea for a game.

Fairy

Allplay is bringing out a smaller line of games, even smaller than the Lure, Big Top and that size of box. Fairy is going to be a party game where you try and predict the next card coming up with hand gestures. To me, this doesn’t sound that fun, but it probably will be a good game for a lot of people and good goofy time when it is played.

Panda Panda

You’re trying to create a perfect hand of cards. At the start of the round if you have that hand that you need you say Panda Panda. Not much information on how you are building up or curating your hand, but it sounds like an interesting filler.

Rainbow

Another hand management game, this one sounds like a lot of fun to me. You’re playing out cards in sets and runs to get cards from the middle of the table. Those cards you get are going to be your scoring cards. But the twist is that the cards you play out, those are now going to be the next batch of scoring cards. I like this a lot as it gives me the feel of Scout and Mind Up! Two games that I’m having a lot of fun with.

Prey

Trick taking game alert, for me this one sounds interesting and again, I’ll reference Scout. In this one your hand goes two ways. You play out six tricks with the predator and then with prey. And you play out a hand of twelve cards, so it’s going to be knowing which direction to lean into. Do you want to spend your better cards as prey or predator to win tricks? And to win, you need to win an assigned number of tricks, so this sounds like an interesting puzzle.

Plus Partner Publishers

Allplay is helping out with a lot of companies for shipping and stuff like that. So they are talking about all of them as well. Definitely checkout their site as well because I think it sounds great.

Godot Games

Foxpaw

This game sounds like it has a lot going on. Prisoners dilemma and resource management and more. This definitely has a look and feel of something like Kiki’s, My Little Witch Academia, and Harry Potter. So you’re going to be trying to be the highest or best graded student from the sounds of it. And the artwork on the game looks great, as well. There are a lot of different locations on the board to take actions which should make for an interesting puzzle of a game. It seems like there is some take that in the game, which I’m never convinced about. It’ll be on Gamefound in January 2025.

Iello

King of Tokyo Duel

It’s a two player version. I like this idea a lot and it’s coming in Essen in October. This is a great thing in my opinion even if it isn’t a game that I’ll pick up. King of Tokyo out of the box is a multiplayer game, I’d probably say it’s at four minimum. So to get a two player version of the game, that sounds like a good plan. It’ll make it more accessible to more people who might not have that larger group. And the simplicity of King of Tokyo is a great selling point as well. This looks like more of a tug-o-war which is interesting.

Blue Orange

Next Station Paris

Another game in the next station game. This is a game that I really need to play as I think I have one of them in my collection. So expect me to try and get it to the table soon. Next Station Paris is going to continue in that line with obviously a new map of Paris and it’ll be available at Gen Con.

Link City

This is a cooperative city building game. You’re trying to expand the city but it’s about guessing where buildings should go and trying to figure out the plan of the person in charge. This sounds like an interesting party game or activity, but one that you might not want to take too seriously. Also it sounds like a solid option for people who don’t like traditional party games but want to come across better filler games. The game seems very loosey goosy, which I’m not sold about.

Shadow House Masquerade

This is a card bluffing who done it game. This again feels like it’s pretty light in terms of a game. This feels like a social deduction game and possible deduction as well. I need to know how much of it is deduction because I like deduction. But if it’s social deduction I’m not interested in that. So it’s one that I’ll look into. All of these Blue Orange games should be at Gen Con.

Odd Bird

Allplay did the video for them. A lot of it is about the games that are already out from Odd Bird. Feudum and Fled were the two games mentioned which I haven’t played either. So I can’t really comment on either of them. But good for Odd Bird getting the word out about their games and where to buy them at.

Wulfhorn

Rise of the Wastelands

This is going to be a 4x game that is currently on Kickstarter. The aesthetic of the game is amazing looking. You’re going to be exploring, exploiting, exterminating and whatever the last X is. This game definitely looks interesting to me but one that I’d love to get to try a demo of. It’s supposed to be a shorter 4x game, but how much shorter does that mean. And will it play only well at four or can it go down to two or not? I have a lot of questions but the game looks intriguing.

Till 5 Am

Qu’arz

This is a capture the flag game which sounds interesting. I like the pictures and again that aesthetic. It’s going to be competitive but I expect it’s going to be a very in your face game. That is what I expect from a capture the flag style game, which to me is going to be fun in some situations but not all of them. And that should tell you that I’m intrigued and interested in trying the game.

But I would 100% need to try the game before I’d buy it. I do see a lot of words on cards though, so I wouldn’t expect this to be a very light game. It’s going to be on Gamefound at the end of October.

Vesuvius Media

Jurassic Feud

This is going to be another game like Catapult Feud where you are trying to shoot things at the opponents pieces and knock them down. But now with dinosaurs. I have a ton of Catapult Feud and soon I’ll be ready to play it with my kid. But even as an adult it’s a fun game to play, so I’m curious to know if Jurassic Feud is going to add much more to the game. I hope not because the simplicity of this game is part of what makes it great. This is going to be on Kickstarter July 23^rd. This looks like it could be mixed pretty easily into Catapult Feud which I’m there for.

Benki Games

Pizzachef: The Next Generation

One that is already out. I don’t know about the game at all. So it is going to be one that I want to know about. And there is going to be a new version of the game, Pizza Chef: The Next Generation. I really don’t know what type of game it is, but I like the artwork on it.  And there is going to be an expansion for it as well. Pizza Chef: The Mean Chef. To me I’m worried that it’s going to be a take that game. Or at least the expansion might be. I’m not sure how I didn’t know about this one. But it sounds like a lot of fun potentially and one that I could like if there isn’t too much take that. And as they showed the game and there is definitely take that, but maybe not too much. This is coming to Kickstarter, the new version, August 5^th.

Phase Shift Games

Aetherspire

3D strategy games with a purpose. That’s the new thing that they are doing. They’ve done games like Dungeon Drop before. And they’ve done some abstract games before. But Aetherspire is going to be a 3D game where that 3D matters. It’s coming to crowdfunding, I believe Kickstarter in the fall of 2024. This is going to be a cooperative tower defense game where, obviously, it’s 3D and that is going to matter. But it’s not just tower defense you are going to be building it up as well. This looks like it could be fun, I hope it’s not just a gimmick, but even if it is, it’s a good looking gimmick even in prototype form.

CGE

Snatch It!

CGE is distributing it in English. This is going to be a game all about being frogs and gobbling up all sorts of tasty bugs. But you got to go fast before  others get them or steal them from you. This looks like a very light family style of game that will look perfect on a shelf at Target. Or it might be one that you give to the family who might not play board games but they have a kid who loves bugs and frogs just to introduce to them what non-Hasbro games are. I don’t think that this is going to be one for me, that said, I wouldn’t say no to trying it. First copies will be available at Gen Con.

Codenames App

Yup, there is going to be an app for it. If you love Codenames this is going to be a new way to play the game. I don’t love the game, so it’s not going to be for me. Unless it changes the game some way it’s probably not for me. It’s already out  for Czech players to test it out. And there is some single player content as well. There are some other new things as well which does make it slightly more interesting. It’s launching September 5^th. It’s just a one time purchase on it.

Fireside

Zoomies

This game has you being a dog walker. This looks like a pretty light game, which is how a lot of Fireside’s games have been. But not so simple that it’s just a kids game. I should say that the game seems simple more than light because you’re doing tile laying kind of like a Kingdomino but from your hand to optimize your point scoring. So this one looks interesting to me and it’s going to be at Gen Con. But it’ll be released this fall beyond Gen Con.

Rock Manor

Stardriven Gateway

I’ve already written about this one in the Feast. I’m going to be demoing at Gen Con as well so I’m super excited to try this one out.

Reprint Campaign for Seas of Havoc and First Mates Expansion

This is going to have another campaign coming up. So if you missed out on this one the first time, definitely check it out. This is another one that I own that I need to play. I in fact won  a copy of it through Board Game Revolution over on Facebook when it was on Kickstarter and it was the big Kickstarter version. So I really should get it to the table.

Disco Heist Laundry

You’re scheming kingpins and you need steal and launder your money. It is still in development at this point. But it has tableau building, area control and a 1980’s look. This one is also going to be able to be demoed at Gen Con. Though, it’s not one that I’ve signed up to demo.

Merchants of Magik Expansions

These are crowdfunded already. But with shipping happening now, they are going to be available to pick-up at Gen Con which is exciting. Another one of those roll and write games that I own and now I really need to get played.

Matagot

Kemet Rise of the Gods

This is an expansion to Kemet Blood and Sand. Kemet is not a game that I’ve played but I know it’s well liked. There are some interesting things about this game which I’m sure that I’d enjoy. But I’m not 100% sure it’s a game that I’ll get played that often. It’s coming to Gamefound on July 2^nd.

Kyoto no Neko

This is going to be a lighter game. And yes, it’s adorable for those wondering. It’s going to be taking on the role of small kittens roaming through the city of Kyoto. If you needed to sell me on the theme, say no more, that’s done the trick. You’re trying to be the first one to complete objectives of things that cats do. So the whole thing is going to be very cute and I’m hoping accessible to play.

With a theme like that, I don’t want much in terms of rules overhead. And the artwork is really cute on this game, and the kittens are adorable. It’s going to be an Essen Spiele release, and I’ll be seeking it out when I can.

Incredible Dream Studios

Callous’ Lab

This is going to be a game that debuts at Gen Con and is going to be available in retail in the later part of August. Though unless I’m mistaken, this is one that I already have that I bought through their site. So it is possible that it’ll be getting a wider release. And it’s part of the Kinfire Delve line. I probably don’t have that one but another two.

And to go along with that, a playmat for Kinfire Delve as well. The playmat looks great.

Broadway Games

Lifeboats

I’m pretty sure that this is a reprint of a game where you’re on lifeboats. Of course, not all can survive, so you need to try and keep your people on the boats. Because if they’re voted out they’ll drop into the water. This is going to be a pretty quick playing mean game. I don’t think it’s for my group, but if it’s for your group and you want to invite me over, I’d be cool with that. But I might be wrong and it might be fun if people don’t take it seriously. Possibly pre-order and pick-up at Gen Con, but I’m not sure.

This Bed is Mine

You are doing basically area control to see who can cover up as much of the bed as they can. This is going to be an abstract game, but not one that really is that interesting. I think a lot of people will like and enjoy it, but I tend not to like these very abstract games. Possibly pre-order and pick-up at Gen Con I’m not sure.

Floodgate

Hedge Mage

You’re a hedge mage building a hedge maze. This seems interesting, but not one that I’m going to be backing. It’s on Kickstarter right now. Probably one I’ll try and demo at Gen Con.

Landmarks

You’re trying to get your team to go to the right places, avoid traps and hopefully find, well, landmarks. This one looks interesting to me as well. The game play is simple but giving one word clues, I’ll be curious to see how it works as you try and help your teammates know where to navigate. This is going to be a Gen Con release, and Floodgate always has a lot of copies and fun around new releases like this one. It can cooperative or team versus team. And it’s a fast game as well, they are saying about 20 minutes.

Board and Dice

Minos

Board and Dice is knowing for doing a lot of big euro games. I am not the biggest euro game fan, so probably not for me. The aesthetic of the game is amazing. And it’s dice drafting  in it as well. There looks like there is a lot going on in it. Honestly, this is going to be one that I’m curious about the more they are talking about it. Can you build up the best society leading into bronze age. Plus , that dice drafting looks interesting. It’s going to be a Essen Spiel 2024 game.

Living Forest Duel

Nothing more on that one just know that it’s coming. If you’re a fan of Living Forest but maybe don’t think it works the best at two, that might be changing with this one.

IV Studio

Brink

It’s a worker placement set in the Moonrakers universe. There is a lot of stuff going on in the game. And it’s coming to Kickstarter in July on the 2^nd. I’m intrigued by it because IV Studios makes beautiful games, but I have yet to find a game from them that I really love. I know that isn’t a popular opinion on Mythic Mischief but that one wasn’t for me. Aesthetically, though IV Studio does make their games look so tempting. But I think that it’s going to be an easy pass for me on Kickstarter because, like most worker placement or euro games, I want to play them before I’d consider buying it.

Final Thoughts

This is a ton of things for sure announced on the Dice Tower Summer Spectacular. I am curious on a lot of them. Minos oddly enough is one of the ones that is towards the top for me. Some of that is because not too many of these announcements are those epic adventure sprawling games that I generally go towards. Of course, that said, there is Prey as well which to me looks like my type of jam. So I’m hoping that I’ll be able to demo a lot of these or spend more time finding out more about them because this certainly was very mega in terms of the size of the announcements.

Which is the one that stands out to you from the Dice Tower Summer Spectacular? Will you be trying to seek out any of them to demo or buy at Gen Con, or maybe be seeking out if you go to Essen Spiel, which I’d love to some year.

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Top 10 Wish List Board Games

The list of board games is 1 through 10 instead of the other way around. This is a mistake, but how I wrote it, so I didn’t want to redo it.

1. Violet and the Grumpy Nisse

This one just sounds fun. It’s a two player trick taking game. I really love the sound of this as the two players kind of fight against each other for the tricks and each of them has some unique things for it. Right now it’s hard to get. I believe it was on crowdfunding, but I’m not sure it’s ever gotten a wide release.

One of the people is playing Violet, a girl who is on a journey to meet a friendly troll. Unfortunately she is going through the woods of the nisse, Torech who is not happy with that idea. He wants to stop her and get her light to go out and make her travel as hard as possible. I just love the idea and sound of that as a thematic trick taking game.

2. Nova Aetas Renaissance

This one I get to blame on Meet Me At the Table. I think that’s the only one that I can blame on them. There are others that will definitely get blamed on other YouTube channels. This one looks like a blast as you take a team of characters up against the enemies. I get a real Assassin’s Creed vibe to it, but it’s not that, there is an Assassin’s Creed Game. I like the story of the game and I like the “fun” that it looks like.

One thing that I really dig is how the action point system works. You move your characters along a rondel determining how many of their actions that they use. Some of it might be used on movement and some on fighting. They have to go up to the point where the next enemy is. But you can potentially work it to get a couple of turns pretty quickly. For me that’s a really fun concept and twist on a dungeon crawler. But it’s also still a dungeon crawler, tactical game, when it comes down to it.

3. Rove

This one I won’t be able to write much on. It’s still coming to crowdfunding and I’m very curious about it. What I know , and I don’t know much about the game play, is that it’s from a designer who made The Crimson Scales, a fan made expansion for Gloomhaven. They then built out something much bigger, their own epic campaign and fantasy game. How it is going to work mechanically, I’m not sure. But I think that this was supposed to fund on Crowdfunding last year, now it’s supposed to be this year. But I like it when companies are fine delaying to get it right.

4. Euthia: Torment of Resurrection

I passed this one by twice on crowdfunding, I kind of regret it. But Euthia looks like a lot of fun. It’s a competitive, cooperative or solo sandbox RPG style game. Competitive I don’t care that much about. But cooperative and solo, I care about those. Plus it’s now been picked up by Steamforge so that increase the chances that I might pick it up. It’s not a cheap game, but then again how many campaign games are. For me this would go onto a list of campaign games that need to be played.

5. Aeon Trespass: Odyssey

Aeon Trespass: Odyssey is another campaign game and another huge game. I want to find this one, but like Euthia, I’ve passed on it twice. It’s again one that I really want to play. From what I can tell it’s an epic boss battling style of game more than a dungeon crawler. Do I need another huge game like this, I don’t. But it’s one of those that if I find it used, I’ll pick it up. Right now I want to just get Kingdom: Death Monster started up or Oathsworn in that boss battler area.

6. Mind Up!

I watched this one played on The Dice Tower, so another one that I can blame on a YouTube channel. Mind Up! Looked like a lot of fun because it’s just a little card game that does some simple things. All your doing is playing out cards to get other cards. Which one you get depends on where your number falls into the order of cards played. After that it’s all about set collection and seeing how many points you get for getting cards of the same color.

I really want to get this one because I see it as a small and fun filler game. I love to find games like that, and it doesn’t eat up too much space on my shelf which is a good thing. As I’ve talked about before with Sea Salt & Paper, if a game is a small box filler game, it tends to stick around in my collection.

7. Café Baras

A coffee shop with capybara’s, I’m in. It is super cute sounding and from KTBG (Kid’s Table Board Games) it is going to look very nice. See everything I said about Mind Up being a small filler game, that is the same with Café Baras. From what I can tell, this is a hand management game about fulfilling orders. Cards are multiuse, which is fun and offers some solid tension, and well, did I mention that there are capybaras in the game?

8. Witchcraft!

This is a successor to a game Resist. Resist is not one that I’ve played, but one that looked interesting as a solid experience. Witchcraft, however, just sounds more interesting to me. And it is a solo only game, which I like as well. This one I can also blame on The Dice Tower for me being interested.

The mechanisms also sound interesting. I like the sound of doing some deck building and hand management in the game. But also with push your luck elements to it. I want to know more about how this one plays. Because how it looks, both mechanisms and aesthetically look intriguing.

9. Ancient Knowledge

Another one for the list of blame it on the Dice Tower is Ancient Knowledge.  Ancient Knowledge is a civilization building game. That’s an area of board gaming that I’d love to play around in more. Ones where you are building up tech trees and advancing what you are doing. And how Zee and others on the Dice Tower talk about Ancient Knowledge it just sounds really good.

A lot of these types of games you build to doing more and more and more. That’s the case here, but as time passes, some knowledge is going to be lost to the past. So the engine that you are building is always changing and you need to plan for those changes as the knowledge disappears. I like the sound of that so much, because it requires a good adaptive strategy and things move on.

10. Hoplomachus: Remastered

Finally, a Chip Theory Game, and I debated if this one would be my #10 on the list. Hoplomachus: Victorum is a game that I own. And it’s a solo only game, I need to learn the rules and play it. It’s kind of a campaign like experience from Chip Theory Games. And generally, I like the other Chip Theory Games that I’ve played. I really like Burncycle. And I think that Too Many Bones offers a ton of fun and is one that I want to dig into more.

Hoplomachus is more of a battling game and a battling arena for head to head combat. And on Board Game Geek, most people do prefer it at two. But it offers solo play and I want to try it. Unlike the others, because I own Hoplomachus: Victorum, it’s less likely that I’ll pick this one.

Final Thoughts

Right now, who knows when I might buy one of these board games. It isn’t high on my list to add in new games to my collection. Some of the small ones, or Rove which is yet to go to crowdfunding, are the most likely. But I want the chance to checkout any and all of these if I can over the next few years. For some of them, though, that might be a little bit.

Of these board games, which is the most interesting to you? Which is the one that you’d buy first and add to your collection?

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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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How to Play Biblios

Biblios is played out over two phases. The first phase is the gift giving phase. In that, a player takes cards off of the deck one at a time. With each card they decide to add it either to their collection, an auction collection, or face up for the other players. Once they have done that for number of players plus one, doing each action once, or once per other player, the other players take face up cards in turn order. You go through all of the cards in the deck that time. This builds up the players hands.

There are three types of cards that you might get. Firstly there is money, that is used in phase two. Next up item cards, stuff for building out your library, that is for area control or area majority in the different colors. Finally there are churches. Those influence the value on the dice. The dice are victory points, all starting at three, for each area, color, of item. And the churches increase or decrease the value.

The next phase, is the auction phase. So all the cards that go into the auction pile are auctioned off one at a time with going around to different players leading the auction. If it is an item card or a church card you use money to bid. If it is a money card in the auction pile, you bid a number of cards to get it.

Then, after all that is done, all gifts given and cards auctioned, you check for majorities. The value on the cards totaled for each color determines who wins that color. Players take the die of the color that they won, and you add up the total on all the dice. Scoring at the end is fairly simple.

What I Don’t Like

One thing that is a neutral item for me, but I think is just okay is the giving of gifts. Now, the concept is very interesting. When do you pass on something good, maybe putting it into the auction pile, in hopes something better shows up? That is cool, and I’ll talk about that more. But there are a number of cards to go through, so the giving of gifts just takes a little bit. And the interest of it wains a bit over time.

I also think that the scoring might be a little bit too simple, or more the strategy for it. Now, with more players and a few cards out of the deck every game, it does mean you can’t math it out. I think the more i play it though, I’ll find that I want to be a bit more cutthroat with the game. Buying up cards that others might want or messing with the dice more. I just want something more for scoring, like a bonus of 3 points for the player with the most item cards, something like that. Or a point for every three coins left after the auction.

What I Like

On the flip side, I do like the gift giving part with the push your luck element. What card works be the best for you. At what point in time do you maybe throw away into the auction a really good card because you don’t want it, but you also don’t want to give it to someone for free. But once you do that, now you don’t have the ability to hide an even better card. It makes an interesting choice like in Grimm Masquerade, just more of it.

I also think that the auction is good. Mainly because different cards auction different ways. I like that you can put good coins into the pool, so a 3 coin shows up, I might bid two or three cards, maybe even four, to just get rid of cards for an item I won’t win. Or to get rid of 1 coins. But there is risk with getting ride of 1 coins because if you bid a 2 coin and only have a 3, you pay with the 3 and get no change.

Finally, I like that all the cards aren’t in the deck. Even at the max player count, some are still out though not many. That means that you can’t count cards, though it’d be impossible to get everything figure out. In a two player game, if no cards were out, you could count it all I guess during the auction phase easily enough.

Who Is It For?

Who is this for, probably anyone. The game is very simple when you get down to it. I could take this to my parents and get them playing it fast. And I think that while it is light, for heavier gamers it is going to make a good filler. Even for more casual players, this is a filler weight and length game.

Now, I talked that it takes a while to get all of the gifts out. It isn’t that it takes that long, really, it is more that it loses some of the interest as you go. After going through cards and picking how to disperse them, some players might flag on that a little bit. But then the game is so fast moving that it’ll get to the auction quickly.

It is also best at three players. So a good game for that play with parents sort of situation. Two and four are solid, but three is the sweet spot for me.

Biblios Final Thoughts

Biblios is a great little filler game. For me it worked quite well, even with the bit of slowness. It helps that not on your turn, you still get a card. That means you care what the other player(s) put down. And I like it with three because now two cards are out for the players. If you pick first, I hope you leave what I want. It creates a bit of tension that the game doesn’t have a ton of.

I do worry, though, about the staying power of the game. Is it going to go like Tsuro where I played it enough times that I moved on from it? I think that it might just after enough plays. Now, I am no where near that, and it is a lower player count. That means that I won’t use it as a filler as much as Tsuro, Criss Cross, or Second Chance.

There are also elements that remind me of Arboretum where only one person scores a color. However, Arboretum has more puzzling out what to do. And I think it is meaner because you know what everyone else has, or is at least going for, on the table. Biblios scratches some of that same itch while being much more accessible. And also less mean than Arboretum because of that.

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

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