Yubibo Review: A Fun Team Game with Sticks and Fingers

Yubibo is a game where you work together with your friends. It is a game about using your hands, sticks, and soft sponge balls. The game is made for 2 to 8 players. It is good for people aged 6 and up. A single game usually takes about 5 to 10 minutes to play. I played a copy of the game that the publisher gave to me.

The name of the game has a fun meaning. Yubi means finger in the Japanese language. Bo means stick in Japanese. So, the name Yubibo basically means “Fingersticks.” That is a clever name for a game about fingers and sticks.

How to Set Up the Game

Setting up Yubibo is very simple. First, you need to pick the right number of sticks. The number of sticks you use depends on how many people are playing. For example, if you have 4 players, you use 12 sticks. If you have 5 players, you use 14 sticks.

Next, every player picks a color. Each player gets a deck of cards in that color. Then, you shuffle all the cards together into one big pile. You place this pile in the middle of the table where everyone can reach it.

During the game, players use one hand to hold the sticks. The other hand is used to pick up cards from the pile. You must keep your hands ready for these two different jobs.

How to Play the Game

Players take turns drawing a card from the pile. The card tells you which finger to use. You have to use that specific finger to support a stick. It is a test of balance and focus.

If the color on the card does not match the color of the person who drew it, a special thing happens. The person who drew the card points to the player who has that matching color. That player is now the “Nominated Player.”

The Nominated Player must connect the stick using the finger shown on the card. The person who drew the card (the Active Player) connects the stick using any finger they want. The goal is to connect the sticks without dropping them.

If the color on the card matches the person who drew it, the rules change a little bit. The Active Player gets to choose who to nominate. They can pick any player they want to help them.

Now, the roles switch. The Nominated Player can use any finger they want to connect the stick. However, the Active Player must use the finger shown on the card. The rule is that the finger on the card must always be used by someone.

Winning and Losing

The main goal is to work together as a team. You need to hold all the sticks up in the air. You cannot let any stick fall onto the table. You are fighting against gravity.

If you want to make the game harder, you can add the sponge balls. You try to balance the balls on top of the sticks. But this is very tricky. Each pair of sticks can only hold one ball. Also, the balls cannot touch any other balls or any fingers.

The team wins if all the sticks are held up successfully. The number of sticks depends on the player count. The team loses if even one stick falls to the ground. The game ends very fast if someone drops a stick.

My Thoughts on Yubibo

Yubibo is a very challenging game. It tests your dexterity and coordination. I am not very good at these types of games. My hands get sweaty when I am nervous, which makes it hard to hold things. Also, I have small hands, which makes it harder to hold many sticks. Despite this, I still have fun playing it.

The game has changed from an older version. In the old version, each player had a deck of cards for each hand. It was very hard to flip a card over when both hands were busy holding sticks. We had to ask someone else to sit out just to flip cards for us. The new version fixes this problem. Now, each player uses only one hand for sticks. This leaves the other hand free to draw cards.

If your group is very good at the game, you can add the foam balls. This makes it much more difficult. My group usually does not worry about the balls. We are too busy trying to keep the sticks from falling.

The game is very easy to teach. Most people can learn the rules in one or two minutes. Each game is short, but people usually want to play again right away. It is nice that the game works with up to 8 players. Many dexterity games do not work well with that many people. It is actually quite fun with a large group. You end up with many fingers and sticks in the air.

If your hands do not get sweaty, you should try this game. It is a fun challenge. I only used the photos provided by the publisher. I could not take my own pictures because I did not have a free hand to hold a phone.

What Other Players Think

Joe Huber played the game twice. He played the basic game once and the advanced game with foam balls once. He said it is a game that works well. The rules are clear. He learned the game from someone else, so he is not sure if the written rules are clear. He said the game is fast. If you do poorly like his group did, the game is really fast. Joe said he would not ask to play the game. However, he would not say no if someone asked him to play. He might try to play something else first. If you like this type of game, you might enjoy it more than he did.

Dan B. also played the game twice. Like me, he has small hands. He does not think small hands work well for this game. He thinks it might be okay if everyone has big hands. He is willing to try the game again if asked. The game is over very fast, usually in 90 seconds or so.

Matt C. played the game with his family using three players. They had fun with it. He thinks he could bring the game out again and his family would play it. However, they are currently playing a different dexterity game called Nekojima. That game is longer than Yubibo, but his family prefers it. Matt has not played Yubibo with the teenagers he works with yet. He thinks the quick teaching time and group fun might make it a good game to keep.