Review #29: Cockroach Poker

# of Players: 2-6
Playtime: 0-30 Minutes

Core Mechanic: Bluffing

Theme: Animals
Type: Party

Weight: Light

Year: 2004

Rating: 7.5*

In all fairness, at first glance this does not look like a game that I would play. I don't mind fillers at all, but this one didn't look particularly appealing nor did word "Poker" in its name help since I thought it might just be a variation on poker, which was something I was not interested in trying. It never hit my radar until Shut Up and Sit Down did a review where they raved about how great the game is. The gameplay seemed interesting enough, even though the idea of no winners but instead one loser didn't really seem like the best one, so I eventually hunted a copy down which wasn't a problem since the price point is really low.

There isn't much of a theme to this game. The game is all about bluffing and reverse set collection, which will make sense in a bit. The deck of cards is equally split among the players. One player then starts with a card offer from his or her hand. He or she will select a card from his or her hand, hand it to another player, and say that the card is one of the creatures found in the game, such as a cockroach or a spider. The receiving player must then do one of two things. The first thing the receiving player can do is take the card and say "True" or "False". If the receiving player is wrong with his or her guess, then he or she must add the card to their tableau and make the next card offer. But if the receiving player is correct, then the person who offered the car must add it to his or her tableau and then make a new offer.

Back to what I said about there being one loser, the game is over once one player has four cards of the same critter in front of them, who ends up being the loser of the game, so it is a reverse set collection game. Although it doesn't sound like fun with there being a loser, not a winner, it plays much better than it sounds. The second thing the receiving player can do is to look at the card and then offer it to someone else in the same manner, except for the person who offered it originally or any other players who have made an offer previously with the same card. This is where the meta game really kicks in. Do you look at the card, then repeat what was previously said or try to pass it off as something else? And as the new receiving player, what do you do when the previous receiving player either "confirms" the creature or says it is a new one? Who do you believe?

I'm not good at this game. I haven't figured out the strategy at all for what to say when I decide to look at a card and try to give it to someone else. Still, it is an entertaining and quick game, a good step outside the norm of these filler games as well. I think that this would make a great bluffing game for the Gateway collection. I think there is enough strategic depth that it is a good fit for the Middleweight collection as well. This game is also fun and unique enough that it makes a great filler or party game in the Essential and Collector collections. This was definitely a surprise for me and I look forward to trying other games in this series.