Fast, economical and fun board games

Because back to school has been expensive, it’s nice to find games that are economical, fun, and on top of that, quick to play. This is a very tempting trio.

Coatl – The card game

• 1 to 4 players
• 10 years +
• 25 minutes
• $24.99

After the board game, Quebec creators Pascale Brassard and Étienne Dubois-Roy offer us a new adventure in an Aztec temple, but in the form of a card game.

This time around, rather than collecting colored coins to craft a snake, players will need to place feather cards one after the other to fulfill prophecies. The more times a prophecy is fulfilled, the higher the player’s level will increase.

But since it’s a smart game, it’s also possible to steal another player’s prophecy card. A prophecy is only secure at level three, after it has been fulfilled three times. It then becomes impossible for others to steal it. It is therefore also a race especially since the game is played over five rounds.

Players will score points according to the length of their snake, but also according to the colors that compose it. There are also common objectives that improve the score. The winner is obviously the player who collects the most points.

This is a fast game created in Quebec with an original theme and very nice material. In addition, it is very affordable. It has everything to be appreciated.

Mandrake

• 2 to 4 players
• 8 years +
• 20 minutes
• $24.99

As part of Black Magic Friday, witchcraft shops have sales. The witches therefore dispatch an apprentice to replenish their stock.

In this game co-authored by the well-known Bruno Cathala, you will have to collect magic items and grimoires to trigger spells that will grant you powers that will be either immediate, that will be in use until the end of the game or that will will grant a privilege at the end of the game.

The game revolves around ten shop tiles that are placed in a circular fashion in the center of the table. We will put a card face up on the day stalls and cards face down on the three night stalls.

In turn, the player can choose between sending the apprentice to the market or casting a spell.

In the case of the apprentice, it is possible to move him a maximum of three stalls and he will collect the ingredients on the one where he stops. A card is added to each shop he encounters on the way, including the one where he stops.

If a player chooses to cast a spell, he will have to choose a grimoire in his hand and associate it with as many ingredients of the same color. The number of ingredients used will determine the value of the spell cast. The player will then retrieve a spell of the prescribed value and apply the benefit received.

We’re going to do this until the stockpile of ingredients is exhausted and we’re going to play three last turns.

We will then calculate the points according to the value of each spell and the value of the grimoire associated with each of them. Moreover, there are curses among the ingredients. The player who has the most will be penalized by two points. The player with the most points wins.

This is another simple and fast game whose theme may appeal to the youngest.

Llama Party Edition

2 to 6 players

• 8 years +
• 20 minutes
• $14.99

Here is a crazy and slightly wacky game where, to win, you have to be the player with the fewest points.

We play in turns and at the beginning of each turn, the players all have seven cards in hand. We place a first card from the draw pile on the table and this is the basis of the game because the players will have to play a card of the same value as that on the discard pile or of a higher point, the cards being numbered from 1 at 6.

But there are llamas, which must absolutely be played on another llama or on a six, while some can only be played on a llama.

On your turn, you must play a card from your hand. If this is impossible, you must then draw a new one or decide to stop playing in this round.

Because you see, the round stops as soon as a player has no more cards in hand. The other players will accumulate chips according to the value of the cards remaining in their hand, knowing that the game ends as soon as a player completes a round and has at least 40 points accumulated.

We take the value in chips of each number that we have left in our hand, knowing that a player only takes the chips once per value, regardless of the number of cards of these that are in our possession. . And llamas are worth ten points. Tokens are one point, ten points and twenty points.

While the other players are accumulating, the player who has emptied his hand can remove a token from his kitty, so he can remove a twenty point at once if he wishes.

This party edition adds two elements, each value has a card with the symbol +, which means that the player can play a second time immediately. And there is also the pink llama which is worth twenty points, but which has the advantage of being able to be played on any card.