Cat in the Box and Mino Dice redefine the trick game

Not one proposal this week, but two. Two games which have in common a well-known principle, but also, and above all, a very original way of approaching it.

Cat in the Box And Mino Dice are in fact part of the large family of trick (or trick) games. While the name may not mean anything to you, chances are you’ve already played a game like this: Bidge, Tarot, Belote… timeless ones that don’t age.

The principle is always more or less the same. Each player has a hand of cards, of different values ​​and suits. The first card played defines the color of this round, and to win the trick, you must play the highest value in the requested color. Unless you play a trump card that trumps the rest.

But our two recommendations, released very recently, go a little further and both offer a small twist which gives them a very particular flavor.

To be complete, a third title should be added, Tatsu, in which we ask others to play cards for us. Unfortunately we didn’t have the opportunity to play it, but the feedback on it is also very enthusiastic.

Cat in the Boxthe studious and surprising trick game

Presentation of Cat in the Box

Published by Matagot, Cat in the Box Played by 2 to 5 players, aged 10 and over, for games of around 30 minutes.

How to play Cat in the Box

Cat in the Box has a rather classic approach at first glance: three suits, a trump suit, in turn, you play a card, and the strongest in the requested suit wins. Except that all the cards are… black!

Indeed, it is when you play your card that you decide its color. If you place a 4 for example, it could just as easily be blue, yellow, green or red. That’s how it suits you. Obviously, if a yellow 4 has already been played previously, yours cannot be yellow. A small board allows you to remember which values ​​of which colors have already been played by whom.

You can even refuse to play the requested color, but you will then no longer be able to play other cards of that color throughout this round.

There comes a time when a player can no longer play, because he does not have the right value in hand, or he no longer has the appropriate color at his disposal. Especially since there are five cards of each value, for only four possible colors. A paradox then arises (hence the theme of the game), which ends the round.

Our opinion on Cat in the Box

Trick games are often played at aperitifs, while having drinks and discussing everything and nothing with friends. Not with Cat in the Box. Because the game requires concentration and reflection. To the point of literally turning your brain upside down during the first few laps.

Cat in the Box is smart as anything. A sleek, playful nugget in a small box. If you like the genre, rush for it. It is proof that it is still possible to innovate, while basing oneself on an archiclassical (some would say hackneyed) principle, but still as effective. The icing on the cake is that the material is very cool and the illustrations are very cute.

Mino Dicewho said that a trick game can only be played with cards?

Overview of the game Mino Dice

Edited by Iello, Mino Dice Played by 3 to 6 players, aged 8 and over, for games of around 30 minutes.

Progress of part of Mino Dice

In Mino Dice, you play more and more rounds each round: one round in the first round, two in the next… up to eight rounds in the eighth round. In each turn, the first player gives the suit, and the others must follow or play one of the three trump colors.

But be careful, because at the start of the round, everyone bets on the number of tricks they think they will make. We score points if we succeed in our bet, and we lose points if we fail. Not easy, especially since we don’t know the hands of the other players.

Does this remind you of anything? Normal, Mino Dice takes up the principle of excellent Skull King. But with a major difference: the cards are replaced by… dice!

And that changes everything. With a card, when we play a blue 5, we know that it is a blue 5 (unless we play Cat in the Box 😀). In Mino Dice, we know the color, but the value depends on the goodwill of lady luck. Worse still, even the strongest trump suit in the game can get beaten, or even fall to face 0.

Our opinion on Mino Dice

So yes, indeed, we don’t control much. It’s not easy to respect your bet when chance gets involved, but what you lose in control, you gain in fun. Widely.

We laugh all game long. To make fun of the results of your opponents, before taking a return of karma in our turn. Everyone can play it and everyone can win, as there are so many twists and turns and dice rolls that defy the odds.

Mino Dice is without a doubt the most fun tricks game we’ve ever played. Do you like dice games in addition to trick games? Go for it, you’ll love it.

In short

We liked

• What a laugh!
• Anything can happen, anyone can win a trick… even when you don’t want to

We liked less

• Randomly allergic? Run away !

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