Who Ordered Dominoes? (Pip)

Welcome to the next week of Theme Month.  This time we look into a variation of one of the most well-known games, Dominoes.  Now, there are more variations of Dominoes then there are of almost any game, such as Spinners, Forth-Two, and Threes and Fives, so I had to really narrow it down to the one I thought had the most impact on me, or the one I played more recently, Pip!



BACKGROUND:  Pip is a tile game published in 1991 by Puremco.  It is a variation on the game of dominoes, with a few new twists thrown in.

GAMEPLAY:  Just like in Dominoes, players start with a hand of 9 tiles (15 for 2 players), while the rest remain face-down. The turn plays along the chain of dominoes by matching the same number of dots, or pips, on both sides.  If a player cannot play, they draw from the stock pile, and then must either play a tile or pass to the next player clockwise.

SPECIAL:  Unlike most Dominoes, there are 5 special tiles, which have effects when played, but which still must be matched:

• Pip: Represented by a P with 3 arrows on the bottom, is a wild and can represent any tile.
• S: Skip the next player
• R: Reverses play order
• A: Gives that player an additional turn.
• D:  The next player draws a tile from the stock pile. If there's none in the stock pile, the player using the D tile passes a tile from their hand to the next player.

STARTING:  The game starts by any player first playing either the double 1 tile, or the double "Pip" tile, which turns into double ones.  If neither is drawn, one player draws from the stock, and the next player draws until a tile can be placed.  The next player then starts with either a 1 or a pip horizontal to the tile.  The next players then play on either the un-played side of the original domino, or on the previously played domino.  Players are free to play on either side of any domino, or on the top and bottom of the starting tile once both sides of the starting tile have had play.

DOUBLES:  When a Double is played, it is placed vertical to the tile.  Then, unless it is the starting tile, the next three plays must be played on the double using either a corresponding number tile or a wild-pip tile, until it makes a three tile path, which any player may play on.

WINNING:  The round is over when any player runs out of tiles in their hand, or when no player can place a tile from his hand, and the stock pile has been depleted, called blocked.  Players then score the tiles in their hand, with Pips being their number, Specials (besides Pip) worth 25, single Pips worth 20, and double Pips worth 50.  If a player ended with 0 tiles in hand, they score -10 points, to a minimum score of 0. The next round starts with either a double Pip or double 2, with the starting tile being the round number.  The player with the lowest score at the end of the 9th round wins.

CONCLUSION:  Pip is a Dominoes game.  Shocking, I know, but let me explain what I mean.  At the end of the day, even with it's special center piece holder, or its weird tiles, or even its ability to play more tiles, it is Dominoes.  Sure, it may look flashier, but unlike the other games I've reviewed this month, there's not a lot that changes it from just playing Dominoes.  Now, does that mean that you shouldn't play it, that it's just the same game with another skin, like most 'versions' of Monopoly?  Not necessarily.  While it is true that Pip is just Dominoes, it does have enough to be surprising, to stand out that it really is worth a look.  Just, if you want to try it, expect it to be Dominoes, and nothing else.

Sorry, Not Sorry (Jokers and Marbles)

Welcome back to Flipping the Table: classics with a twist.  Tonight we'll be looking at the board/card combination game Jokers and Marbles, and then at 5, I will put on a purple thing and dance around.  At 6 o'clock with the news, then at 9, 4 hours of utter black paired with Gregorian chanting.  Ladies and Gentlemen, the game.

BACKGROUND: Jokers and Marbles is a board and card game for 3-8 players.  Originally published sometime in the 1970's, it shares features with Aggrevation and Sorry.  Players move their characters from their start around the board.

GAMEPLAY:  Each player starts with 5 marbles in their home and a hand of 5 cards.  Each turn, the player draws and plays a card.  Players must play a card if they are able, and discard one if they cannot.  Players may never have their pawns pass another pawn they control, but other players pawns are fine.



MOVEMENT:  Aces and face cards (J,Q,K) allows the player to move out of their start.  Ace through 6 moves 1 through 6 spaces, respectively.  7 can move one pawn forward, or split the movement between two pawns to total 7 spaces moved.  8 moves backwards, 9 splits movement like 7, but moves one pawn backwards, and one forwards.  10 and face cards also allow you to move forward 10, and Jokers swap spaces between the turn players pawn and another players.  If a pawn is swapped from Start, however, that other players pawn is sent back to their Start.

TEAMS:  There is also a team mode.  Play normally, with players only worrying about their pawns.  The catch is once a player gets all their pawns to their Home, they now start moving their teammates pawns with their cards.

WINNING:  Just like Sorry, players win by getting their pieces into the Home first, but make sure to be accurate, you can't pass your own pieces in Home either.

CONCLUSION:  Jokers and Marbles has a lot of really strong points going for it, especially when compared to its counterpart, Sorry.  By having a hand, customizable boards to fit up to 8 players, and the ability to play with teammates, their are a lot of options and ways to strategize here.  I do have two points of contention, however.  The first is that if you truly dislike Sorry, I wouldn't hold much hope here, but you should still give it a chance to see just how different it is.  The second is the inability to pass pawns.  Now, while I know the other games do that too, I still think it reduces your ability to play cards, and therefore your options decrease.  Even with that said, I think it's a solid game, and a great replacement to the same game nights.

Own the Mushroom Kingdom (Monopoly Gamer)

Oh, hello!  This week we look at both this month's theme, and a previous theme.  By coming both Video Games and Oldies with a Twist, we get the all-powerful Gamer Monopoly!  



BACKGROUND:  Gamer Monopoly is a board game for 2-4 players, and was produced in 2017 by Hasbro and Nintendo.  Players take control of Mario and his friends to run around the board a la Monopoly, and fight the bosses, including King Koopa AKA Bowser.

GAMEPLAY:  Like traditional Monopoly, you roll and move your character from the start to buy property with Gold Coins, or other effects based on the board space.  However, players now roll both the regular movement six sided die, and the ability die, which gives them an effect according to the character card.



PROPERTIES:  Landing on a property still requires the player to pay the owner the amount indicated on the card.  Another unique feature is the lack of hotels and mortgage.  Instead of hotels, if a player lands on another players property, they are merely paid double. If a player runs out of coins, they either sell property back to the bank or to other players for a price.  If a player has neither coins nor property, they lose, and are removed from the game.

BOSSES:  Once a player lands on or passes GO, that player flips a Boss card and may fight the Boss by paying its roll cost.  If the player does not meet or beat the number, they lose and pass the opportunity to fight the boss to the next player.  If any player does manage to beat or hit the number, they collect the Boss card.  However, if all players pass and no one manages to beat the Boss, the Boss is removed from the game.

WINNING:  Each property and Boss card has a point value at the end.  When Bowser is either defeated or flees, the game is over.  Players total up their point values on the cards, with every 5 coins worth 10 points.  The winner is the player with the most points at the end, with ties going to the player with more property.

CONCLUSION:  I hate Monopoly.  That might seem like rather harsh thing to say, but if there is a game I dislike over all games, it's Monopoly.  It's long, dull, and uninteresting.  So, when Monopoly Gamer came out, I was...skeptical.  After all, almost all other versions of Mario are the same with a new skin, so why should this one be different.  There's even a previous Monopoly Super Mario Bros.  After playing it, I can say that this version of Mario is enjoyable.  There's a set gameplay end, so I never felt like my time was wasted waiting for 1 player to just finally win with their massive lead.  The elimination rule is also helpful, as is the lack of punishing players with mortgages and hotels.  If there's one problem I have, it's that, in the end, it's still Monopoly.  Sure, it's been vastly improved, but Monopoly is Monopoly, warts and all.  It's still unbalanced, unfair, with uninspired gameplay.  Still, if you are a video gamer turned board gamer, just recognize the theme, or you don't and this sounds good, give it a play.  This is one game that surpasses its brothers by a large degree.

Not One, But Two (DOS)

Welcome back to theme month!  This months going to be a little different, so hang on to your butts!  The theme this October is Classics with a Twist.  We'll look at variations of games I normally wouldn't review.  The point of this blog is to get people into games that aren't seen in everyone's closet.  This month, I hope that people can find fun alternatives to those games, and the first one is Dos, the sequel to Uno.



BACKGROUND:  Dos is a card game published in 2018 as a variation on the classic Uno, designed by Nick Hayes for 2-4 players.

GAMEPLAY:  Dos starts with 2 cards in the "center row", rather than just 1 pile.  On their turn, players match either one or both cards in their hand to the cards in the center.  Cards can be matched by Number, with any color, or by Addition, which requires two cards that add up to the top card.  Wild Dos cards count as any colored 2, and # cards count as any number of that color

BONUS:  If a player manages to match both number and color, they play an additional card into the center row.  If a players plays two cards that add up to a number and both match the color, they play a card in the center and all other players draw an additional card.



WINNING:  The first player to get rid of all the cards in their hand wins the round and all point values in each players hand.  Similar to Uno, a player must call Dos when they have exactly 2 cards in their hand, or draw 2 cards as a penalty if another player calls it out on them.

CONCLUSION:  Dos is obviously an attempt to capitalize on Uno's success, like SkipBo or It Came To Pass.  However, the complexity in the rules has changed.  Complex rules, however, do not a good board game make.  The rules feel unnecessarily complicated, especially if they wanted to evoke a game like Uno.  I applaud Mattel for trying something different, and expanding what they're known for, but really, Dos just feels like a flop.  Uno has stayed a staple of card games for a reason, it's simple to learn even at a young age, but Dos isn't, and I don't expect many to enjoy this once-off game.