We did find the time to play a couple of easy games that we got from our Kickstarter backings that we both fun and enjoyable to play. Let’s dive right into the first one.
GIFT OF TULIPS (2022)
Gift of Tulips by Weird Giraffe Games was a Kickstarter project that when we backed we immediately went for two copies with the idea that it would be a Mother’s Day gift for my mom. Well, it did not arrive in time for Mother’s Day and we didn’t want to wait to play it until next year.
Was this game a hit for us or will the tulips just wither away?
BGG Description
In Gift of Tulips, tulip enthusiasts explore Amsterdam's tulip festival to build colorful bouquets, give tulips to others (scoring points in the process), and manipulate the value of the market.
The deck includes tulips of four colors, with values 2-4. Lay out four festival cards based on the player count, with these cards showing the number of points scored for giving away tulips, keeping tulips, and having a majority of certain colors at the end of the game. Draw two cards of different colors, and place them under the festival cards in first and second place based on their value. Deal two cards to each player; keep one card face up in front of you and add the other face down to the "secret festival" pile.
On a turn, draw a card from the deck and KEEP/GIVE/ADD it, then draw a second card and take one of the actions you didn't just take. The actions:
• KEEP: Place the card face up in front of you, scoring points for it if that color is currently ranked third or fourth in the festival.
• GIVE: Give the card to another player, who places it face up in front of themselves; you score "giving" points based on the current ranking of that color in the festival, plus points equal to the value of that tulip.
• ADD: Place the card face down in the secret festival or add it face up to the festival, altering the ranking of colors if needed so that the color with the highest sum is first, etc.
When the deck runs out, shuffle the cards in the secret festival, then draw five at random and add them face up to the festival, adjusting the ranking as needed. (If fewer than five cards are in the secret festival, add all of these cards to the festival.) For the three highest ranked colors in the festival, whoever has the most and secondmost cards in these colors scores points as listed on the festival cards; in games with five and six players, the player with the thirdmost cards of a color also scores points. In case of a tie for card count, the tied player with the higher value of a color wins that tie. Whoever has the most points wins.
Weight 2.0/5
A Little More Info
The above description really sums up how to setup and play the game from start to finish. Is it really that simple? Well, yeah, it actually is.
One other thing to note is that this is a 2-6 player game.
What we like about the game
We, meaning my wife and I and my mother, love how fast the game plays. Even on our first playthrough of the game we got done around the 20 minute mark which is what the publisher states is the game time.
With only three actions to choose from, the game is simple and easy to understand. The only catch is that you cannot pick the same action twice in a turn which we sometimes wish we could have done.
The scoring in the game is easy to understand as well. The symbols on the festival cards do help with reminding you what points you ean with each action.
Oh, another thing about the game is that the cards are beautiful. With only four different types of tulips, you are not overwhelmed by more cards than needed.
What we don’t like about the game
Even though they look nice, the wooden player pieces in the game are a bit awkward for the scoring cards. The tulip markers are great and fit the tracker card nicely, but the player tokens are too big for the scoring card.
The best remedy to this is either redo the current scoring card so the scoring spots are larger or to have a larger score card. We understand that having one size of cards in a game is wonderful, but this time two sizes would have been better.
SPOOK MANOR (2022)
Spook Manor is the separate “mini” game that goes along with Monsters on Board by Final Frontier Games whose Kickstarter campaign is currently still in fulfillment mode.
BGG Description
It’s been fifty years since Startleton was terrorized by monsters in motor carriages. They were never to be seen or heard of again, and so with time the monsters become nothing but a part of old folks tales and scary campfire stories.
Since then, Spook Manor has sat empty and fallen into disrepair. Recently, a local group of children decided to prove that “there are no such things as monsters ”and so they gathered up the courage to go on an adventure and explore the manor.
You overheard that a group of brave kids are planning to stay the night here soon—this is the perfect opportunity to restore Spook Manor to its former terrifying glory and show them just how wrong they are!
Over the course of the game, you will draft and place twenty Room cards in an effort to restore Spook Manor. Different kids have different fears, and scaring them properly will award more points. In addition to rebuilding the manor and scaring the kids, you’ll also want to invite lots of monsters! Spook Manor was once famous among monsters as a party house. Monsters are terrifying, sure, but they also need something to do, so make sure you’ve got plenty of entertainment lined up for them to get down to. The player who has the best plan (most VP) to restore Spook Manor at the end of the game, wins!
—description from the publisher
Weight 1.25/5
A Little More Info
The game play is simple enough to understand, after you play your first card (from the initial four), you pass the other three and then draw a new card from your stack. Repeat until you cannot draw another card.
A hint for doing well in the game is to have a well rounded manor built and to do you best to use all the Creeples, yes they are called Creeples, to leave your lobby empty.
What we like about the game
Just like with Gift of Tulips, this game does play quickly. Box says 30 minutes but if you know what you are doing it plays faster. Heck, we can’t even get a pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less anymore.
We love the look of the Creeples. Good quality and great vibrant colors. We love that Final Frontier Games decided to not use the standard game meeple for this game.
The instruction manual is easy to follow once you understand the symbols on the cards. The solo mode rules included in the game is also easy to follow with another variant to solo play include to make it more challenging.
What we don’t like about the game
Same with Gift of Tulips, the scoring card used for the Lighting Cards could be a little bigger to better fit the Creeple placement for scoring this section. Other than that, we have found no other fault in the game.
FINAL THOUGHTS
We thoroughly enjoyed both games this week. We love that both games can play up to six players and finish in 30 minutes or less. Both games do not take up a lot of table space either. Which is a huge plus especially at a higher player count.
We would recommend both games to be played with younger gamers as well since the rules are simple and easy to learn.
We were surprised to see that Gift of Tulips had a higher weight than Spook Manor. We thought it would be the other way around.
So who would like to "tip-toe through the tulips" on their way to creating their own spooky manor filled with Creeples?
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