Andy
United Kingdom
Stockport
Manchester
-
I'm fortunate enough to have a small group of people at my workplace to play games with at lunchtime... Lunchtime gaming has certain requirements that are very different from other types of gaming, so this is a review based primarily on those.
Features of lunchtime gaming
Short Duration - As we only have 45 minutes to play, and our group likes to play 2 or 3 games in that time, games need to play within 15-20 minutes.
Easy to Learn - The first play must take no longer than 45 minutes, ideally should be 30 mintues or less, and it really helps if we can fit in a 2nd play on the same day. In addition, the game must be straightforward enough that non-gamers pick up the mechanisms quite quickly.
Screwage - The nature of gaming with work colleagues in the middle of tough/stressful days means we want to vent, and what better way to do so than to pick on each other, so games with a high "Screw You" factor go down well. This can either be direct play against other players, or more subtle manipulation of the game state.
Variability - In my group, a good lunchtime game sees a lot of play.. therefore a game has to have a very high replay return on learning investment... Games that are very similar every time they get played soon tire.
Fun - Probably the most important aspect of lunchtime gaming is having a bit of fun, to relieve the stress or monotony of the working day. A lunchtime game needs a fun theme... preferably one that's not too childish... and it needs to encourage a bit of excitement and table talk. Ideally people in other rooms should hear that you're having a good time!
How does Pick Picknic Stack Up
Duration -  
In our experience, this game plays a lot quicker than the published playtime of 30 minutes... perhaps because we're all adults (and the published time may take into account playing with children), and we quickly get into a routine of bidding, resolving, drawing cards and replenishing corn cubes... Therefore in our experience the game lasts between 15 and 20 minutes.
Ease of Learning -
The rules are pretty simple, bid for a field with either a fowl or fox card... decide who wins each field.. with contested fields either negotiated for, or fought over... then replace cards and replenish corn... It doesn't get full marks for ease however, as there was a bit of confusion in early games about the fox and chicken cards... you have to work this out based on the artwork alone.
Screwage -
The entire game is spent second-guessing what the other players are going to do, and playing accordingly to get the most points... so it's hard to really impliment much screwage, and no way to really pick on specific players.
Variability -
Considering there are no real action cards, just fox and chicken bid cards, the game has a bit of variability in the way the 3 types of corn are placed and how the cards for the different fields come out.
Fun -
Being one of Zoch's chicken games, the child-friendly theme could have been a problem for my lunchtime group, however it helped that I'd introduced Pickomino first, so the guys were familiar with the chickens... and it's actually a pretty fun auction game... There's a bluffing/guessing aspect to it, which adds to the table talk, and plenty of banter when fighting over contested fields... it's also good when your fox gets to eat some of your opponents big chickens, or if you can stuff an opponents fox with the -1 fleet feet chicken.
Cons
The chicken theme could be off-putting for an adult lunchtime gaming group.
Difficult to actively affect specific players.
Summary
- Duration
- Ease of Learning
- Screwage
- Variability
- Fun
A light, fun auction game with a cute theme.... good for quite a few plays, and I've racked up 40, mostly at lunchtime. Hasn't seen much table time this year, but I'm sure it will see some more play. We play a variant I found here, using number of fields = players +1.
Total 15/25
-
Rod Batten
Canada
St. John's
Newfoundland
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing. --R.E.Howard
-
Thanks for another great review!
-
|
|
