Lowell Kempf
United States
Chicago
Illinois
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First of all, let me get this out of the way. Any comparisons between 24/7 and Scrabble are going to be pretty much dead on. The one sentence description of 24/7 is Scrabble with numbers instead of letters and that description is darn accurate.
It’s not even a new idea, to be honest. There is a much older game called Quinto which does the exact same thing, only you know, differently. I do own Quinto but have not yet played it so I can’t make any learned comparisons between it and 24/7 (or Quinto and Scrabble for that matter)
That said, I don’t view using Scrabble as the foundation for a game as a bad thing. It was one of the first tile laying games and I think it’s held up pretty well over the years. If you want to get particular, you can argue that Carcassonne is a Scrabble variant.
24/7 is themed around time. No, seriously, that’s it. You’re not clock makers or time lords or some guy who is trying to work out his day planner. The game is just about time. Even for a Knizia fan like myself, this is a seriously thin theme. The only point is to justify using the numbers 7 and 24 in the game.
The box could honestly be half its size but what you get in the box is awfully nice. The board itself is a seven by seven grid with some of the spaces marked with 2X to signifying double scoring. You also get tile racks that are made out of wood and are pretty sturdy. You get more than enough black glass stones to mark dead spaces. There a cloth bag for the tiles. And, saving the best for last, you get tiles.
The tiles are definitely the standout component for 24/7. Good thing, too, since you’ll be using them the most. There are thick and chunky like mahjong tiles. Every tile represents a number and they show that number both in pips and as numerals, just like playing cards. The numbers run 1 though 10 and there’s five of each of them.
The game, unsurprisingly, plays out quite a bit like Scrabble. Each player has a hand of tiles, which you can conveniently store on the tile racks. On your turn, you play one of your tiles in an empty space on the board that is adjacent to at least one other tile. Once a tile is placed, it’s going to stay there for the rest of the game.
So, in that regard, it is kind of like Scrabble, except that you are only putting one tile down at a time.
You are trying to form lines of numbers that form scoring combinations. As with Scrabble, one tile can be a part in multiple scoring opportunities. Unlike Scrabble, though, the runs that you are forming can be diagonal, as well as columns and rows. If a run adds up to 24, no more tiles can be added to it so dead spaces will form on the board.
(The black glass stones I listed as being one the things you get in the box? You put those on the dead spots to keep track of them)
There are three kinds of scoring combinations: sums, sets and runs. Sums are when a line adds up to either 7 or 24. Sums also help define the 24 maximum which I mentioned earlier. Sets are lines of the same tiles and come in groups of three or four. Runs are tiles in numeric order and also come in sets of three or more.
While this does add some rummy-like elements to the game, I am still going to just keep on comparing it to Scrabble since I’ve gotten into the habit.
The harder a line is to achieve, the more points you get for it. A sum of seven is only worth 20 points while a run of four is worth 60. Keeping to the whole time idea of the game, points are actually called minutes but they’re really points. If you place a tile that scores on one of the 2x spaces, you get double the points.
The game ends when either there are no more tiles or no more legal spaces. Whoever has the most points is the winner.
So, now that you know how to play the game, let’s look at what the game offers.
In my never-ending comparisons to Scrabble, I have to say that 24/7 is a much lighter game than Scrabble for two very big reasons.
First of all, the various scoring combinations are a lot simpler than spelling out words. By the time you hit middle school, you have all the math skills you need to play 24/7 while you can build your vocabulary for your entire life.
Second of all, the board is much smaller and less complex. The board size is a big deal. Even with diagonals as an option, a seven by seven grid is small and very quickly becomes cramped. Add to that, you are going to get dead spots where no one can place. All of this means that 24/7 plays fairly fast.
That said, none of this is necessarily a bad thing. While I have friends that don’t see the point of sitting down to a game unless it’s at least three hours long, a relatively hast game that still offers choices looks good to me.
One choice that I think was a very good one is the variety of scoring options. Runs and sets mean that there are no bad tiles. There are bad situations for tiles but there are no tiles that are intrinsically worse than other tiles. This, of course, means there are no hands that are bad all the time.
Now, this is the part where I get cruel.
There is nothing wrong with 24/7. It has very nice pieces and the rules and game play are well balanced. Everything about 24/7 works. However, there is nothing about 24/7 that really excites me. I wouldn’t turn down a game but I would rather play rummy or Scrabble than 24/7. It’s not one of those games that makes me want to play it one more time.
Maybe I’m just jaded.
So, 24/7 is a well-designed game that looks very pretty. It does offer a variety of choices and balanced game play. You can probably play it with just about anyone. It’s a game that I’m going to keep in my collection and it will see play every once in a while. However, it’s not a game I’m going to clamber to play all the time.
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Michael Cook
United States
Ypsilanti
Michigan
Go Pack Go!!!
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I picked this up on sale and have had a hard time getting it to the table... Looks fun, if I can just convince people to play it...
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