Hotpot Havoc: Rapid Review
Information:
Mechanics: Open Drafting
Player Age: 8+ Player Count: 2 - 5 PlayersTime to Play: 10 - 20 Minutes
Game Designer: Steve Ng Wen Xi
Player Age: 8+
Game Designer: Steve Ng Wen Xi
Rundown:
Hotpot Havoc is a fun and frantic real-time game that has players trying to score the most out of their dishes each round. This is a combination of points gained on bowls, soups, and sauces.
- Sauces give you 2 points for every soup item that matches one of the three on the card.
- Soups have a range of 1-3 points on each card and ladle.
- Bowls have a certain amount of points for choice of bowl (can be negative), a certain amount of soup cards allowed and multiple variations of points based on the amount of ladles you get at the end of the round where the last one is negative if you have too many ladels.
Each round has sauces revealed equal to the player count. Players will then choose what soup deck they want to try for the most points (often based on what sauce you want). Each soup deck has a different collaboration of soup cards stated on the menu card. Players will then choose what bowl they are using this round. Each bowl can only be used once per game. Now the frantic fun begins as players reveal cards and either place it in their bowl or place it in the middle for any player to gain at a later date. Once a player is happy with their bowl, they take any rank card. These rank cards can increase or decrease your ladles and give you points. Once every player but one grabs a rank card, the round ends, and players pick the soup they want based on the rank order. Tally up and keep everyone's score as this is done for a total of four rounds. Whoever has the most points at the end of four rounds wins.
Alteration:
The way in which this game excels is through memory rather than alteration. By remembering what points each soup item gives and the ladles, you can end the game before your opponent even starts choosing soup cards (in a two player game). This strategy is only worth it if you can get enough points as you often won't get bonus points from sauces. Choosing your bowls and soup deck each turn is an important part of the strategy, and that choice comes with familiarity, which can show through towards the end of the first play of the game.
Production:
The art and atmosphere make this great as an introductory game for families. The topic is something people may find unfamiliar with board games and may not often expect these themes.
Interaction:
Since any unwanted card goes into the middle for any player to grab when they want (including the player who discarded it), players are constantly watching what others are doing, especially since the round can end before you’re ready. This leads to frantic game play between players.
Determination:
Key Points:
- Extremely fast real-time game
- Plenty of decision space in which soups and bowls a player picks
- Works well as a memory game
- Welcoming theme
Hotpot Havoc looks like every other real-time game, but there are some smart choices in selecting your bowl, soup deck, and rank you want to go for upon bowl completion. This is the kind of game that rewards repeated plays. If your family loves repetition and fast game-play, then this is one I would recommend with many more decisions than what is first apparent that will keep you coming back for just one more dish.
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