Game On! Review: Go Nuts for Donuts! (Gamewright)
A little about our family… My wife and I love playing board games, card games and any tabletop game that we can get our hands on in our home. Recently we have been teaching and including my almost 8- year-old son and my 4-year-old daughter in our latest game nights with much success. With so many great games out there, it’s difficult for families to know what is a great game for family game night and what is a waste of money. Every two weeks we will have a new game to review and if any reader has suggestions for us, please let us know in the comments below!
Who We Are:
Jason Brigger, aka the Dad: Co-host of the weekly pop culture centric podcast, The History of Bad Ideas (on Nerdly!), along with a weekly review of Black Lightning the television series!
The Boy: My almost 8-year-old son who enjoys any type of game, from video games to board games to card games, as long as it makes him think. I (Jason) will summarize his thoughts because have you ever heard how long an 8-year-old’s story is?
The Mom: The Female Perspective will be a guest in this column from time to time in order to bring another perspective to the games we review.
Officially, What Is It?
Per Gamewright: “A massive tray of donuts sits on the table. You and your fellow donut lovers want to eat as many donuts as you can, but there is no sharing with these donuts. If two or more people pick the same donut, nobody gets it! Pick your donuts wisely and see if you can get the most donut points!”
What’s Included: 70 Donuts cards, 42 Number cards, 7 donut row markers, Rules of Play booklet.
If you like fast-paced card games, than Go Nuts for Donuts is the ideal game for your friends and family. The game is easy and quick to set up which provides the opportunity for multiple games in a single sitting.
Donut cards are placed faced up below each numerical column, with one extra column than players (if you have three players, four columns are used) is used. The remaining Donut cards are faced down in a deck and everyone begins with the same amount of Number Cards as there are columns in the game. Once all players put a Numbers card face down to correlate to the Donut cards below the numerical column on the table, the Number cards are turned over. Each player receives the Donut card under the corresponding column in relation to the player’s Numbers card played but if two or more players play the same Numbers card, no one gets the card and the Donut card moves to the discard pile. The game ends when all Donut cards in the deck are played and each player tallies their points. The player with the most points win the game and bragging rights!
Each type of Donuts card has special “powers” and/or scoring variations. A few examples of our favorite ones are listed below:
- Bear Claw — Score minus two (-2) points but pick a card from another player
- Boston Cream — Zero points for first card, five (5) points for second Boston Cream card, zero points for third card, ten (10) points for your fourth Boston Cream card, etc.
- Cinnamon Twist — Zero points but all players pass a card to the left
- Day Old Donuts — Score minus seven (-7) points but pick up to three (3) cards from the discard pile
- French Cruller — Score two (2) points and you are given the choice to discard any remaining Donut cards face up after that round
- Milk — Score five (5) points but you must discard three (3) of your cards
The number of Donut cards played per game varies based on the number of players so a game is different each time. You can also be like my family and just play with all the cards, despite the number of players in the game. You try telling a four-year-old that she can’t pick the Milk card!
What We Liked About The Game
Dad: I enjoy the easiness of picking up the game and being able to play, no matter what your skill or experience level is in gaming. I like that my whole family can sit down and play two or three games in one sitting and not having to explain the rules or special abilities of the cards each time to everyone playing the game. I also appreciate the fun nature of the animation on the cards. The art is very welcoming and innocent looking which allows children feel more comfortable playing than more detailed animation in other card games.
The Boy: I like the variation and numerous ways to gain points. I enjoy that players can gain points by collecting a lot of cards or by gaining as few cards as possible. The endless amount of ways to win the game makes me keep playing and trying to figure out new strategies each time.
What We Didn’t Like About the Game
Dad: I was a little disappointed some of the Donut cards in the original Kickstarter game were not included in the retail version. I would have enjoyed playing the “Bacon”, “Apple Fritter” and “Blueberry Glazed” cards as they would have added even more strategy to the game but I understand that the Kickstarter version, after switching game developers, changed a few of the original cards.
The Boy: From a practical side, I wished individual boxes were available to place the cards in when you are not playing because the box that is included can sometimes bend the cards. I also wished they could develop a box/case that could allow players to “save” a current game in case someone has to leave and you have to finish the game at a later time.
______
Replay Value: HIGH. The game is relatively quick at approximately 15-20 minutes and my kids enjoy playing this game multiple times in a night. There is not much to setup and no “down time” during the actual play of the game.
Recommended Age, Per Developer: Eight (8) years and older
Our Recommended Age: Children age five and up should have no issue learning and enjoying the game. My four-year-old daughter had no issue picking up the rules of the game and if your child can learn Skip-Bo, Uno or other card games, they should have no issue with learning Go Nuts for Donuts.
______
Final Score:
Dad’s Grade: B
The Boy’s Grade: B
Go Nuts for Donuts is a fun card game that is a great step to teaching your children more advanced tabletop card games. The cost is $8.99 on Amazon.com so even if you are hesitant if the game is right for your family, it’s a reasonably cheap game to add to your game night. This game is just not for families though; my wife and I played this game multiple times with several of our friends on our own game night to very positive reviews.
