J. Riddell
United States
Webster
New York
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Thanks to the generosity of the great people at Bag-O-Loot for agreeing to write a review that you happen to be reading at the moment, and after a few mix-ups, and a rather lengthy wait we at last found gold in our mailbox, a gold bag. We opened it to find a more valuable treasure a new game to try, Bag-O-Loot.
Dutifully my youngest son (8) and I pulled Bag-O-Loot from its shiny golden bag the first night even though the color gold, I’m informed, is for girls. Despite this minor color setback the game was a big hit.
The following Saturday all three of my kids and I play. We all have fun. The game must have some strategy because my eldest son (the 16 year old strategy gamer) ends up crushing us all mercilessly. My daughter (13 and a party and speed gamer) has fun despite being trounced in this her first play. That’s a good sign. My wife, having more important things to do (than GAMES, that’s heresy), decides to stay out. By the next night my wife is playing long and we all have a great time. It sure looks like we have a winner.
It sure looks like we have a winner. It’s simple to learn and play. The game feels like a strange union of the bluffing in the card game I doubt it and having all melds up for grabs like Rummy. A good balance of strategic decisions, luck, and outwitting your opponents to keep it interesting, light, and fun in a portable package all wrapped up in a bag of gold. It's not quite like anything else I've played, and that's saying something. Will it stand the test of time? Who knows, and who cares. It takes up little space and is inexpensive. That's a win, win for collectors like me. It certainly will be fun to introduce to all of our friends.
I wish I could say that this was the end of the review. It almost was, but I agreed to play the game with multiple groups, so I then bring Bag-O-Loot to our friends, my game guinea pigs. We adults start playing, but something happens that hadn’t before. Everyone was holding on to their cards and not melding anything. In the first round, toward the very end, people started playing and the following player would steal nearly everything and so on around the table. Something wasn’t right. The following round played similarly, but occasionally someone was able to open and complete a Bag-O-Loot on their same turn. By the third round I decided to just play and not worry about hording cards like everyone else. I cleaned up, but unfortunately we weren’t having any fun.
It seemed like there wasn’t enough obvious incentive to play cards. Without the card play, there’s no interaction and the game just falls flat. In truth, I did find that there were a couple of minor issues with the way we were playing, but it would be unlikely that this would have compelled people to play. There is a variant that requires players to have to open (called Hafta Open), but this requires that players notice that they can open and then requires that they do the right thing. I like to avoid those types of rules. I might try another variant that I came up with that I call Hafta Be Open. This would require players to be open at the beginning of their turn if they want to steal or play a Bag-O-Loot, sort of like an initial meld. This gets rid of the on your honor nature of Hafta Open and further incents players to have open plays. I’d like to try another variant that would explore mixing runs in with the sets.
At this point we’ll have to wait a while until the memories of that one awful play are behind us and the shimmer of the golden bag lures us back. The mash up of a bluffing and melding game is a great idea. There’s a good filler and party game lurking in here somewhere. I’m determined to find it. For now Bag-O-Loot is welcome to stay around waiting for that next opportunity to hit the table.
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Bryan Lane
Canada
Victoria
BC
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I had made the same agreement - they were going to send me a copy to review and after I gave them my address, they just never sent it. It looks interesting, but I wouldn't know. I never got it and I haven't seen it for sale anywhere. It looks like it could be a good game to play with the family.
Thanks for the review - maybe I'll keep an eye out for it.
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Big Kat
United States
Tualatin
Oregon
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riddell wrote: Everyone was holding on to their cards and not melding anything. In the first round, toward the very end, people started playing and the following player would steal nearly everything and so on around the table. Something wasn’t right. The following round played similarly, but occasionally someone was able to open and complete a Bag-O-Loot on their same turn. By the third round I decided to just play and not worry about hording cards like everyone else. I cleaned up, but unfortunately we weren’t having any fun.
If you don't have any open collections (not completed Bag-o-loots) in front of you, you can't steal. So if they were holding on to all of their cards, they would be 'locked out' and would not be allowed to steal.
Edit: Also, if they don't have anything in front of them, they're not allowed to challenge. If no one else can challenge, then you can just bluff away and they can't do anything about it.
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Andy Andersen
United States
Newark
Delaware
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fastlane wrote: I had made the same agreement - they were going to send me a copy to review and after I gave them my address, they just never sent it. It looks interesting, but I wouldn't know. I never got it and I haven't seen it for sale anywhere. It looks like it could be a good game to play with the family.
Thanks for the review - maybe I'll keep an eye out for it.
I wrote the designer a note and asked him where my copy was and he sent it promptly.
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chuck dunn
United States
memphis
Tennessee
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definetely broken for the lack of sense in playing cards . ... other than that a decent game for young kids ...play a meld by the third round to be able to steal a bag of loot sounds like a potential fix for sure
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J. Riddell
United States
Webster
New York
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I had to follow up a few times to get a copy. I finally received it in November.
We were aware of the rules requiring an open collection for stealing or calling a bluff. The problem is that you can open and steal in the same turn and we weren't getting enough Bag-O-Loots (bluffs or otherwise) to compel anyone to open to stop it.
Not a bad game at all. It just seems to need a little work to get it above a kids game.
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Big Kat
United States
Tualatin
Oregon
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riddell wrote:
We were aware of the rules requiring an open collection for stealing or calling a bluff. The problem is that you can open and steal in the same turn and we weren't getting enough Bag-O-Loots (bluffs or otherwise) to compel anyone to open to stop it.
Yeah, our games were like that too. The designer said that there's a strategy that will beat card hoarders, but we must not have done it because we had a bunch of card hoarders.
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J. Riddell
United States
Webster
New York
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I traded a few geekmails with the designer. He mentioned that the strategy that beat the card hoarders was to bluff to your hearts content; play three cards with a face up Looter and bluff on the fifth. There won't be anyone to call the bluff. The problem with our plays was that these opportunities were far and few between.
The other thing that was intended to stop hoarding was the one Bag-O-Loot per turn. If you wait too long, you often end up getting stuck with a ton of cards in your hand, but this didn't deter the hoarding at least in our plays. People just didn't convert that many of their sets into Bag-O-Loots.
There just seems to be something else needed to compel people to play cards.
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John Shelley
United States
New Hampshire
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I thought I would chime in here to help you out...
First of all, thank you for playing, and thank you for your honest and thorough review.
Hoarding is a rookie mistake made by many new players - especially to those who want to play this as a game of intellect and strategy rather than a game of wits. It always seems to be so obvious - don't play and no one can steal my cards. While this may be true, it has two unwanted results.
First, as you found out, the game becomes rather boring if no one is playing cards. Second, it is not a winning strategy. As the game designer, I have played the game more than anyone on the planet and having run many a tournament, I can say with confidence you only win about 30-35% of the time by playing that way. Tournament winners are the good bluffers who time their plays just right.
A cautious ski racer will finish all their races, may do pretty well, and may even win a few... but the one who skies aggressively is the one who takes home the gold. The same holds true for Bag-O-Loot.
Hope this helps you and your friends next time you play. Thanks again for trying Bag-O-Loot!
-John
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