How do you win?

Collect as many chameleon cards of the same colour to gain points. Whoever has the most points at the end of the game wins!

How do you play?

There are chameleon cards of different colours to collect within the game, with nine of each colour. Each player takes a scoring card and a chameleon card to start, ensuring that all players have different coloured chameleons. Place the three ‘row’ cards at the centre of the table and shuffle the rest of the chameleon cards to create a deck.  A ‘last round’ warning card is then placed 15 cards from the bottom of the deck, and you’re now ready to start!

The deck also has ‘+2’cards worth two bonus points and three multicoloured ‘joker’ chameleons – if you claim one of these, they can be used as an extra chameleon in a colour of your choice at the end of the game. The special ‘golden joker’ card acts as a normal joker, but also lets you claim a free card from the top of the deck to add to your score pile.

On your turn you may either draw a card, which you place next to one of the row cards in the centre, or take a row card and the card(s) it holds, adding the card(s) to your chameleon collection. Each row can hold up to three cards, but you can claim one before it fills up, which you might want to do if you find one of the cards especially tempting.

Play then moves clockwise, with each player either taking a row with at least one card on it or drawing and placing a card to build a row. Once you take a row, you are out of the round and the other players continue to play – even if only one player is left in the round.

A round ends once all three rows have been claimed. After all players have collected their claimed cards, they return the row cards to the centre to begin a new round.

Play continues until the ‘last round’ card is dealt – play will then end at the conclusion of that round. Players then tot up their chameleons, bonus ‘+2’ cards and jokers. A player selects three of their chameleon colours to score using the scoring card; the more you have of a colour, the better, as scoring is exponential . They then also score up any remaining colours, but these will be translated into minus points!

Why play it?

This game uses the same clever card-drawing mechanic as Zooloretto but creates a whole mini card game from it. Once again, what seems to be quite simple gameplay on the face of it actually leads to an in-depth game of bluffing, luck and strategy against your opponents.

While you might be tempted to create a row with your colours, you don’t want to make a row too attractive by adding too many cards of the same colour, otherwise an opponent will take it first!

When you are the last player in a round, it is always a fun gamble to decide whether you should continue drawing cards on to a row and risk drawing a colour you aren’t collecting, or avoid the risk by making do with less than the maximum of three cards!

The game is very replayable and the bright, vibrant colours are very attractive – red in particular looks delicious, you are reminded of a glass of bright-red berry squash! The scoring cards also have two sides, giving you two sets of rules to choose from; brown (shown in the photos above) means you are awarded the most points for collecting six or more chameleons of the same colour, while the reverse blue side of the scoring cards awards the most points for three chameleons of the same colour, with less points awarded for more. Interestingly, this completely changes the feel of the game and everybody plays a lot more defensively, trying to pass off cards to their opponents rather than rushing to collect chameleons.

Verdict?

A simple little card game filled with colour that that is fun and competitive. Very replayable and quick, with each round lasting 10 minutes or so, and with a great variation for two players.

How do you win?

Lay cards to form an expedition route and score points accordingly. The player with the most points at the end of a game wins.

How do you play?

The deck contains one set of cards numbered 1 to 10 for each of the five colours. Each colour represents an exotic land and the cards you lay indicate your expeditions to explore them. Between each player is the game board, which will be home to the discard piles for the five card colours.

Each player will always hold eight cards. On your turn you must either commit to laying a card from your hand face-up on your side of the board (which amounts to setting out on or continuing an expedition) or discard a card from your hand, placing it face-up on the central discard pile of the corresponding colour. You then draw a new card to end your turn, either from the deck or by taking any of the top-most cards in the discard piles (excluding any cards you have just discarded). And it’s as simple as that, really; play alternates between the players until the last card is drawn from the deck, when the game ends immediately.

Your ‘expeditions’ are laid in columns of the same colour. Any new cards you lay have to be a higher value than the topmost card in that column. Remember, each card is unique – if you’re waiting for the elusive yellow six, it’s either in the draw deck or your opponent’s hand!

Each set of cards also includes several ‘wager’ cards, which feature a handshake symbol. Although these cards aren’t worth points on their own, they will double, triple or quadruple the value of the cards that are laid on top of them, depending on how many of the three wager cards were placed in the column. They must be laid before any numbered cards, hence the ‘wager’ aspect. Be careful though – a low-scoring column can end up in negative points!

Scoring at the end of the game can seem the most difficult part of your expedition, but it actually consists of just four steps. Begin by subtracting 20 points for each column that has cards placed in it – this covers the initial cost of your expeditions. Then, for each colour, tot up the values of the cards you have placed in that column. Take your total and apply the multiplication effect of any wager cards laid in the column. You then receive an additional 20-point bonus for each column which has eight or more cards in it.

The player with the highest score over three rounds wins (but we also play to just the one round!).

Why play it?

The game generally feels well balanced with an equal mix of both tactics and luck; you’ll feel like every card you lay comes with both a cost and a benefit.

An ideal opening hand would have higher numbers all in one colour, which will guarantee that an expedition in that colour will pay off. Unfortunately, more often than not, you’ll have a mix of different colours and values, leaving you feeling like you want to keep your whole hand! It’s up to you to gamble on which colour to discard, which to commit an expedition to and which colour to keep from you opponent’s hand.

You may fancy your chances in a certain colour and lay a wager card from your hand, perhaps hoping to pick up some useful cards from the deck. Then be prepared for your heart to sink as your opponent lays the most valuable cards of the same colour on their side of the board, sealing your fate to a large negative score!

Inevitably, while you’re still hoarding the high-value cards and calculating whether you have enough time to start a new expedition, you’ll suddenly notice the draw deck is starting to run low and time is running out. In desperation, you will then try to get all your cards out in a total panic before the game ends, while your opponent does their best to run the clock down of course!

Verdict?

Don’t be put off by the mathsy scoring; this game only sets a couple of rules, but gives you many different ways to approach your turn and the simple, balanced gameplay doesn’t feel repetitive at all. A nifty little two-player game packed with more tactics than you expect.

How do you win?

Sell goods to claim rupee tokens; the player with the most rupees at the end of a round wins a Seal of Excellence token. Collect two of these tokens, and you win the game.

How do you play?

The deck includes two kinds of card: camel cards and coloured cards representing six different goods to trade at the market, namely leather (brown), spice (green) and cloth (purple), and then the more valuable silver, gold and diamonds. Camel cards are a little different to the goods cards; rather than being kept in your hand, they are placed in a pile in front of you as your herd. Conveniently, they do not count towards your seven-card hand limit, but can still be used to buy goods throughout the game – and the player with the biggest herd at the end of the round is awarded a five-rupee bonus.

A ‘marketplace’ is set up between the two players, with five cards always on display. To the left of the marketplace are the rupee tokens that can be claimed by selling your wares. Some rupee tokens are more valuable than others, even if they are the same colour – these are always at the top of the pile, available to the early-bird seller.

When it is your turn, you may either take cards or sell goods.

Taking involves either:

• exchanging cards (camels from your herd or goods from your hand) for an equal number of goods cards on display at the marketplace in the middle;
• taking one card on display at the market;
• or taking all the camel cards from the market and adding them to your herd.

Selling means discarding at least one goods card from your hand in exchange for the equivalent number of rupee tokens. You can only sell one type of product on your turn, but you can sell as many of that product as you like. If you sell three or more cards in one go, then you also collect the appropriate bonus token; the more goods cards you sell at once, the higher the bonus. Note that when selling the most valuable items (silver, gold or diamonds) you must sell a minimum of two cards.

Play alternates between each player, with each either taking or selling cards. The round will end as soon as three types of goods tokens are sold out or there are no cards left to draw for the marketplace, and players then score up all their rupee tokens.

Why play it?

This game is absolutely excellent in that it is as engaging as other games designed for more than two players.  With such a large choice of actions and tactics, the game feels much more open-ended than the traditional battle of logic or luck in other two-player games.

There are several ways to score big points, such as focusing on valuable goods, collecting bonus tokens or being the first to trade. On this last point, our advice would be: sell fast! There is a lot to be said for selling early to grab the high-priced tokens, so keep an eye on which goods your opponent is collecting and try to beat them to the first few most valuable tokens. You’ll gain some quick points (and maybe cause some annoyance!), while denying your opponent the highest-scoring rupees.

Although bonus cards can also lead to rupee riches, be mindful that if you hold out for the larger sale bonus of four or five cards, this can cause you to miss a quick sale (and thus cost you the valuable first sale tokens), while also clogging up your hand, which is governed by the seven-card limit.

The game is nicely balanced, so if your opponent liberates the marketplace of a valuable card you desperately wanted, you will at least get first choice on the new item dealt to the marketplace, which, if luck is on your side, could be that diamond card you’ve been waiting for. Similarly, taking a large herd of camels from the market effectively refreshes the marketplace for your opponent, giving them a large choice of new goods, yet your new large herd gives you a lot of flexibility throughout the game.

Verdict?

Probably our favourite two-player game yet. A lively and fun trading game where you occasionally feel like you are collaborating with your opponent, until it becomes apparent that you are after the same goods! We sometimes play just one round for a quick 10-minute game, but then usually end up playing best of three!

How do you win?

Create the highest-scoring kingdom, as determined by the number of crowns and type of terrain in your domain.

How do you play?

Each player has a king and a castle of their colour. The aim is to build their kingdom using terrain tiles, which range from lush forests to deep oceans, and even include sticky swamplands! These terrain tiles are split into two halves, just like dominoes.

At the beginning of the game, two columns of terrain tiles are dealt, with each column containing tiles equal to the number of kings in play. On the back of each terrain tile is a number; the higher the number, the more valuable the tile is likely to be in terms of scoring. The lowest numbers are always placed at the top of the column and the highest at the bottom. For the first turn, the kings are placed randomly on the first column of terrain tiles, as below:

Play starts with whichever king is at the top of the column. This player adds the tile their king is on to their kingdom, then chooses a tile they like the look of from the new column by placing their king on that tile.

Play continues clockwise and once the last king is placed, then a new column of terrain tiles is dealt adjacent to the existing column. This process continues, with players choosing their next tile and building up their kingdom, until all tiles have been dealt.

Kingdom bureaucracy dictates that a claimed tile must connect with at least one terrain tile of the same type (again, think dominoes!), or with the castle tile. Your kingdom must also be built within a 5×5 grid – so you wouldn’t be able to create a long and thin empire – although your castle doesn’t have to be at the centre of this 5×5 grid.

If you aren’t able to place a terrain tile, either because it would extend beyond your 5×5 grid or because your kingdom doesn’t have a matching tile, then it is discarded.

In order to score your completed kingdom, count the number of terrain tiles grouped together and multiply this by the number of crowns within the same area. Taking a look at the cover image above, the kingdom would be scored as below for a total of 29 points.

Why play it?

The highest scores will come from players who collect large areas of one type of terrain with enough crowns to score well, or those who go for the less common but ‘crown rich’ swampland and mine tiles. Of course, other players will be keen to stop you collecting quite so many crowns within your kingdom!

It’s important to note that whichever king starts the round at the top of a column has first choice of tiles in the next column. This means you may want to pick one of the less valuable tiles in order to be in pole position next time around. Conversely, if you pick a valuable tile at the lower end of a column, then you won’t be left with much choice during the next turn! As well as balancing the game, this mechanic keeps you interested and mixes things up round by round, avoiding that feeling of ‘waiting for your turn.’

A few optional rules add a little extra to the game, including the chance to bag bonus points if you keep your castle at the centre of your grid, or if you manage not to discard any tiles.

Kingdomino is also an excellent game for two players – there are no awkward ‘two-player variant’ rules, which can sometimes make a two-player version feel like an afterthought. In fact, with only two players, the game can get more intense since you each get two kings to place and collect two tiles per turn, which can require more foresight and strategy than a larger game.

Verdict?

A great game for your shelf that is easy to set up, Kingdomino is the perfect choice if you’re looking to play a few quick rounds of something. Super replayable and nicely balanced, an excellent choice for two players or more.