Ben Lott
United States
Mason
Michigan
It's a gift...
...and a curse!
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I tend to enjoy games with lots of dice. I don't mind randomness at all, and find the anticipation of rolling that perfect combo thrilling. So, when I first read the game description for Combo King it sounded perfect for me. I ordered it as soon as it was released and rushed it to the table right away. But was it thrilling, or a big bust? Read on...
What do you get with Combo King? In the box you get a rule sheet, 8 dice, a pile of chips, a deck of cards, and 4 chip-spending reference cards.
How does Combo King work? Each player is dealt a starting hand of cards and is given one chip and a reference card. On a player's turn they select one card from their hand and place it face-up on the table. They then try to complete the task on the card. If they successfully complete the card, they win a chip reward and get to discard the card. If they fail to complete the card, they must put it back in their hand.
The card challenges are extremely varied. For some you simply roll a number of dice 3 times (Yahtzee-style) until you get three of a kind, a straight, etc. For other cards you and another player each get dice and you roll to see who can get a higher total, who can roll fewer odd numbers, etc. For other cards all players are given a die or two and you roll to see who is first to roll a one, to roll doubles, etc.
No matter what the challenge on your card is, you must be the one who successfully completes the task described in order to lose the card and win the chip(s). The chips can be spent as indicated on the reference card for various benefits. They include:
1) Take an extra roll
2) Take an extra turn
3) Exchange a card from your hand with an opponents card
4) Exchange a card from your hand with one in the discard pile
5) Force another player to draw another card
6) Eliminate a card from your hand
The first player to get rid of all their cards wins the game.
What does Blott think of Combo King? What I love is the huge variety of tasks you will be challenged with in this game. The mix of play styles just from the cards is absolutely awesome. In fact the game can be so fun and fast that often I will deal everyone an extra card or two to make it last a little longer. But there is one big flaw in the design of Combo King. Because the challenges are so varied, luck of the deal is way too powerful. If one player is dealt a hand of simple challenges they can race to a victory, and if another player is dealt a hand of difficult challenges they'll need a ton of luck to compete.
Who will enjoy Combo King? This is another good family game from Gamewright. The rules are pretty easy to grasp, and Combo King is fun for a light dice-fest in between heavier games. But people who have issues with games that are heavily influenced by luck won't enjoy playing this one. Between the luck of the draw and luck of the dice, the majority of the concrete decisions in the game are what card to try when, and what to spend your chips on. Still, I think that fans of dice games will find enough to entertain them here, and non-gamers will have a lot of fun too.
Any parting comments about Combo King? Once again Gamewright has loaded this game with components that are top-notch. The chips are nice and heavy, the dice are good quality, and the cards are coated well so they will hold up to a lot of games. But the box insert is horrendous, the box is too big for the components and the insert moves around freely so the chips and cards end up spilling all over. Also, one issue I've had with teaching Combo King to non-gamers is getting them to understand that the chips mean nothing towards a victory. Their natural impulse is to hoard the chips, but at the end of the game the chips are worthless, so spending them is the only logical solution. If you can get past some of the issues, this is a decent game that might be a nice addition to your collection.
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ackmondual
United States
Virginia
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I've noticed that too. I think sorting the cards into categories and dealing 'em out by $$ helps, since generally the more chips you earn from a card, the more difficult it is to complete.
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