A dexterity game the size of a packet of your favourite chewing gum? Let’s see if this really is as “fly” as the name suggests…
Introduction
It’s another Pack O Games review and this one stands out for me as it’s the only dexterity-style game I’ve played in this series. But how can that work in a very small box with just a few cards? Let’s find out shall we?
Setup
This is a good old-fashioned 2-4 player game with some very simple setup. Simply take the 27 tablecloth cards, give them a shuffle and set them out in a 9×3 grid to mimic the top of a table. Set the two flyswatter cards to the side to be shared by the players, and finally tuck the sky card into the very top of the box and place it at the edge of the grid of cards.
You’re now ready to go, and if you thought the setup was quick, the rules won’t disappoint you either.
Drop it like it’s hot
Your turn consists of exactly one very simple thing.
Take a flyswatter card, position it somewhere over the grid and make sure it’s at least as far above the cards as the top of the sky card you have sticking out of the box, and then let go.
That’s it.
If your flyswatter covers all of a fly (or flies) depicted on the cards you take them and add them to your scoring pile. If there’s even a tiny bit of leg not fully covered well… unlucky, you missed and it’s the next person’s turn to try their luck.
If you removed any cards, you fill the gaps by sliding cards to the left of the grid to close any spaces, and then move cards up from the row below. Your top row must always have nine cards in it (until of course you have fewer than nine cards left in play).
So far so simple right?
Scoring your flies
This is where it gets comparatively complicated, though I’m at pains to say that comparison is to the impossibly straightforward stuff we’ve covered so far.
Each fly has one of five symbols on it in one of five colours and you only score points if you have at least three of the same symbol of colour. While there are two different characteristics there (shape, colour) you can only ever score each fly once, and I think this takes a little bit of more measured approach compared to the ease we’ve seen so far.
An example will probably help…
If I have blue circle, blue star and blue diamond, I can score each fly for one point as I have three blue cards. Simple.
If I have a blue circle, green circle, yellow circle, blue star and blue diamond then I’ll score a total of five points (three for each circle, and because I also have three blue cards, the star and diamond also get a point each – just note that the blue circle doesn’t score for both but it’s characteristics allow other cards to score).
It sounds complicated but when you start playing, it really isn’t.
Game end
The game ends as soon as the only two cards left are the two blank cards in the grid. You count up your points (carefully) as described above, and the victor is the person who’s scored the highest wins. Ties are broken in favour of whoever’s swatted the most flies, regardless of anything else.
Final thoughts
Really like this one that’s for sure. A dexterity game (with a little set collection for maximising points thrown in) shows how versatile these games can be, and I really love the innovation here.
We all know by now that these games are extremely portable, and this made it’s way on holiday with us over the summer where we brilliantly managed to play it sat outside a café on top of a red and white checked napkin.
It can go on a little if you’re struggling to land the perfect thwack to a fly, but it’s at most 15 minutes from box opening to closing again. The only other (small) mark I’d make against it is that moving cards after a fly has been swatted can get a little fiddly at times but never so much that it because a full-on problem.
Would definitely recommend!
