Ringer

• Designer:  David Yakos
• Publisher:  Mindward
• Players: 2-5
• Age: 8+
• Time: 20 minutes
• Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4mNN3qD 
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Play cards in numerical order or different colors to try and match the dice in the center of the pile. Do you take the pile now or do you keep it going to score more when you do take it?

The deck of 105 cards is shuffled and each player is dealt a hand of 6 cards; with the remainder of the deck placed on the table as the draw pile.  The top card is flipped face up to form the Play Stack.  The die is rolled and placed in the hole in the center of that card.

On a turn, the active player may play cards from their hand so long as they are legal.  Legal plays are cards that are of adjacent number of the same suit OR matching number of a different suit.  There are four colored suits in the game as well as a wild colored suit.  Some of the cards have special abilities which are triggered as the cards are played.  Examples:

• Ask – ask an opponent for a card of a specific number or color
• Draw 1 or Draw 2 – Draw 1 or 2 cards and add them to your hand
• Take over – the only card that can be played out of turn; when you play this (legally), the current player’s turn ends and you start a turn as normal.
• Reroll – this card has no number so can only be played legally based on its color; re-roll the die and continue your turn
• Steal – choose any opponent and steal a random card from their hand and add it to yours

If you play a ringer – that is a card whose number matches the number of the die – you take the current play stack and place it in front of you into your score pile.  Flip over the top card from the deck, roll the die again and place it in the middle to start the next play stack.  Note that in this case, if the die and initial card match, you do not score a ringer..

If you cannot play a card or choose not to play a card, you can voluntarily end your turn at which point you draw a card from the deck to add to your hand.  If you have fewer than 6 cards, you draw up to 6.  There is also a max of 10; if you already have ten when you draw, you draw one and then discard back down to 10.  The next person clockwise then takes their turn.

The game ends when the draw pile is exhausted and no one can play any more cards.  At that point, players score positive one point for each card in their score pile and negative 1 point  for each card left in their hand.  Highest score wins.

My thoughts on the game

Ringer is a light family game that should be easily picked up by just about anyone.  It has a lot of rules similar to UNO, and thus, nearly everyone you know already knows a good portion of the rules!

The special cards are obviously a little different, but each player gets a helpful player aid card that should remind them of what each special icon means on those cards.   In my games, the rule which was hardest for folks to grasp was that the re-roll card didn’t have a number and could be played only when it matched the color of the card on the discard pile.

The game is pretty easy to follow, and honestly, there is the barest of strategy.  If you can make a ringer, then play cards to get there.  Otherwise, depending on your hand size, you can either stop playing cards and draw a new one, hoping to get them better connected OR you can play some cards, get under 6, and then hope to draw new cards that are better connected?

The other advantage of cycling cards is that you might draw cards with powers on them – and these can be quite useful if you are able to play them and take advantage of the powers.

Mindware is known for their family oriented games, and this is a great fit for that lineup.  It’s easy to teach, simple to play, and an enjoyable pastime with family and friends.

Until your next appointment

The Gaming Doctor

Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4mNN3qD