This series of games by Perplext sees several different games all designed to each fit into a box the size of a pack of gum. From trick takers to betting games, kingdom builders to pattern matching, and set collection to social deduction, there's sure to be something that tickles your fancy!
We picked up 4 of the 24 games in the series to see just how differently they play and what level of strategy these games really have to offer.
First Impressions
Wow! These games really are tiny! Even with the most ridiculous sized pockets many female clothing offers, I'm certain you could still fit one of these games in to one, they really are the size of a pack of gum! With each box stuffed full of cards, I was initially concerned about damaging the packaging trying to get the cards out but I was very impressed at the thought and care that clearly went into designing the packaging as the top folds out further to allow you to easily pull the cards out. The card quality seems to be the same throughout all the games and is nice and sturdy, making it feel as though they will have a decent lifespan even if they get lots of play. However, if you enjoy sleeving your cards, this won't be possible with these games! Despite their small size, the games that do have writing on the cards are easy enough to read and have a nice colour contrast to their background. The rules sheets on the other hand are quite small writing, but well written nonetheless! (and even include diagrams to help explain what they mean!)
Game Play Comparison
We tried out 3 of the 4 games we picked up, as the 4th one requires 3 players minimum and we've not had the chance to playtest these games with more than the 2 of us yet! However, all 3 games played very differently and had completely different mechanics. Despite all being tiny box games from the same designer and using the same size and shape of cards, it was easy to forget just how small a box they come in and that 1 guy designed them all!
Sly is all about saving chickens from the foxes and outwitting your opponents to score the most points. You each have 7 cards in hand which includes 6 numbered chickens (1-6) and 1 fox. You'll play cards face down around a hen house and on a players turn, instead of playing a card, they can expose a card that they think is a fox or reveal a number of cards from around the hen house equal to the number of players. Doing these actions will allow you to save or eat chickens, take out foxes and start building your score pile ready for game end. Once a player gets down to their last card (or the hen house is full of safe chickens) the game ends, add up your scores and the player with the most points wins!
Win is a horse racing and betting game where 6 horses will race and 2-4 players will take turns moving horses based on the cards played, place bets on the horses, pick up some extra cash and use concession stands to advance or stall the horses. It's played over several rounds until 3 of the horses cross the finish line, bets are then cashed and the player with the most money wins!
Far is a kingdom builder that uses the players perspective to calculate scores. Everyone is working on expanding the same kingdom and with 4 terrain types, you'll need to plan your card placement carefully. There are only ever 2 cards to choose from, besides your king and queen and on your turn you will pick a card and play it. Cards cannot overlap and must expand a terrain type already out. When it comes to scoring though, you'll only score if you can see the terrain from your table edge without another terrain type obstructing your view to it and as long as there are no more than 5 cards forming the terrain. You'll score extra points for your royals and the player with the most points wins.
Lastly Mad, the 3-4 player game, is a trick taking game with a difference! You're trying to win tricks in the usual way but instead of scoring points from the number of tricks won, you're trying to score the least points by neutralising the 4 elements. Some tricks will be played with positive forces whilst other are played with negative forces and you'll need to balance the tricks you win to ensure each of the 4 elements in your lab are as near to 0 as possible! The player with the least points at the end is the winner.
Pros and Cons
As you can see these are all very different games and all had a surprising amount of strategy behind them. Even the kingdom builder 'Far' really got you thinking about the best placement not only for yourself but also to jeopardise your opponent. 'Win' despite being a bidding game primarily, really got us thinking about which action we should take between runs and which horses we wanted to advance and which bets would be best to place, I even sacrificed one of my bets as I knew my opponent would get more cash from that horse finishing than I would! Lastly, 'Sly' has elements of social deduction coupled with risk taking and push your luck elements. The combination of mechanics involved, made what was seemingly a fairly simple game, rather tactical and really brought out the theming of the game.
You could definitely buy several of these games and put them in your pocket(s) and be able to have a game on hand that several different people would enjoy and also be able to play several different games whilst out and about. I can see them easily getting lost, however at such a low pricepoint for the amount of strategy and variation you can get from them, I doesn't really matter as they are easily replaceable. As I mentioned earlier, if you like sleeving your cards, then you'll need to think again with these card games as the size and lack of additional space in the box make this an impossible option.
Final Verdict
Overall, I was really impressed by these games, they've left me wanting to get my hands on more from the series as they are so versatile and easy to carry around with you whilst also providing the depth and engagement of a much larger game. I never would have expected so much from such a small box!
In conclusion, we would rate this series of games a 9.5/10
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