Lucio Rodriguez

Game Synopsis

In Cabanga! (also released as Snailed it!*), players attempt to get rid of their hand of cards, or, failing that, end the turn with as few points as possible.

Four Row Color cards, each in a different color, are placed at the center of the table, and each hand these rows are randomly seeded with two of the eight grey starting number cards.

*both Cabanga! and Snailed it! cards will be pictured in the review

The deck is four colors, each set containing the numbers one to eighteen, and can only be played in the corresponding-colored row. You can play atop either card in that row, attempting to keep the range between these cards as narrow as possible, because if your opponents hold any of the on-color cards within this range, they can shout, “Cabanga!” and offload them, reducing their hand and increasing yours. Offloaded cards are counted and then discarded, and the player draws new cards equal to that number.

With your hand of cards winnowing down, your options narrow. Do you play it safe, playing in the same color as the player before you, forcing you to draw a penalty card? Or do you risk it and play your only yellow card, which will leave an uncomfortably large gap?

The game ends when a player has reached a cumulative 18 or more points—the player with the fewest points is the winner.

Why We Love Cabanga!

Cabanga! is all the things you could want in a short card game: it’s easy to teach, easy to set up, and keeps players engaged even when it isn’t their turn. And with a 20-minute playtime, it doesn’t overstay its welcome.

Set up is quick: A total of twelve cards, four row color and eight starting number cards; shuffle the 72 card deck and deal eight to each player. Somehow, even with new players, you’ve basically taught the game by the time set-up is complete.

Each hand starts similarly—you play a card that creates the non-gaps. 5 next to 6, 17 next to 18. But the few cards remaining in your hand feel like debts you eventually must pay. Sitting on a solitary red and bunch of yellow, and then the player before you plays yellow? You have a choice: play the yellow but draw a penalty card, which feels like treading water because your hand size hasn’t decreased. Or risk playing the red, even though it’s creating a four-card gap.

As light and straightforward as the game is, it isn’t entirely luck based. A keen player will keep an eye on what numbers have been played in each color—there’s only one of each, so remembering which cards have been played can inform which gaps are safe.

Also, the cards have 1-3 “point” icons on each side, with the icons distributed in a normal curve—that is, cards on either end of the line (1 and 18, for instance), being worth only one point, while those in the middle (such as 7 and 8), have three point-icons. Sometimes, when it looks like someone is close to ending the hand, it’s best to rid yourself of the high-point value cards.

Most importantly, Cabanga! is raucous. Though players may be gentle the first few times they’re able to offload cards to an opponent, it’s not long before they’re shouting, “Cabanga!” and tossing cards across the table. Even when it’s not your turn, you’re engaged, watching for the moment an opponent leaves a gap that allows you to shout and offload cards from your hand.

Cabanga! does a great job building moments of tension where you’re forced to leave a too-large gap, punctuated with a sigh of relief—or an explosion of laughter, cards flying at you from three different opponents. Even when you’ve played your last card, winning isn’t guaranteed: you still have to hope your opponents can’t save themselves with one last “Cabanga!”

Congratulations to designer Michael Modler

More information on Cabanga! at Board Game Geek