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Review #16: Meeple Circus

# of Players: 2-5
Playtime: 30-60 Minutes
Core Mechanic: Dexterity
Theme: Circus
Type: Family
Weight: Light
Year: 2017

Rating: 8*

This was a game I passed over at SHUX '17. There were a lot of games up for demo, but this did not look appealing at all each time I walked by. I should have paid closer attention. After seeing the video playthrough on Shut Up and Sit Down, I knew I had to try out this circus-themed dexterity game. Immediately after the first play I knew it was a hit - longer than most party games with an ounce of depth and strategy and filled with tense, laugh-out-loud moments.


Meeple Circus is a dexterity game played over three rounds. Each round players will be gaining more circus performer meeples to add to their act and stacking them up to score points based on certain scoring criteria. In the first two rounds, called the rehearsal rounds, all the players play simultaneously while in the final round, each player will play in front of the other players. Each round lasts only two minutes, making it a race against the clock to put together your act and not have everything come crashing down. At the end of the game the player with the most points is the winner.

There are many aspects to the scoring criteria. Each blue meeple that touches the ground and each yellow meeple that isn't touching the ground is worth 1 point. The higher red meeples are, as long as nothing is in top of them, the more points they score. There are four public objectives that will slowly change each round. Each of the public objectives represented by your final arrangement will score points. You also score bonus points if you achieve the goal set by the Guest Star that joins your act in the second round or meet the individual challenge that is selected in the third round. Finally, bonus points are awarded each round if you are first or second to finish your act.


Games don't get more straightforward than this - stack your meeples and pray that they do not fall. The true experience and joy of this game does not come from the mechanics but from the people you play with. Many games have ended in fits of laughter when some acts come crumbling down, but you also feel the pain realizing how difficult it was to put together your own. When you are able to put together the perfect display, the feeling is exhilarating. Probably my only complaint is that the Guest Stars and individual challenges don't seem entirely balanced, with some feeling much more difficult than the others but only being worth 1 or 2 points more or even the same. Also, I would want more content for the game and it sounds like there are expansions coming out to address this!

The success that I have found with this game means it holds a special place in my collection. It was also my first memorable dexterity game. As such, this is going to go into the Gateway collection because it is definitely an easy game for anyone to pick up and play and will also be part of the Essentials and Collector collections because of my affinity for this game. This game has opened the doors for me to try more dexterity games, which I always thought looked a little fun but never gave it much thought. This game might not rank too high on my overall rankings because there isn't much strategy at all and I prefer heavy euros, but if I had to rank games based on having a light, spirited time, this would be near the top.

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