What is 5-Minute One Piece: Adventures of the Grand Line?
5-Minute One Piece is a card game that plays a little like Snap, but with a twist. Instead of needing to match a card that is placed on the pile, you need to match symbols that are on what are called Challenge Cards. This will be explained in more detail further down, but keep this in mind.
You have set characters that you use and set adventures that you take on. One thing that caught me off guard with this game, which I personally have not seen before, is that you are against a timer. When I first saw this, I was sceptical, as I have always been against forcing players to be timed when playing a game. It should be at your own pace. But let me tell you, after the first game I was hooked and loved how the timer mechanic worked in this.
I am a massive anime fan and love One Piece. Embarrassingly, I have only watched one or two episodes of the live-action series (which the artwork is based on), but as a fan of the anime, playing this, I can honestly say the creators of this game did a great job.
There is something about teamwork while being timed and trying to quickly think about how to beat the adventure that adds a level of fun, heart-racing pressure and misplays that don't have you raging and wanting to flip the table. Instead, you find yourself laughing manically while trying to fix your mistakes and still win, then talking about it after the game has finished.
Hopefully, you are still here and wanting to venture the Grand Line yourself! If this is true, well, grab your crew and get ready for some mental fun!
How does it play?
As mentioned, this is kind of like speed Snap, where you have to beat enemies and eventually the adventure, but with a time limit. At first, I didn't think the time limit would work and thought it would either make the game feel more pressured than it needed to be or potentially take away from the fun. But honestly, after the first game, I can tell you that this is needed and works really well.
I will be mentioning some different things here to help with not getting lost or bored:
Heroes: Leader cards that are played by the players.
- Challenge Cards: These are cards that have four symbols on them that you need to match to beat the challenge. These are effectively used to attack and beat enemies.
- Ally Cards: These come in the Adventure Decks. They are cards that either player can take and use to pay for one Adventure completion cost.
- Adventure Decks: These are the different adventures that you will take on. There are a few adventures, so you will not get bored.
- Going Merry: This makes up the game board where you place your cards to match the symbols on the Challenge Cards.
To start with, you pick a Hero that you want and then take their corresponding deck. Shuffle the deck and draw five cards. Pick the adventure you want to take on, take out the Boss Card, then shuffle the Adventure Deck. Once done, place these cards on top of the Boss Card.
Next, get the Challenge Cards, shuffle these and place them above the Going Merry. The Going Merry will be where you place your cards.
There is more to the setup, but I wanted to set the stage a little to help explain how it plays.
Each card in the Adventure Deck, excluding the Ally Cards, has a challenge cost on it. This is the number of challenges you need to complete to beat them. They also have some events that happen, but these are more fun to experience when playing rather than having them explained. What I will say is that they can either hinder you or create some good strategy.
Now, to explain why I call it speed Snap. Are you ready?
As with Snap, you have to match what your opponent puts down and you win the stack, thus making their pile smaller. The speed you make your brain work at, and the thrill of doing this, is great for such a simple card game.
Well, add a twist.
You have a card that has four symbols that you need to match using cards from your deck. You need to add these in the right order, and remember, you are against a clock. Oh, and the other people on your team are trying to do the same!
Remember I said team? I repeat this because if your group is anything like my group, we forgot that you are playing as a team "co-operatively" and kept trying to just throw cards down to beat the challenge as quickly as possible.
Don't get me wrong, this was by no means annoying. It was hilarious and made us make more mistakes, but all the while we were laughing our heads off. (I swear the neighbours think we are losing our minds.)
Once you match the symbols on the Challenge Card, you move the Challenge Card away and place it next to the card in the Adventure Deck to represent one completed challenge. Some cards require three or more challenges to be completed before you beat them.
Now I hear what you are thinking: "Ah, does this mean you get your cards back after beating the Challenge Card?"
No!
Once a card is used, it is used. Once your deck is empty, you have only the cards in your hand to use and no more. This adds a challenge which I love, but it also created some either lucky plays or some great moments.
Once you place a card down to beat a Challenge Card, it stays in the location you place it. There are ways to move cards, but again, this will be explained more in the rules when you play.
When you reveal the next Challenge Card, you might have two or three symbols already matching, so you only need to place one card. This can create some great moments when you realise you are already halfway there without even knowing it.
Remember I mentioned a timer before?
Well, as the name states, you have 5 minutes to beat the adventure. You can increase or decrease this to suit how you want to play, which is explained in the rules. But again, this timer adds a level of fun, difficulty and urgency that just makes the games so much fun, in my opinion.
Complexity of the game
I pondered on this one, thinking about how I would answer or explain this, so I will just state that this will be a quick section.
In all honesty, the complexity in the game lies with the players. You are trying to match symbols, you are trying to work together and sometimes stumble over each other's feet.
The rules of the game are simple enough, but one thing I found when reading the rules and learning how to play the game was that there are some things that are explained in a way that seems confusing or doesn't make sense, at least to me.
But once you play one game (and let all the wrong plays happen and make the mistakes — trust me, it is worth it), the rules just become clear and simple.
How it fares as a co-operative game
I personally think that for a quick-fire game to be a co-operative game is different. I was sceptical at first, as I am used to competitive quick-fire games, but this works really well.
There were moments that were crazy and some mad misplays, but through it all, the games that were played never seemed boring, dull or annoying. I had a blast, and so did the others playing this game.
Yes, it is a co-operative game and you do have to work together to beat the adventure, but you will find yourself accidentally playing it competitively against the others a couple of times, just because you want to beat the adventure quickly before the time runs out.
Still, with all this in mind, I think it works really well and is definitely one I will be adding to my quick-games list if a break is needed between longer board games.
Final thoughts
If you are a fan of One Piece, and more specifically the live-action series, then that alone is worth getting this for. The artwork is great.
Even if you are not a fan of One Piece, I would still say look into this game for your short or quick game nights. The game is super fun, and you will find yourself playing more than one game when you pick it up.
Mainly because it is so fun to play, but also because the thrill of beating the adventure before the time runs out gives you a nice adrenaline rush that makes you want to try again, either with a different character or a different adventure.
