Game Talk Staff Picks : Feeling Lucky

Spotlight March 2021 | Feeling Lucky

Written by Johnni Medina

“Learn to recognize good luck when it’s waving at you, hoping to get your attention.”– Sally Koslow

Sometimes, you just get lucky. 

Plenty of games steer away from heavy strategy and instead let you rely on the luck of the draw (or luck of the roll)! With St. Patrick's Day right behind us, we want to share some of our favorite press-your-luck and luck-heavy games!

Trash Pandas

There is much to be learned about trying your luck from nature's bandits! In Trash Pandas, you play as raucous racoons rifling through rubbish (say that five times fast.) Roll your dice to collect, stash, or steal trash tokens. Each roll grants you a token and you can keep rolling, but if you roll the same thing twice in one round, you lose your tokens!

Will you be satisfied with a small haul or try to horde all of the trash?

Super-Skill Pinball 4-Cade

Pinball is the perfect blend of luck and skill, and Super-Skill Pinball 4-Cade is no different! Super Skill is a roll and write game that mimics the excitement of a pinball game. Each round, roll two dice to determine where your ball can go. All players share the dice rolls and have identical boards so it is up to you to carefully use the luck of the roll in your favor. As you move down the board, you will cover up die faces, limiting your options and racking up bonuses to maximize your dice rolls.

Super-Skill includes four different boards offering different themes, additional mechanics, and a new experience each time! 

Wits & Wagers - It's Vegas Baby

Sometimes you just don't know and Wits & Wagers It's Vegas Baby is a game with trivia questions so niche that you're not supposed to know the answers. Each round, the game will pose a question, such as "how many Pringles are found in the average Pringles can?" or 'What percentage of Americans make their bed every day?" Each player writes their guess but you don't have the have the closest guess to win - you just have to bet on the closest guess!

While you can use some strategy to bet on which of your friends is the best expert on any given subject, like any great betting game, Lady Luck guides the winner! This new edition features new questions and upgraded materials and components. 

Silver & Gold

The best pirates know that most treasure hunts are won by those who Lady Fortune favors! Silver & Gold is a flip and write card game where you collect treasure maps and draw cards to determine which boxes (and in which configuration) you can begin to clear your treasure maps! You are limited to the configurations you draw, but you can twist your luck to cross off different symbols, rack up points, and clear your maps!

This Game Goes to Eleven

"Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?"

"...These go to eleven."  - scene from This is Spinal Tap

Rock n' roll your way to eleven with this push your luck game. In This Game Goes To Eleven, you and your friends take turns placing number cards, hoping to be the one to bring the total to eleven by the end of the round. Set the other players up for failure by playing larger cards and carefully timing when to play trick cards. If you hit eleven, you can give the discarded cards to another player. If you go over, you take the cards! Get rid of all of your cards to win. 

This press your luck game functions similarly to games like Twenty One and blackjack but adds rockin' special cards and amped-up art!

We Didn't Playtest This 

Fortune is fickle and We Didn't Playtest This (and its follow up games) are about as chaotic as games can get! Each card is its own mini-game, with some demanding you vote for either Cake or Death, and every player who voted for the least popular word wins. Or perhaps the cards will challenge every player to a dance off. Some cards grant wins to the tallest player or the player who last called their mom, or are automatic losses for the person drawing the card. You just never know.

Does that sound random and crazy? These are exactly that, and randomness is the heart of these games. Each games is a shot in the dark or a leap of faith. Sometimes you are lucky and win, other times you aren't so fortunate and lose. But within a matter of seconds, a new game has begun, so never give up in the face of some bad luck - good luck may be just around the corner. 

 

Have fun with these amazing games... and good luck!

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