I consider myself a master of card games. I have been playing your basic of card games since I was five years old, my grandfather taught me how to play WAR. From then I continued to learn a dozen or more types of Poker, Gin, & other basic card games. In 1994 I took my first step into the field of a modern day card game like Magic the Gathering & since then I have learned how to play hundreds of modern day card games.
Now I get to review card games for a living & it is extremely fun. Over the past five or so years of game reviews I have probably received a few dozen card games. But I have never received a card game where each person has a total of eight cards to play with.
Several weeks ago I received the game of Smuggles N’ Snuggles from designer Jonathan Ahnert. He told me that Smuggles N’ Snuggles was a fast, strategic card game pitting two smuggling families of bears; one country bear family & one city bear family.
When I first received Smuggles N’ Snuggles I thought the concept of two different types of bears was pretty unique. Not only is Smuggles N’ Snuggles a unique concept with the bears but as a strategy game itself.
Smuggles N’ Snuggles is a two player game, for ages thirteen years to adult, & may take twelve to fifteen minutes to play.
Before the start of play, players will map out a 3×5 (three cards wide by five cards long) field of play. Each player will start off with one of the families of bears, City or Country. They will then shuffle each of their decks. They will then take their deck & place four stacks of two cards face-down in the first two rows. This will leave the middle row empty. They will then flip the top card of each stack face-up. The player with the lowest frontmost card will start the game.
The first player will start by moving one of their bears. After the first player’s first turn, each player will then move two cards on their turn.
Players will try to move three of their eight bears across the field of play to capture their opponents three first spots. The first player to do so will win the game. Now this may seem pretty easy but with a tight field & a minimum number of cards players will need to come up with a strategy to make their way down field to capture their opponent’s starting row.
A player will flip a face-down card face-up when a card is moved off of it to reveal what it is. A player will ultimately want to “snuggle” their opponent’s bears. This is a means to use their high number cards to place overtop of an opponent’s bear of equal or lesser value. This will capture that bear locking it in place. This will allow a lower value card to slide across the captured bear.
Right now Smuggles N’ Snuggles is on Kickstarter. The Kickstarter will be up until July 10th 2018.
The first tier starts out at $8. This will get the backer access to the online beta version & the digital print & play. For $15 a backer will receive a physical edition of Smuggles N’ Snuggles, the online beta, & the digital print & play. For $20 a backer will receive everything I have mentioned & the Law Card expansion.
If you are interested in backing this fast-paced, snuggly, filler then you can back it here: Smuggles N’ Snuggles Kickstarter
Now Law Card expansion will change how the game is played. However the Law card will only affect the space that it resides on. These Law cards will change certain rules making it possible for a more challenging game. It is recommended that players get used to playing the basic game before moving on to adding the Law cards.
Each game of Smuggles & Snuggles will play completely different from the previous one. With the randomness of shuffling ones bear family will make going in with a strategy in mind very difficult. This makes Smuggles N’ Snuggles a challenge each time you play. It is nice to see a “micro” card game like Smuggles N’ Snuggles hit the table just about anywhere you go.
So get ready for some bear hugs & game on!
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