OK, so I have decided to go a bit on a tangent and write a review of a few games I have been playing lately. The first of these games is the wonderful Toppo, which I picked up from the Price Drops! bin at Infinity Games UK. Excellent website for buying games, one of the three places I use of late to buy my games, the other two being Games Lore and BattleQuest Games.
The basics first: Toppo is a card game for 2 to 4 players. The deck consists of 150 cards. Each card has two properties: colour and shape. There are five colours and five shapes which can appear in any combination on the cards. The colours are red, yellow, white, green, and blue; the shapes are two wavy lines, a circle, a square, a capital "I" (or "H" depending on who you ask) and a plus sign. So far so good. Every player gets dealt a hand of 33 cards that form their own personal deck. The rest of the deck gets placed on the side and three cards get drawn from it and placed face up in the middle of the table. The aim of the game is to be the first player to have 9 or less cards in his drawing deck. Now the fun starts. On the count of three (or any other arrangement for determining start of play) the players will simultaneously draw three cards from their deck and put them face up in front of them. Now there are two things that can happen:
1. All three cards in front of a player match the cards on the table either in shape or colour. The player must put these three cards in the same order as they are on the table and then calls "Top". This stops play immediately forcing the other players to put the cards they had on the table at the bottom of their deck. The player then shows how his cards match those on the table in either shape or colour and places them on top of the face up cards. These are now the new cards to match.
Example: the cards on the table are a "green circle", a "blue square", and a "white squiggle" (also known as "two wavy lines") The player draws a "green circle", a "blue squiggle" and a "red square". The player swaps the place of the blue and red cards. Now he has a match of shape and colour (green circle-green circle), a match of shape (blue square-red square), and a match of shape again (white squiggle-blue squiggle). He calls "Top" and all players stop play. He places his three cards on top of the face up cards on the centre of the table.
2. The three cards in front of the player do not match the cards on the table, but he has an exact shape and colour match with the face up cards. He simply places his card(s) on top of the card it exactly matches, gathers the rest of his cards and continues game.
Example: The three cards on the top are a "green circle" a "red square" and a "blue squiggle." The player has drawn a "green circle" a "red squiggle" and a "yellow circle." Even though there is a clour match with the red card, it is not an exact match. The yellow circle matches the green circle in shape, but not colour. However, the green circle that was drawn is an exact macth and can therefore be placed on top of the face up card in the middle of the table. The other cards get picked up and placed at the bottom of the player's drawing deck.
Once a player has nine or less cards left in his drawing deck, he calls "Toppo", shows the other players the fact that he has nine or less cards left and therefore wins the round.
Of course, things are not all that simple. There are penalties to be had. If a player calls Top but does not have a match to the three cards in the middle or his cards are not in the right order, then the cards have to be scooped up and placed back in the player's deck together with five penalty cards drawn from the left over deck. The same applies to the player that calls Toppo but has more than nine cards in their hand.
So, what do I think of this game?
I believe it is a great filler for playing in between longer games. It is very simple and easy to explain and play. Even younger kids can play it (with a helping hand from a grown-up). There is no problem with colour blindness as there is a pattern covering the shapes as well as the colours.
Do I recommend buying it?
I would definitely say yes, unless you are the kind of player that wants to play "obliterate your enemy" games, in which case this is not the game for you.
Did I enjoy playing it?
This is the kind of game I suggest bringing out everytime I can. Specially after a long game has just been finished and people are looking for something light as an interlude.
The basics first: Toppo is a card game for 2 to 4 players. The deck consists of 150 cards. Each card has two properties: colour and shape. There are five colours and five shapes which can appear in any combination on the cards. The colours are red, yellow, white, green, and blue; the shapes are two wavy lines, a circle, a square, a capital "I" (or "H" depending on who you ask) and a plus sign. So far so good. Every player gets dealt a hand of 33 cards that form their own personal deck. The rest of the deck gets placed on the side and three cards get drawn from it and placed face up in the middle of the table. The aim of the game is to be the first player to have 9 or less cards in his drawing deck. Now the fun starts. On the count of three (or any other arrangement for determining start of play) the players will simultaneously draw three cards from their deck and put them face up in front of them. Now there are two things that can happen:
1. All three cards in front of a player match the cards on the table either in shape or colour. The player must put these three cards in the same order as they are on the table and then calls "Top". This stops play immediately forcing the other players to put the cards they had on the table at the bottom of their deck. The player then shows how his cards match those on the table in either shape or colour and places them on top of the face up cards. These are now the new cards to match.
Example: the cards on the table are a "green circle", a "blue square", and a "white squiggle" (also known as "two wavy lines") The player draws a "green circle", a "blue squiggle" and a "red square". The player swaps the place of the blue and red cards. Now he has a match of shape and colour (green circle-green circle), a match of shape (blue square-red square), and a match of shape again (white squiggle-blue squiggle). He calls "Top" and all players stop play. He places his three cards on top of the face up cards on the centre of the table.
2. The three cards in front of the player do not match the cards on the table, but he has an exact shape and colour match with the face up cards. He simply places his card(s) on top of the card it exactly matches, gathers the rest of his cards and continues game.
Example: The three cards on the top are a "green circle" a "red square" and a "blue squiggle." The player has drawn a "green circle" a "red squiggle" and a "yellow circle." Even though there is a clour match with the red card, it is not an exact match. The yellow circle matches the green circle in shape, but not colour. However, the green circle that was drawn is an exact macth and can therefore be placed on top of the face up card in the middle of the table. The other cards get picked up and placed at the bottom of the player's drawing deck.
Once a player has nine or less cards left in his drawing deck, he calls "Toppo", shows the other players the fact that he has nine or less cards left and therefore wins the round.
Of course, things are not all that simple. There are penalties to be had. If a player calls Top but does not have a match to the three cards in the middle or his cards are not in the right order, then the cards have to be scooped up and placed back in the player's deck together with five penalty cards drawn from the left over deck. The same applies to the player that calls Toppo but has more than nine cards in their hand.
So, what do I think of this game?
I believe it is a great filler for playing in between longer games. It is very simple and easy to explain and play. Even younger kids can play it (with a helping hand from a grown-up). There is no problem with colour blindness as there is a pattern covering the shapes as well as the colours.
Do I recommend buying it?
I would definitely say yes, unless you are the kind of player that wants to play "obliterate your enemy" games, in which case this is not the game for you.
Did I enjoy playing it?
This is the kind of game I suggest bringing out everytime I can. Specially after a long game has just been finished and people are looking for something light as an interlude.
