roll and move – The Mitcheners

I’ve been called an old soul on occasion, and I’m not even mad about it. From books to music to movies, I will pick “classic” over “modern” 9 times out of 10. Apparently, enjoying really old games is wrapped up in my old soul vibe. Today’s featured game is Pit, and it’s probably the “oldest” game we own. It was first published 120 years ago!

I remember playing Pit often as a kid. I’ll always have a soft spot for the 1973 edition my family owned, complete with its mustard-colored artwork and bright orange bell. I imagine I drove my parents batty dinging that bell every chance I’d get.

Scott and I have tried to be intentional this year about making Thursday game nights a priority for the fam. While I wouldn’t characterize my children as old souls, they do enjoy a good game of Pit. To up the ante last Thursday, I offered them an added incentive: whipped cream! Whoever won each round got a shot of whipped cream straight from the can. Yes, I bribe my children with sweets and junk food.

Back to the game. Pit is a set-collection game that relies heavily on your ability to negotiate in a chaotic, real-time environment. Think Wall Street. In my opinion, the more people that play, the better the game. Generally, I enjoy peace and quiet, but tranquility is not the name of this game. If you’ve got young kids you put to bed early, I’d advise choosing something else to play, because this.gets.loud.

You can check out some more Pit details below. Prepare to embrace the chaos, and enjoy some time with your friends and family!

Number of Players: 3-8

Age: 7+

Playing Time: 30-60 minutes

Object: Be the first person to “corner the market”: collect all 9 cards of the commodity of your choosing.

Rules Rundown: Here’s a link to a digital copy of the rules.

Deal out the deck to the players. Use only the number of commodities as there are players. (If 4 people play, choose 4 commodities. If 7 people play, use all 7 commodities.) Players’ hands will not be even if you choose to play with the “Bull” card and the “Bear” card. After organizing your cards, decide which commodity you will attempt to collect. (You can change your mind at any point during play and choose to go for a different commodity.)

Since I already have 3 wheat (plus the bull), I’ll probably start by going for wheat. I only need 5 more!

When the dealer strikes the bell, the exchange is open. Players can simultaneously begin trading anywhere between 1 and 4 commodities – just make sure that all cards in that trade are of the same commodity. Once you have all 9 cards, you ring the bell, and you’ve won! Easy peasy!

Count up your points. If you collected all 9 oats cards, for example, you’ve gained 60 points; if you win with wheat, you’ve gained 100 points. The first player to 500 wins the game.

The Bull and Bear are special cards that add a bit of extra fun to the madness. The Bull acts as a Wild of sorts. If you have 8 cards of one commodity plus the Bull, you can still corner the market (i.e., a “Bull corner”). If you have all 9 cards of a commodity plus the Bull, you can call a “Double Bull corner” and double the score of the commodity collected.

The Bear is never helpful. Get rid of that thing as quickly as possible! However, if you have the Bear OR the Bull in hand when someone else calls “Corner,” you must subtract 20 points from your score.

Ratings:
Ang – 7/10
Noah – 7/10
Leyton – 8/10
Caleigh – 10/10

Buy Pit on Amazon!

In recent years, I’ve had this low-key desire to someday become a spy. (Hah! I think I’ve read too many WWII novels or something.) When I stop to think about it, I suppose the spy life isn’t truly for me. But taking on another identity sounds so adventurous and exciting, doesn’t it?

Today’s review is all about Spy Alley! This simple deduction game gives me the opportunity to try out my bluffing skills on my kids at a low-stakes level; no government agencies are counting on me to deliver an important package to a dead drop under the cover of darkness.

My mother-in-law bought us this game for Christmas years ago. I had never heard of it and was a little skeptical that we would get much play time out of it, but it has truly been a light, fun addition to our game collection! These last two weeks, the boys have brought it out multiple times, and they’ve even taught some friends how to play.

Spy Alley definitely has Monopoly vibes. Thankfully, it is MUCH shorter than a typical Monopoly game, and you get the added fun of bluffing/trying to deduce the identities of the other players. This doesn’t have super high ratings on BGG (5.7 avg), but it has most certainly become a Mitchener family fave.

For me, there is one “con” in this game. It’s entirely possible to get eliminated fairly early if someone makes a lucky guess about your identity. If the rest of the game goes long, any eliminated players must obviously wait to start another round. My kids have generally found that it’s worth the wait!

Number of Players: 2-6

Age: 8+

Playing Time: 30ish minutes

Object: Take on a secret identity, collect the necessary items for your country, and make it to your embassy before you are discovered by the other players.

Rules Rundown: Here’s a link to a digital copy of the official rules.

Deal a secret identity card out to each player. Pass out scorecards and $10 times the number of players. Simply roll the die and move your character the correct number of spaces. You can buy any item you land on (or win a free gift) in order to collect the password, disguise, code book, and key for your country. Each time you pass go, you collect $15.

The point of the game is to buy “extra” items to throw opponents off your scent. For example, if you are Russian, you may want to buy German and American items as well, placing them on your scorecard in order to keep your identity hidden.

At any point, instead of taking your turn, you can try to guess an opponent’s identity. If you guess correctly, your opponent is out of the game, and you collect all of his or her money, cards, and scorecard items. In addition, you have an important decision to make: will you take on your opponent’s identity to try to throw everyone off, or will you stick with your original identity?

If you try to guess an opponent’s identity and you guess incorrectly, unfortunately you are out of the game. There is one exception to this immediate elimination. If you land on the Spy Eliminator Space, you receive a “free guess” on any player who is also in Spy Alley. If you guess wrong, there is no penalty!

Ratings:
Scott – 8/10
Ang – 8/10
Noah – 10/10
Leyton – 8/10

Buy Spy Alley

The Mitcheners

Tag: roll and move

Pit: A Tabletop Tales Review

Spy Alley: A Tabletop Tales Review