I have always been a fan of board games and card games. So when it came to receiving this game to review I was excited for the chance. Sushi Go! is considered a drafting card game because you take a card from the hand you are dealt then pass the hand to the next player. You don’t know what cards you will get as each player takes one. There is always anticipation that the card you need will still be there and you continue to re-strategize.
Sushi Go! is a a card game for 2-5 player and is quick, 3 rounds completed in about 15 minutes. I did find that it was more fun with 3 to 5 players.
Sushi Go! is played over the course of 3 rounds. Each round, players are dealt out a number of cards to begin with. They simultaneously select one card and play it. Afterwards, the remaining cards in their hand are passed to a neighbor. The cards played will give players various amounts of points at the end of the round based on how well they did with their set collection. At the end of the 3rd round, the player with the most points is the winner.
The artwork on the cards is cute it is a comedic look that fits well with the game. The contents (cards and instructions) come in a portable metal tin that stores the cards well. The cards are a similar feel to a regular deck of high quality playing cards. After regular use they will become a little worn as they need to be shuffled and are passed to other players regularly.
To start the game, all the cards are shuffled and each player is dealt out a number of cards based on the amount of players. Once they have their starting hand, the game is ready to begin. Each turn, players simultaneously choose a card from their hand to play and then pass the rest of their card to the left. There are a number of different cards in the game that have a variety of points or effects. All points are collected at the end of the round and then the cards are discarded (except for pudding cards).
Here is the scoring rules:
Sushi Rolls: These come in denominations of 1-3 value. The player that has the most points of Sushi Rolls at the end of the round gains 6 points and the second most gains 3 points.
Sashimi: A set of 3 Sashimi is worth 10 points.
Tempura: A set of 2 Tempura is worth 5 points.
Dumplings: Dumplings are worth a number of points based on how many you collect. The more you have the more each are worth.
Nigri: There are 3 different types of Nigiri from 1 to 3 points. You gain that many points at the end of the round.
Wasabi: The wasabi card is worth nothing, but what it does do is triple the value of the next Nigiri card you play.
Chop Sticks: Chop Sticks cards aren’t worth any points, but what they do let you do is play two cards in one turn. To do so, you must have previously played the chop sticks card. You play a second card from your hand and then return the chop sticks card back in your hand to be passed to your neighbor.
Pudding: All of the above cards are scored at the end of each round and then discarded. Pudding is the only card that is scored at the end of the game. The player with the most pudding gains 6 points. The player with the least (including zero) loses 6 points.
I was playing Sushi Go! with children aged 8 to 14 and found that they all loved it. The rules were quick and after two hands they caught the hang of the rules and kept asking to play. Once you explain how the point scoring works, any player should be able to jump right in. With Sushi Go! you just tell people how to score points and when to pass, they’ll get it. I do wish that Gamewright had included cheat sheets for the players as it can be hard for new players to remember what all the cards are. Fortunately, the cards do say what they score on them and game plays quick enough that you can easily just play again after a learning game.
I found that Sushi Go! was an easy game to teach and challenged the kids. They had to pick if they were going to play it safe and just keep the Maki cards and Pudding card or risk collecting sets of cards for points. They caught on easily and enjoyed it. I definitely enjoyed the game as well.
**Disclosure: I received a sample of the product to facilitate this post. No other compensation was provided and all views and opinions stated on this post are 100% my own.