Overview (from BGG) & Theme
It's the day of the big concert and vehicles are coming in from all directions! Can you handle the rush of traffic by cleverly parking all incoming vehicles to maximize your points? From veteran strategy puzzle game designer Daryl Chow and acclaimed Japanese illustrator TANSAN, Overparked brings an interactive puzzle strategy experience like no other!
Rules & Setup:
The rules are pretty simple and quick to learn, and the set up only takes a few minutes as everyone starts with a few items on their board but no vehicles at this stage.
Gameplay
Players take turns to rotate the steering wheel, determining the vehicles that will come to each player's lot. Then, all players decide which vehicles to place. The game ends when one player has no space left and all players will score for their connected vehicles, surrounded trucks and objectives to see who is the master parker!
Starting with 2 vehicle cards per player, each turn the players get a new card and then choose one of the three cards they have to place vehicles or take bonus actions / tokens that will help them both fill up their parking lot and potentially score the 3 bonus public objectives laid out on the table which give additional end of game scoring points.
Each type of vehicle is a different colour and you also score for having connected types of the same colour on your player board as well
You also have traffic cones on your board which you can park over, but these if not negated will give you negative points at the game end scoring.
Motorbikes are single space wild vehicles that can potentially score for multiple colours, and you also collect keys which negate the minus points for unused vehicles and cones.
When you select a card you wish to use on your turn from the 3 you have, you then take the matching vehicle tiles from the supply and they must be arranged on your board in the layout shown on the card, i.e. side by side, L shape, T shape and other combos you must then put onto your board. If any of the vehicles can’t fit or overlap the edges of the board then they go into a ‘holding’ area and if not removed later in the game they score negative points at the end game scoring phase.
Artwork and Components:
There isn’t much artwork as such, as the vehicles are just basic cars, lorries etc as if looking down on them from above, and each one is a different colour and they take up 1, 2, 3 or 4 spaces depending on the type of vehicle.
Similarly, the components are pretty basic but adequate for the size and cost of the game
The Good:
The game surprised me in how good it was for such a simple theme, and we ended up playing it 3 times in a row, and we all said we’d definitely play it again, either as the main game of the night or as a filler. It is also small enough you could potentially play on a long train journey
The Other:
The components could be a bit better produced, but again they are adequate for the game as it is.
Final Thoughts:
I liked the game and I’m considering getting it myself, as it also has a solo mode so could again be something to break out at home when I fancy a quick and simple game to while away an hour or so.
If you’re looking for something similar or a nice little game that the family could easily play, then check out Overparked.
