Lastly we have with Assmallows Thinking giants have already presented this year's new product. Today it's about a very funny and turbulent game. The game comes in two variants; for 4 people with 60 cards and for 6 people with 80 building cards. There is also an expansion set for two additional people.

RANKPLOGZEN – “On the blocks, get set, go!”

That's exactly what the game is about, because it's explained super quickly and can be played almost straight away. Each person receives a set of 5 different building blocks and a stack of playing cards in the middle. Also place the construction inspection card so that everyone can reach it with their hands - when you think your tower is finished, you have to place it on the card first.

Each round a task card is turned over so you can see what you have to build. The arrows indicate how you have to read the card, from the outside or from the inside. This is relatively easy with the pure color cards, but there are also fields with text where you have to take into account the color in which the word is colored. The half stones, white and black, must always be placed upright, otherwise it would be too easy.

Is that still too easy for you? Well, then there’s even more variety. It can happen when building Additional tasks give. Always pay attention to the top card from the stack, as this can require you to only be able to build with one eye or one arm. Cover your nose with one hand and form an elephant trunk with the other arm or build with short T-Rex arms. There are some tasks that may make you despair.

Is this all still too easy for you? Then throw it Professional mode at. Now each person gets double building blocks and has to stack the required pattern twice in a row. So things are going high.

No matter which mode you play, whoever can collect 10 cards (if you finish building the tower first and put your hand on the construction inspection card, you get the task card) wins the game

Do you prefer to build cooperatively? Then build one together skyscraper, in which you have to take turns building 10 stones, or place one night shift and give one person from the team the right stones one at a time and let them build blindly. As roofer you first have to throw the stones to each other as a team and at the Semi-detached house you build an identical tower one after the other. While building, you are not allowed to look at the towers or intervene in the construction.

Conclusion

RANKLOTZEN is as good as it is easy. Super simple rules with great building fun. The blocks made of beech wood look valuable and it's fun to build towers. The task cards and additional tasks offer enough variety for many fun rounds. As a rule, the towers could be a little larger, but then you can switch to professional mode or come up with your own rules. For example, we liked building two different towers on top of each other. So the effort was a little more difficult because you had to read the second card correctly first.

In the end, the game received an overall rating of 7,2. That may not sound so good, but there are simple reasons. The game isn't really complex. Yes, some tasks are difficult, but the game is still easy to learn and can be played quickly and easily. Another point is the game idea. Stacking games already exist, so Ranklotzen isn't completely reinventing the game principle. Nevertheless, it comes with its own tricks and ideas. In the end, both are points that bring the overall score down a bit, but should not take away from the great fun of the game.

Anyone who likes fast reaction games or tower building games will get their money's worth with this game.

PS: Can't get enough of building games like this? Then maybe Team 3 will be interesting for you. Here you can find a post about the party game.