- Designer: Shintaro Ono
- Publisher: Allplay
- Players: 1 or more
- Age: 8 and up
- Time: 10 minutes
- Played with a copy from the publisher
In Tearable Quest, you get strong weapons, fight bad boss monsters, and open shiny treasure boxes. You do it all by tearing paper. Every player gets one sheet of paper. Each round, everyone sees a goal card. It might show two swords and a one-eyed giant, for example. A boss card comes out too. It stays the same the whole game.
Start a timer for two minutes and begin your adventure. To finish a goal, tear off just the icons on the card. No extra parts. The icons must be all there on your pieces. Bits that are not complete do not count. You can tear more than one set for extra points. Check the back of your paper for bonuses or bad curses. Hold it to the light if needed. After three rounds, the one with most points wins.
I have loved this game since I tried the first Japanese version a few years back. It is silly and fun as you rip small pieces from your sheet. You need the right icons and only those. It is harder than it seems. Even a tiny rip into an icon ruins that piece.
You can hold the sheet to light to see back icons. Try for treasure box bonuses or dodge curse icons that take away points.
You keep one paper through all rounds. Use that same sheet for the full game. So you must manage your paper well. Do not tear too much early or you have little left later.
It is a loud game with laughs, sweaty palms, and a good feeling when your paper is all ripped up at the end.
Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers
- I love it! Dale Y
- I like it.
- Neutral.
Soda Jerk
- Designer: Chris Yi
- Publisher: Allplay
- Players: 2 to 4
- Age: 6 and up
- Time: 15 minutes
- Played with a copy from the publisher
In Soda Jerk, you get cards with soda flavors like strawberry, blueberry, banana, kiwi, and orange. On your turn, you can do one of two things.
- Put a card face down by one of the taps. The taps match the flavors: strawberry, blueberry, banana, kiwi, or orange.
- Turn over a face-down card.
Play goes on until someone starts with three cards in hand. Or all players flip cards one after another. Or all table cards are up. Then check each tap. Turn over any left-down cards. Add up matching flavors. Subtract wrong ones. A tap can give minus points.
Now score your hand. Cards left in hand get points from the tap that matches. If you have two strawberry and that tap is 8, you get 16. Aim for high points and make others lose.
The game is about bluffing and watching others. Guess which flavors will score high at end. Hold those cards. Sometimes everyone piles on one flavor and it goes bad. Players dump cards to avoid losses.
The trick with your hand is you want cards for good taps. But if no one plays to a tap, it stays low.
Sometimes flip a card to check if worth keeping. Or see what others think of a flavor. Or just pass a turn. But often one player plays fast and ends the game quick.
I am not sure if it is group habit, but it pushes you to pick flavors fast.
There is a harder way with special powers for each flavor when you play. But it adds too much think. This game fits best as a quick, easy 10-minute break.
Vivo
- Designer: LEO
- Publisher: Allplay
- Players: 3 to 4
- Age: 10 and up
- Time: 30 minutes
- Played with a copy from the publisher
In Vivo, each round picks a harmony: Solo, Duet, Trio, or Quartet. It sets how many different suits you must play in the trick. If you can’t, it is off-harmony. That player gets no points. Your card does not count.
At trick end, highest on-harmony card gets 2 points. Lowest on-harmony gets points equal to its value. Low notes matter. Suits do not as long as valid. Ties go to later play. Lowest on-harmony leads next.
Do all 12 harmony cards, that is 12 tricks per round. Play two rounds total. Most points wins.
Hand management is key. High and low cards win. A mid card can score big late. Keep many suits to play in more tricks later.
Luck plays in with harmony draws and turn order for big scores. Count high cards per suit, low cards, and harmonies. A sneaky 7 or 8 low at end can win big.
