Designers: Ikhwan Kwon
Publisher: Happy Camper
Artist: Lisa Goldstein
2-6 players | 20 min. | ages 10+ | MSRP $17 | BGG Entry
Time to teach & learn: 3-4 minutes
Game Synopsis
Assembling fruit salad is a collective effort in Combo. Each turn you will offer a single face up fruit card, hoping it will be part of the strongest combination created by all player’s face up cards at the end of the round. Combos are ranked like Poker hands from Super Slushie (a straight flush) down to the Sweet Scraps (high card). High cards have a better chance of counting in the winning combo but score the least points. Low cards are worth the most points but harder to score. And beware of the dreaded tie! Truly tied cards in a winning combo have their score sliced in half. Add up all your winning fruit after a few short rounds, and the player with the highest score will savor the juicy taste of victory.
Why We Love Combo
You are part of an ever-shifting bowl of fruit when you play Combo. One by one cards are played out, each card pushing closer to a set of cards that might score. I play an 8 of cherries and the next player, plays a 7 of bananas. We are on our way to a Ripe Run. The next player plays a 7 of oranges. Suddenly a Smoothie (a four of a kind) is beginning to take shape. The next player has the power to shift focus toward one combo and away from the other. If they play another 7, we are only one card away from the Smoothie. If they play a 6, the run is in position to score. Every turn in the game has a sense of tension and anticipation because a single card can send the combo careening off in an unexpected direction, making some cheer and others groan in disgust.
You have seven cards to choose from each turn but your hand does not refresh between rounds. This adds a fun and challenging element of hand management to consider as you select fruit to play on any turn. The contents of your hand will change, but slowly, since you play one card and draw one to replace it. If you only have a few high scoring cards in your hand, you may hold them in reserve until the best chance to cash in presents itself.
Turn order is also a fun dance in Combo. The later you go in the turn order, the more you may be able to sway the strongest combo in your favor. One group may be hoping you will finish off a grape Flush (four cards of the same fruit – a Slushie) but you play a 2 of blueberries to complete a Run instead.
WHEN you play a fruit in Combo can be as important as WHAT fruit you play.
This uncertainty and tension creates a climate suited for bluffing and banter as each round builds to a crescendo. Some of the best moments happen when a big combo doesnt come together and everyone scrambles for the scraps. There will be cheering and cajoling and cries of mock outrage and laughter when the dust settles each round.
You can’t go it alone in Combo. You always need help and you never know from what corner of the table it could come. Your decisions are never made from a place of perfect information. You can nudge the combo in a direction friendly to your cause, but the magic card you need to bring it all together may not even be in the deck in this game. You do the best you can to find those who will help you succeed together, knowing it could all fall apart, despite your best effort. This seems like a wonderful metaphor for life and also a delicious recipe for Major Fun.
Congratulations to designer Ikhwan Kwon!
More information on Combo at: Happy Camper
