I saw a video about this game on Tiktok and thought it looked like a good game to have in our inventory: simple (good for me), child-friendly (good for the small human), portable (good for Skullen as they cannot go anywhere without taking at least one game) and aesthetically interesting (good for all of us - carabiners, things that go click-click and bright colours!)
It must have been fate that I found it in a charity shop the very next day. There was no packaging, but because of the bright colours and unique design and presentation (did I mention it’s on a carabiner?) I instantly recognised it and couldn’t believe my luck (TWO POUNDS). I googled the rules and we took it to play in a Boba Cafe - I had matcha tea with golden pearls, it was delicious, thank you for asking.
The game couldn’t be easier to learn and play; be the first player to get five tiles in a row to win. You can only place a tile next to another tile that has already been placed, with two sides touching. Think naughts and crosses or connect four, but with more potential for sabotage. It’s deceptively simple, but there’s actually quite a few things going on and you need to be able to concentrate on doing more than one thing at once. On one hand you are trying to make a row of five, which other players seem intent on stopping, and on the other hand you are trying to prevent the other players on making a row of five, and because there is no grid like naughts and crosses or connect 4, there are seemingly infinite possibilities and it’s tricky to think even one or two moves ahead. Plus if you’re playing against multiple opponents, you’ve got even more to think about with each additional player. Spend too long focusing on your own tiles or the tiles of just one other player and you’ll not notice another player is going to win; spend too much time sabotaging others and it feels like you’re not making any progress towards a win for yourself.
I have mentioned it twice already, but I feel like the physical design of this game needs its own paragraph. The simple plastic tiles have a nice feel to them, chunky but light. They stack nicely on their rods and make a nice clicking noise as they come off and go on, as do the rods when you clip them in and out of the main unit. They are bright and big enough to not get lost if you drop one, which is a useful feature when playing any game with me. They have a slightly raised and beveled edge which means they are easy to pick up, place and move and therefore I think this would be a good game for people with limited mobility in their hands (or at the very least, little fingers and fingers with long acrylic nails). There’s no cardboard box or fabric pouch like all our other portable games which means it’s impervious to leaking drinks bottles in bags and being dropped in puddles in the street when you’re unpacking to find that cereal bar/lip balm/toy/paracetamol you know you have in there somewhere.
Though I am smart enough to understand and play OK Play, I am not sure I am smart enough win it: and by my assessment, that is the perfect balance for a cheap, cheerful, casual tabletop (or ground, stone, grass or sand-top) game.
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