If you follow us on Twitter, you know that we have all kinds of gamers show up to our Gumbo game nights. Some of our friends come to play deep strategy games that take two or three hours to develop. Some gamers are looking for complete immersion in highly thematic games. And some come just looking to play the newest hotness on BGG.
But there is one common trait — at the start and end of the night, we typically like to play a fast moving game that can be taught quickly and scales well as people drop in and out.
Do your game groups like bluffing games that play quickly? Do you enjoy push your luck games where the players can wield unique special powers? We do, and we found a great game to add to any game night….Click Click Boom by Thing 12 games.
Click Click Boom — coming out on Kickstarter June 6 — is billed as a “Bluffing Game of Russian Roulette”. It was designed by Sean Epperson with art from Diony Cook Rouse. (You may recall Thing 12 Games from their indie hit, Dice of Crowns, designed by Sean and Brander “Badger” Roullett.) This is essentially a card game with special powers for each player that plays over three rounds in about a half hour.
COMPONENTS:
We were provided a reviewer’s version of the game, and the components, art, text and rule were not finalized yet. However, the art we saw on the cards was whimsical and serviceable. The game consists of 36 playing cards of three types: two with “clicks” (where your character survives) with different coin events and one with “boom” (which knocks your character out of the round.) The game also comes with unique character power cards, a double sided turn card, and 78 plastic coins.
GAMEPLAY:
The rules are simple and easy to teach. Imagine Hanabi but in a competitive, bluffing, knock-each-other-out implementation and that’s close to what Click Click Boom is. Each player is given a mini-deck of three “Click: Pay 1 coin” cards; two Click: 2 coins stolen” cards, a “Boom” card, your character (which stays face up until you are knocked out by playing a boom card, and an optional power card (which changes the rules of the game in each player’s favor.) Each player starts with 13 coins.
Players shuffle the cards, and then fan them out in front of them with the fronts of the cards facing the other players. No one is allowed during the round to look at their cards, so the information you will get from the other players is…well…suspect at best and malicious at worst!
The object? Survive the round and score some coins! After three rounds, the player with the most money wins.
After each player antes up, the first phase of the game, the “Ask” phase, takes place. Each player asks the player on their left, and then the player on the right (this rotates depending on the front of the double sided turn card) which card they should play. The player was was asked must choose a card, but does not have to answer any questions, although a skilled player will know what to say and when.
Once all players have asked the players to their left and right, the selected cards are placed face down on the table, and then at the same time, all players reveal ONE of the two cards. That’s right…you have less than a minute to decide which of your “friends” is being friendly and helpful, and which one is just trying to blow you up.
If a player reveals a click card, then that player stays in the game and does the action on the card, either paying one coin to the pot at the center of the table, or giving two coins to the player on the left or right depending on which card you chose. If a player reveals a “boom” card — well, better luck next time, pardner.
All players that survive then pass a FACE DOWN card to the player on the left or right, depending upon the orientation of the turn card, all without looking at any of the cards. That is an excellent time for you to pass a boom card to your “friend”, but expect the same friendly treatment in return!
This continues until one player is left or all players have only one card. The loot is divided, and another round begins with all players back in the game and anteing into the pot again (one coin for losers, two coins for the winner).
The designer recommends that the first round be played without special powers, but we enjoyed the rollicking chaos that ensues with the special powers. Some of these are more over powered than others, but that also puts a big fat target on the back of any player with a powerful card. Plus, each card can only be played once per round, and is turned over once played to signify, which equals out the powers.
WHY SHOULD YOU PLAY CLICK CLICK BOOM?
As gamers, we are all looking for games that can be introduced to newcomers to the hobby that still give experienced gamers some depth of play. Plus, every game night needs a good game that can play 3-6 players even if players are joining in as they walk in. Click Click Boom fits both bills. The rules are very simple, yet there is a lot of strategy in deciding when to use your special power, deciding when to help someone or finish them off, and looking at all of the cards in all of the players’ hands to guess at whether people are helping or hurting you.
My favorite memories at game night involve laughter, and Click Click Boom provides it in spades. The very first time we saw two boom cards presented by one of the players in their fanned out hands was an absolute laugh-out-loud moment that lasted for a long time. The first time a trusted player turns on you and convinces you to choose a “boom” card is another bust your gut moment that still resonates in my mind.
Yes, there are some “mean” elements in this game, and even the dreaded “player elimination”, but the turns go by very quickly. Each player takes turns helping and hurting neighbors which mitigates the meanness, and the downtime out of the game when you choose a “boom” card is very short. If you like Dead Last, you will probably enjoy this game, too, and if you thought Dead Last was a little too mean spirited but like the concept of bluffing games and hidden information, then this game will scratch that itch without creating the hidden alliances that sometimes break down other games in this category.
How mean do you like your bluffing, take that games? Leave a comment below or post in Twitter. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Until next time, Laissez les bon temps rouler!
— B.J.
