Gary Goh
Singapore
Singapore
Singapore
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HALLI GALLI – A REVIEW
(image uploaded by EJKemp)
Overview:
Halli Galli is a 2-6 player card game which plays like Snap in the sense that pattern recognition and quick reflexes are important, but the game also has a mathematical element involved. Each card in Halli Galli differs by fruit type (1 of 4 types) and quantity (ranging from 1 to 5) that is displayed, though there are some repeated cards. Players place cards face-up from their own decks onto their discard piles, and compete to be the fastest to ring the bell if a sum of exactly 5 of the same fruit type is obtained from the top-most cards of the players’ discard piles. The player who rings the bell first collects all the discarded cards, and the person who is able to collect all the cards in the game is declared the eventual winner.
Flow of Play:
The deck of 56 cards is shuffled and dealt equally among the players who hold their piles face-down without having looked at the cards in them. They take turns to flip the top-most card over and place it in front of them. Successive cards are placed on top of their previously discarded cards to form personalized discard piles, with only the top-most cards being visible. If there is a total of 5 of the same type of fruit displayed on the recently-discarded cards, players will attempt to ring the bell as quickly as they can—the fastest player to do so gets to collect all the discarded cards. However, the ringing player has to give a card each from his face-down pile to the other players as a penalty, in the event that the bell is wrongly rung.
Those cards are mine! (image uploaded by Red Wine Pie)
If a valid ring is made, the ringing player collects all the cards and places them at the bottom of his or her deck. He or she then places a new card from the top of his or her deck to signal the start of a new round. This continues until 2 players are left in the game. Here, the 2 remaining players can choose to continue play until one of them has won all the cards. An alternative (and much quicker) ending would be to conclude the game once a player has won the discard piles which are on the table at the time when the 3rd last player (assuming a multi-player round) is eliminated. Once the discarded piles are won and collected, the player with the larger deck of cards in hand wins the game.
Luck-Skill Balance:
The only skill involved in this game is the ability to recognize patterns and count quickly, while the luck factor revolves around the quickness of each player’s reflexes (some might say this is a skill though) once a sum of 5 of the same fruit type is displayed.
Rules Book – Layout & Complexity:
The rules book is very short and concise so it is very easy to understand the game from 1 or 2 reads of it at the most. There is little need to refer back to it during games due to the inherent ease of gameplay. The rules are written in several languages which makes the game very friendly for groups with different language-speaking players.
Components:
One of the cards used in the game (image uploaded by Boomer)
The card material is of relatively good quality, though I doubt if they will be able to withstand wear and tear that is associated with a fair amount of usage. It is advisable to obtain card sleeves (the Yu-Gi-Oh sized ones come to mind) for the cards to extend their durability.
The bell is no different from those which one might find at the store, though I would have the impression that it is made to withstand a lot of pounding by the players during gameplay.
My Thoughts:
Like all card games, Halli Galli plays quickly within a reasonable amount of time, though there is a tendency for a round to be dragged far longer than expected if players take turns to collect the discarded cards. Barring that, there is an incredible amount of fun to be had, as players compete to identify 5 of a fruit type and be the first to ring the bell.
Halli Galli is highly recommended for families looking to have a great time, or for party gamers who prefer extremely light but intensely fun games.
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