5 Towers Board Game Review

 If there is one truth in the world of modern board games, it is this: the powerful constantly organize ridiculous competitions. Whether it's to see who can become the greatest mage to determine who can outdo everyone else or, in the case of the 5 Towers, to see which architect can build the tallest towers in the city, it's clear that the powers that be have way too much time on their hands (and seemingly endless funds) at their fingertips.

GAME PROCESS

 Basically, 5 Towers is a betting game. During each round, five cards will be turned face up from the deck for all to see. The first player calls the number. This number indicates how many cards the player is willing to take from the board to add to the set they are about to create in their personal area. Each player has a chance to increase the bet. The tricky part is that if you win the bet, you MUST claim the number of cards you bid from the display and you MUST add them to your table. Any unclaimed cards are added to the public discard pile.

 Sounds simple enough, right? Not so fast. There are five card suits (tower types) and sixteen cards per suit, numbered from zero to fifteen (4-5 player games have a few extra cards). Each card can only be placed on a tower of the same type, and each card placed must be less than the value of the last card placed on the tower.

 The only exceptions to this rule are the numbers eight, nine and zero. Any number can be placed on top of an eight, and a nine can be placed on top of any number. Zeros at the top of the tower. Once a tower is zeroed, that tower cannot be manipulated in any way until the end of the game.

 After the player who won the bet has taken his cards, he has the opportunity to perform one "demolish" action. A break involves removing the top card from any tower in your tableau (if the card is not zero) and placing it in your personal discard pile. This is useful for creating better cards and abilities. For example, if you're stuck with a seven sitting on top of a fifteen, breaking the seven to replace it with an eleven gives you more opportunities to add that tower in future rounds.

 At the beginning of the game, you will choose a starting player. At the end of the round, after the winner places their cards on their tableau, the person standing to the left of the starting player becomes the starting player for the next round. Once you've passed a deck, the public discard pile is shuffled to create a new deck. Once this new deck is passed, the game ends and the scores are tallied.

COUNT

 Each of your towers scores points equal to the number of cards in that tower. If there is a zero on top of a tower, the score for that tower is doubled. Then score one point for each card in your highest tower. After you count this positive result, you will lose points for the cards in your stack. The first card is worth -1. The second card costs -2. The third card costs -3 and so on.

 The player with the most points wins.

IMPRESSION

 Over the past few years, I've grown to love little games that I can stick in my pocket and play during meals or lunch breaks. It's not that my love for big Euros is gone. It's that my time playing them has almost completely evaporated. Between work, marriage, and raising a five-year-old, my time is much more limited than it was in the past. My gaming life exists in those moments between things.

 5 Towers is ideal for this new installation. It fits in my pocket. The rules are simple. The gameplay is challenging, but not so challenging that you can play forever. From opening the box to packing it, I only spent 20 minutes of my time. And what a great 20 minutes it is.

 From the very first draft, 5 Towers cards face several difficult decisions. The whole premise is that you build towers to score points. The bigger these towers are, the more points you earn. But what if you're just starting out and all the face-down cards are small numbers? Should you pass and let your opponents hit them? Or should you bet on at least one, knowing you can always demolish it later? I mean, after all, to score points, you have to at least build something.

 In the case of low numbers at the beginning of the game, it is quite easy to make the right decision. But what if there are a bunch of average numbers? what then And that doesn't even take into account what other players might need for their towers. If one of your opponents can draw three cards, can you also bet three? If you have to rip a card to do it, how many points are you willing to spend to deny your opponent those cards? One broken card at the end of the game isn't too bad. But three or four? Now you are talking about some serious cons. If you're sitting on top of a huge pile of points, you can probably handle losing six or more. But if you struggle to collect something, is it worth the risk?

 I would be remiss if I didn't mention the gorgeous design on these cards. Each card is a treasure trove of subculture references. On one card you will face the Genie from Aladdin. On another, you'll come across Johnny Depp's take on Willy Wonka. And you'll find these cards that look like they're referring to something, but you don't know what. Table conversations are sure to arise as you and your colleagues try to unravel them.

 Trying to decipher all these Easter eggs is almost as much fun as playing the game itself.

 From the short time to the gameplay and design, 5 Towers hits all the right notes and I can't find anything negative to say about it. This game is a lot of fun and I'm glad to have it in my collection.