Download - Mega Miniatures

Title: Pepper
Designer: Matt Mariani &
Traci Spooner
Type: Card
Manufacturer: Out of the Box
MSRP: $5.99
Pepper is a fast moving easy to
learn and easy to play card
game from Out of the Box Publishing
Inc. On the packaging it
says that the game is for ages
eight and up, but I would
broaden it some and say that
anyone that can play the game of “Crazy Eight” can easily master
this game (and my kids were well into playing card games
of that level by age five). The rules are easily readable in just a
few minutes and if you are anything like me, the rules are actually
so easy you might not understand what the point of the
game is. It’s not until you play your first game that things will
suddenly “click” into place. The game is for three to five players,
though I could easily see adding an extra player or two
without any real trouble. A complete game from start to finish
should only take five to ten minutes.
The card deck consists of fifty-two cards, but that is where the
similarities with a normal deck of playing cards ends. There
are five suits (or colors) in the deck, and each suit has two cards
of each of the numbers one through five. Two of the suits have
an extra card being a six (I know, those of you who are obsessed
with perfect symmetry will be losing sleep of this deck).
Also, the deck comes in a fitted tin carrying box and a card
sized folded set of rules. There is even an extra card that has an
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on both sides of it. I
thought the rules were clear enough not to generate questions,
but if you had any doubts, this should definitely clear up any of
the finer points for you.
As I mentioned in the beginning, the game is amazingly simple.
What I didn’t quite get from reading the rules was how the
strategy in the game might work (even reading the strategy tips
didn’t do it for me). But about three seconds into my first game
suddenly the lights came on. The idea is to get rid of all your
cards, but you only get to play when someone else plays on
you. I don’t what to spoil all the fun and tell you ALL the
rules, but getting rid of cards only when played on means that if
the players (assuming they are all trying to win) will most likely
be playing on the person who has the most cards. This of
course means that unless you can make a player pick up their
cards, then sooner or later all players will be down to one card
and the player whose turn it is has to be attentive enough to
pick the right person to play on (in a situation where a player
with one card plays on a player with only one card, then one of
the two always win). Since each player only has five cards, at
most only about half the deck is used so you can’t really count
cards very easily, but you can play the odds and remember what
a player has played so far and has picked up (if any). The deal
breakers are the sixes. There are only two in the deck, and they
can’t be beaten, and beat all the other cards (except each other
of course). So having one of these gems in your hand can
really increase your odds of winning (but by no means insures
it). The game moves fast, and you will probably want to play
26
again after your first, and second games and then before you
know it you have played half a dozen hands.
This game is a good family game and I think it is especially
good for younger kids and adults with younger kids you are
growing tired of playing “Crazy Eights” again and again (I remember
those days well). It’s also a good game where socialization
is the prime goal as the game is not overly competitive
and does not require three advanced degrees and ten years of
experience to master it.
Title: Coverup
Designer: Rudell Design
Type: Board / Counter
Manufacturer: Out of the Box
MSRP: $19.99
This cool little board
game is put out by Out
of the Box Publishing
Inc. and has really succeeded
in impressing
me. The game is a new
way to play “four in a
row” and is played between
two players. This
is another game where
learning the rules hardly
gives you the flavor, or
the depth, of the game.
The rules are exceedingly
simple and can be read in less time than it takes you to
read this review. Of course you may end up reading them more
than once thinking that you missed something. The game itself
is almost as quick as I think a very long game might last at most
ten of fifteen minutes. I would recommend reading the rules
once through, playing a practice game, and then if you feel it
necessary, read them through again (though after your practice
game you probably will no longer feel it necessary). The good
part of the game comes as you learn the strategy, and I will tell
you that after only a few games, I am already seeing that there
are several different levels of strategy (no pun intended), and I
don’t think I have scratched the surface yet. This is the most
intriguing game of this sort that I have seen in some time.
The board is a hard plastic molded board that has a five by five
array of spaces. Each space is a round depression that consists
of three concentric circles each at a different level. The playing
pieces consist of three different sized disks (and two colors, one
for each player). The size of the disk determines the level of
the space that the disk will reside when played. The disks are
also made out of hard polished plastic. For each player there
are a total of three large disks, four medium disks, and five
small disks. On the back side of the board, there is a nice compartment
where the disks can be stored, so the entire set is not
only very high quality, but also very convenient for storage and
travel. Obviously, the publisher did not skimp on this set as it
looks very nice and is rugged enough to last for quite some
time.
There is more than one cool innovation in this “four in a row”
variant. First, the larger disks (and only the larger disks) can be