Odin

• Designers: Gary Kim, Hope S. Hwang, Yohan Goh
• Publisher: Helvetiq
• Players: 2-4
• Age: 7+
• Time: 15 minutes
• Played with copy provided by Helvetiq

In Odin, you want to empty your hand as quickly as possible, sending all your Vikings out into the world.

The game lasts several hands, with each hand consisting of one or more rounds. The deck contains cards in six suits, each numbered 1-9, and each player starts with a hand of nine cards.

The lead player for the hand lays a single card on the table. The next player either passes (but can play on a future turn) or plays the same number of cards (or one more than that number) with a higher value. When you play two or more cards, the cards must be the same number or color, and the value of these cards is created by placing their digits in order from high to low. For example, if you play a blue 3 and blue 6, their value is 63, not 36. When you play and are not the lead, you must take one of the cards from the previous play into your hand, then discard the rest.

Play continues around the table until either a player is out of cards, which ends the round immediately, or all players have passed in succession. In the latter case, discard the cards last played; whoever played these cards lays a single card to start a new round. Alternatively, if the lead player has cards in hand of a single suit or number, they play all of these cards at once to end the hand. When a hand ends, each player scores 1 point for each card they still hold.

If no player has at least 15 points, shuffle the deck and start a new hand. If someone does have 15 or more points, whoever has the fewest points wins.

My thoughts on the game

Odin is a quick little filler that gives you a little bit more than you would first expect.  When I read the rules, I thought that this would be a trifle of a kids/family game – but as it turns out, there is a bit more strategy to Odin than was first apparent.

What I like here is the way that you constantly upgrade your hand with each play – it reminds me of Scout, another one of my favorite shedding games.  As you always have to take one of the cards from the previous play (when you play), you have to be planning on how to deal with the cards that you’re going to get.  In Odin, the card retrieval is automatic with each play, so this will change your tactics a bit as compared to Scout.

If the previous play doesn’t match up well with your hand – you might even want to risk passing and let someone else play first so that you don’t have to take a card that ends up as a single in your own hand!

Be sure to watch how many cards everyone else holds in their hand at that time though – because if you wait too long, you might lose the chance to play at all, and then each of the cards left in your hand will score you a penalty point.   

The artwork is cartoony and appealing to children/families, and this is the stated market for Helvetiq – so it’s a good fit.   As with all their games, rules are available in a multitude of languages.  I have actually started to use these games as a way to practice my German and Spanish – trying to read the rules first in a foreign language and then checking my comprehension with the English rules. 

For a little filler, there is a bit more than meets the eye, and I think this will find the table a few more times this spring with the game groups around here.

Until your next appointment,

The Gaming Doctor