I love when a board game gives me a little piece of history. Ferris Wheel Rush is set in 1893, and after my first play, I went down a completely unnecessary rabbit hole. I can now tell you way too much about the World's Columbian Exposition.
The world's first Ferris wheel is about to open, but all the carts are in the wrong spots. With a storm rolling in and fairgoers waiting to ride, we have to get everything back where it belongs before the third storm! What looks like a pretty straightforward family puzzle with beautiful meeples can get surprisingly tense once you realize you are working against the clock, your own hand of cards, and a Ferris wheel that refuses to cooperate.
How does the game play?
Lay out the central board, arrange the cart tokens, and reveal a wheel card to show the pattern you are trying to complete. On your turn, you get up to three actions. You can:
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draw a ticket,
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move your meeple around the wheel,
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spend matching tickets to swap carts into their correct positions, or
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trade tickets with another player if you are sharing a cart space
The ticket system is where things get interesting. To move a cart into its correct position, you need the right combination of color and shape. So you might have exactly what you need to fix something, but your meeple is on the other side of the wheel. Decision time: is it worth spending your actions getting there? Or should you trade? And because the game can be played cooperatively or competitively, that decision may vary.
Then the weather gets involved
Of course, the game could not just let you calmly fix each cart. There are event tickets mixed into the deck, including Wind, Mechanical Failure, and Storm
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Wind pushes everyone around the wheel, which can completely mess up your carefully planned movements
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Mechanical Failure can undo a cart you already fixed, which means you can never celebrate too early
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And then there is Storm. The first two Storm cards sit there ominously. When the third one appears, the storm hits, and everyone loses!
Playing as a team
In the cooperative game, it becomes a conversation: “Do you have the blue triangle?” “No, but I have the red circle.” “Okay, move toward me, and I’ll trade you.” Suddenly, we are running a Ferris wheel repair operation
To win in cooperative mode, all players must work together:
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The Win Condition: Every cart token on the wheel matches the color and shape sequence of the central gear
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The Clock: Storm cards remain face up once drawn. If a third Storm ticket comes out while any carts are still misplaced or unfixed, everyone loses and the fairgoers boo you!
Playing competitively
Playing competitively changes the script. Your cards are secret, and every time you successfully fix a cart, you grab a Prize token. The fun friction comes from opportunism. When a Mechanical Failure event card hits and breaks a cart, you try to beat everyone else to it and claim that token for yourself.
The player with the most Prize tokens when the last cart is fixed, or the third storm card is revealed, wins the game.
Who's this game for?
Ferris Wheel Rush feels like a good fit for families, newer gamers, and anyone looking for something that doesn't require a huge rules explanation before you can start playing. The puzzle is figuring out where you need to go, who has the cards you need, and how to get everything lined up before the storm hits. I like that the game gives you a few different ways to play. Cooperative mode works well when everyone is focused on solving the puzzle together, while competitive mode adds a little more tension.
Bottom line
Ferris Wheel Rush is light and approachable. The game has more than you might expect from the first look. I am in love with the cute meeples. The rules are simple, the puzzle is easy to understand, and the different ways to play give it plenty of flexibility.
