Gap: Review
Information:
Mechanics: Card Game, Set Collection
Age: 7+Player Count: 2 - 6 Players Time to Play: 10 Minutes
Game Designer: Rico Besteher, Frank NoackPublisher: Arcane WondersYear Published: 2022BGG Weight: 1.18Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.
Game Designer: Rico Besteher, Frank Noack
Introduction:
Gap is a game that has an easy, and somehow challenging, goal to achieve. In this game, you are trying to create the largest gap between the highest amount of one colour compared to the lowest amount of another colour. At the end of the round you will score based on the highest group of one colour then deduct the lowest group of another colour, i .e if you have two yellow cards and six purple cards you will have achieved four points. The biggest trick is if two bundles of colours have the same amount of cards then the value is combined, i.e if you have four red, four yellow and one blue, then you will calculate 8 - 1 and score seven points. It's all about achieving the best gap.
Card Anatomy:
The cards make up 100% of the anatomy of the game. There are 5 coloured suits of yellow, purple, red, blue, and green. Each coloured suit is numbered 0-9.
Setup:
Game Setup:
- Based on the player count some cards may need to be removed from the deck;
2 players - remove two colours from the deck.
3 players - remove one colour from the deck.
- A short game runs to 15 points, medium game to 30 points and a long game is 70 points.
Round Setup:
- Shuffle and deal cards face-down to each player.
2-4 players will receive 6 cards.
5-6 players will receive 5 cards.
- Deal four cards face-up in a row on the table.
How to Play:
The game is played over the course of multiple rounds until one player meets or exceeds the point value set. The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.
Players will play cards based on their numbers but score at the end of each round based on their colours. On a turn you will play one card from your hand and take all cards in the middle row matching that value. If your card doesn't allow for that, you will take the next number lower and higher, sequentially. You can only take one of the cards matching higher and lower in the middle though. If you have no cards that meet any of these conditions then you will place a card from your hand in the middle row. This can be a blessing in disguise if you have unfavourable colours in your hand. If the row is less than four cards replenish it with cards from the deck.
Once every player has played out their hand, everyone will score their colour gap. To do this, calculate the largest group of one colour then deduct the smallest colour group. If there is a tie for largest or smallest then that value is added together despite colours. An example of this is if a player has 6 yellow, 2 blue and 2 red then the red and blue are added together and deducted from the 6. That means the player will only score 2 points (6 minus 4). Any colour group that isn't the smallest or largest is disregarded from scoring. Once a player reaches the pre-determined point goal, the game ends and they are the winner.
Final Thoughts:
- Easy to teach and play.
- Perfect to introduce to anyone and even reminds me of classic card games.
- Challenging in keeping the colour groups even or keeping the gap wide.
Gap is a perfect card game to bring to family gatherings or to add in as a light filler. If you know anyone who loves classic card games like Skip Bo or Uno, or even the more modern card classics like No Thanks. Then Gap meets this genre perfectly. There is almost a trick taking element to the order as you need to play your cards to maximise your point potential as well as deciding what’s worth getting from the centre. Your card may be worth playing or you may hope to hold out long enough to have no possible plays and rid that card straight into the centre. If you like games of this weight and magnitude then this is one of the newest to become an instant classic; closing the gap between old and new gamers.
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