Fairy is a small box card game where players will be trying to predict the next card to come off of the charm deck by making hand gestures before the card is flipped. Safer bets are more likely to score you some points but riskier ones could offer some big scores. Will this game flutter to new heights in our books, find out in this article.
This game first came to my attention while researching new games. The initial thing that drew me to it was the name of the game and wondered how it incorporated the theme and then I noticed it was by All Play so thought I would give it a try as I like a lot of their games.
First Impressions
Upon receiving the game I found the artwork a little uninspiring it didn't really jump out at me and catch my attention. I did however like the colour and font used for the text as it made it easy to read. The reverse of the box in my opinion was much better giving you examples of the cards and a nice informative graphic about what you can sort of expect from the game. I also liked the colour choices for the background and font for the statistics box of how long the game plays, the number of players and age bracket as it was very easy to read at a glance. Inside the box the cards fitted nicely with the score card and deck of cards having enough space above them to remove them from the box without damaging the cards. The cards continued the same style artwork on the front of the box throughout the rest of the game components.
Game Play Overview
During a game of Fairy you will be attempting to predict the next card to appear from the charm deck. The aim is to be the first play to 24 points or to have the most points by the time the 3rd fairy comes out of the deck. Every time you guess the next card correctly you will earn points.
The game is simple to set up with each player receiving a score card which they will use with their thumb to track points and the deck is shuffled and placed in the centre of the table. You then flip over the top card of the deck to start a discard pile which will tell you what you are going to be guessing against in the first round.
Once setup is complete you are ready to start playing. The game is played over several turns with all players completing the following 3 steps in order simultaneously; Guess, Reveal and Score. In the guess step one player will count to 3 and then all players reveal a hand gesture to make a guess about the next card. To say it will be higher point upward, if you think it will be lower point downwards, if you think it will be the same suit point sideways and if you think the next card will be a fairy make a grab gesture. Then after everyone has guessed, the card is revealed from the top of the deck and is compared to the top card of the discard pile. For each player that is correct with their guess they receive points for their guess while if they were wrong they lose 1 point. Each action infers its own amount of points depending on how risky the guess is. Higher or Lower guesses that are right score 2 points, same suit guesses are worth 4 points and guesses of a fairy that are correct are worth 7 points.
The game ends when one of two end game triggers are met, either the 3rd fairy is drawn from the deck or a player has reached 24 points on their score card resulting in an automatic win for that player. If the game ends from 3 fairies being revealed the player with the most points is the winner.
Pros and Cons
In this game I found that there were several positives with it such as how accessible it is, the ease of set up and how easy it is to teach. One of my main negatives during the game was the score card in hand, as I found this really fiddly and it was easy to lose the space you were marking with your thumb as you make gestures and play the game. This could have been easily resolved by either including a marker to score points or to using two cards like Star Realms to track points. Even though it had this issue this did not detract too much from the game for me as the games are quick and fast paced allowing you to get in multiple games. I also really liked how they kept the rules simple yet effective with a good incentive to push your luck.
Final Verdict
Overall, I quite liked this game and due to its size and ease to teach I can see it coming with me for social get togethers. This game is the perfect weight of game to teach to new gamers or people who are not necessarily into the hobby as it is lightweight and quick. Another one that is a good game due to its accessibility is 13 Beavers. Though if you are more of a veteran gamer or play games reasonably regularly with like minded people I would advise against picking up this push your luck style game. Some games that I think you would enjoy more are Lure and Into the Blue as there is a little more depth to the game.
In conclusion, we would rate this game a 7.8/10
You can find out more about the game and pick up your own copy at:
If you are interested in finding out more about the other games in this article you can find them below:
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