Combo Creatures 

• Designer: Christian Kudahl and Michael Lohde Andersen
• Publisher: dv Games
• Players: 2-4
• Age: 8+
• Time: 30 minutes
• Amazon affiliate link: 
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Tiny creatures battle it out using their powers, skills, and surprising combinations. Mix and match sets, create ever-changing combos, and find the perfect strategy to win: every game is different, fast-paced, and full of twists and turns! What will be your next combo?

Shuffle the cards and deal 5 cards to each player. Then reveal 5 cards in the center of the table — this is the Wild.

On your turn, choose one of two actions:

DRAW 2 CARDS
or
PLAY A CREATURE

Follow the instructions on the card:
If the effect allows you to play one or more additional cards, resolve their abilities as well.

This is a COMBO!

To start, choose any 7 sets of Creature cards to play with.  If you have multiple Combo Creatures boxes, you can freely mix and match amongst those boxes.  You can also optionally use the Randomizer cards to choose for you.  The rules suggest always choosing 2 creatures with the square icon in the bottom right and always choosing 5 creatures with a spiral in the bottom right.

Shuffle the deck of 70 cards into a single deck and then deal each player 5 cards.  Finally, reveal five cards face up on the table as The Wild.  Play then happens clockwise, and in each turn, the active player has the choice to either Draw or Play.

Draw: draw 2 cards in any combination from the Wild or the top of the deck.  Your hand has a hard limit of 8 cards.  After your turn, refill the Wild.

Play: Play a creature card from your hand, discarding a number of cards from your hand equal to the cost shown in the top left. Stack similar cards on top of each other in your play area.  Then, use the ability of the card you just played.  All abilities are optional, but if you choose to enact an ability, you must do as much as you can of that ability. 

The abilities vary and may allow you to:

• Draw cards from the deck
• Take cards from the Wild
• Play another card
• Take another turn
• Copy an already played ability

The game continues until a player has played their 8th card in front of them.  Continue the current round until all players have had the same number of turns, and then one more full round is played.

The game is now scored.  Each card played to the table is worth one point per coin on the card.  Then, cards remaining in hand are worth one point each IF you have played 2 or more cards of that type.  The player with the most points is the winner, ties broken in favor of the player who has played the most points.

My thoughts on the game

Combo Creatures was sold to me as a rapid fire game with crazy card combinations – and it has definitely lived up to that description.  The idea is so simple, draw or play. If you play, do what the card says. Repeat. Games fly by in an instant – we’ve had games end in as few as three turns!  (Though that certainly seems to be an outlier).

Since games can play that fast, I’d say that it’s best to think of this as a tactical game.  While there are seven different animal types in each game, there aren’t enough turns to come up with long-term strategies (at least IMO); instead, just make the best plan you can with the cards you can see at the time and run with it.

Depending on how the cards play out, it is definitely possible to combo lots of cards on a turn.  As I mentioned earlier, we had one game end in 3 turns; I was able to play 4 cards on my first turn (all small VP cards), and then played four more cards on the third turn. I ended up with 12 points, but I figured that I had a chance to win because the other players hadn’t had enough turns to play cards.  The final player in turn order had only played one card at that point and used his full 8-card hand to lay down four high scoring cards on his last turn to win, scoring 14!  It was definitely an unexpected win, but the card combinations allow for such memorable plays.

There is obviously plenty of variation from game to game as you can exchange in any set of 7 animals to play.  I do love the way that the game is packaged – you get a starting deck shrinkwrapped together – this has the recommended starting set of 7 animals.  So, if you’re learning the game, you don’t have to sort anything. You literally just unwrap the starter deck, shuffle and you’re ready to go.  This is a genius idea, and one that I think other modular deck games should consider.

The artwork on the cards is great, and the icons/card text are easy to grok. If you need help, there is a reference on the back page of the rules, but really after a game or two, you won’t need this at all.  

You should know that there are two different versions for sale, each with its own set of 12 different animal types to play – and the animals from the two boxes can be freely mixed and matched.  There is easily enough space in either box to hold all the cards from both. If you are looking for a game with great card combos, this is one to try for sure!

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

• I love it!  Dale Y
• I like it. John P
• Neutral.
• Not for me…