Boardgame review – What’s Up

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What’s up is a memory game for two to four players from Strawberry Studios that plays in 15 to 20 minutes in which players must create collections of birds to become the winners.

There is little else to say, as thematically What’s Up could be anything, so there is no story background or mechanics to match the theme.

Production wise the game is actually very good. A very small box to fit in any pocket or bag (no… you are unlikely to fit his in your jeans’ pocket, don’t push it), it is sturdier than most larger boxes and has a really lovely cover with a very clear and just as lovely design at the bottom of the box.

Inside you will find 30 cards and a small rules booklet. The box is just over twice the size of the cards, which means the box could be even smaller and thus fit in your jeans (jeeezzz…. Stop going on with that!) but the size makes sense because, in line with the other game the studio has published, that means you have plenty of space for all the cards once you sleeve them –  and sleeve you should because lots of play they will see.

The illustrations on the cards are just amazing. Perfect for any and every children’s book, the cute little birds are just amazing to look at. The card material is not the thickest and it is not laminated in plastic. Although that is a bit of a shame, since I am ambassador for the “Let’s Save The Cards” movement and believe that leaving them without sleeves is card abuse and should be reported, I will say that it doesn’t matter because you will protect your cards with sleeves, won’t you? WON’T YOU?

Because if you don’t, you deserve what is coming to you. Probably faded cards and dog eared edges. And you don’t want that.

Anyway, it won’t happen because as soon as you see the lovely illustrations you will want to sleeve these cards.

Yes… I know I keep going on about it. So what? My review, my points!

The rule book follows the same sort of design and it is clear and with examples and even an F.A.Q. section with one question which answer is “No”. You’ll have to get the game to know the question. I don’t like spoilers.

Gameplay can be explained in less than a minute. Setup all the cards in a grid on the table. Each card has a number of birds from one to three in four different colours. The aim is to create collections of birds. A collection is a set of three cards – one with a bird, one with two and one with three – of the same colour.

In order to get the collections, players must flip one card and one alone. If the revealed number and/or colour of bird appears, they can be added to the collection. If not, the next player has a go.

That’s it.

Of course, the more attention to the cards flipped you pay, the easier it will be to remember where is that card that you needed. And thus the sooner you will get your collections.

The game ends either when a player has got four collections – one of each colour, when there are no more cards on the table or when the remaining cards can be placed on anyone’s collection.

The player with the most collections, or the one who got four collections first, wins the game.

Conclusion

As a mega quick game that can be played by people from ages 6 onward. Even though the game says 8+, I have seen children of 6 using mobile phones, iPads and build kingdoms in Minecraft, so I reckon they can handle such a simple game.

Replayability will depend on various things. Firstly how good a memory you have. Second, your age. Younger players (and I mean children) will get a lot more out of this game than adults. The fact is that, eventually, you will learn what the cards are and the game will lose it’s edge.

Don’t get me wrong, it will take a while before that happens, and considering this is a small game you won’t spend hours and hours playing, I can’t foresee that becoming a problem unless you specifically want to just memorise it in order to win every single time (I have seen people like that… they exist).

Although that is a problem that could easily be solved by having three copies of the game, shuffling the 90 cards together and then dealing thirty on the table, I really can’t see myself doing it because the game is OK as it is for my group and a couple of games between beers from time to time.

I certainly have no problem recommending this game. Quick, simple, fun, challenging enough to keep the whole family amused and looking really gorgeous, you can’t go wrong with this.

Highly recommended!

 

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