It’s well-known that lemmings willingly jump off cliffs and fall to their deaths. But did you know that these Arctic rodents actually…don’t do this?
I didn’t until I started playing Ravensburger’s latest game, Last Lemming. In fact, this trick-taking card game requires you to use both skill and deceit to both climb your way to the very top of the cliff and push off your fellow lemmings – you, definitively, don’t want to fall off yourself.
Let’s take a look at Last Lemming and see how these cute little creatures carpe diem with a dramatic, Roman flair.
Do as the Romans do
I was very interested in why Ravensburger decided to merge the ancient Romans with the cute little creatures famous for something they don’t do. At first, I didn’t quite get the connection. The Ravensburger team answers that in the first paragraph of their very sweetly illustrated instructions.
The ancient Romans are known for two things: roads, and backstabbing. And where do lemmings (allegedly) want to follow that road to? The edge of a cliff! And much like Julius Caesar, some of those little lemmings may find themselves on the receiving end of a fatal betrayal…
Set up is quick and simple:
- By connecting 4 path tiles, you’ll assemble the playing board that resembles the road to the edge of a cliff.
- You’ll be scored differently depending on the four “acts” of the game and depending on which rule cards are chosen.
- Shuffle the 72 playing cards to form a face-down pile and deal 8 cards to each player.
- Once you’ve been given 3 point chips and chosen your very adorable Roman lemming, you’re good to go!
Once we’d set up the board, within moments all players are ready to launch into the game. The cliff path is simple but intuitive, and the playing cards look similar enough to games like Uno to provide a level of comforting recognition, but different enough that you couldn’t possibly mix them up. The Roman numerals on the cards provide a fresh take on a trick-taking card game.
I also really liked that, depending on the rule cards in play, the board switches up. One round, you may have a straightforward path to the edge of the cliff. But in others, you have alternate routes or additional holes to fall into, meaning that you always have to be on your toes – or risk making a fatal error.
But the real hero here is the theming. The six character cards and pieces are super adorable: whoever reimagined famous Roman characters as lemmings did a fantastic job at capturing both their cuteness and their clear hunger for success and power.
A fuzzy Polyhymnia proclaims, “Shall we dance?”, visibly having a ball acting in the latest tragedy. Nero, with his harp and his spooked eyes looking in two different directions, is clearly trying to keep it together in the face of disaster. Primus Pilus is ready to spring into action, exclaiming “Carpe this!”. It’s all well themed, and even though your choice of lemming doesn’t matter in the game, it’s still fun to pick which one speaks to you the most.
As Maximus says, “Are you not entertained?!”
Edging closer to the cliff
Okay sure, Cleopatra and Maximus are ready for a fight. Now what? How does it play?
I have played quite a few trick-taking card games in my time, so I was comfortable leading the charge with my board gaming group. However, those that hadn’t played them before needed a little more explanation. That was fine as the rulebook explains what a trick is (rounds in which each players plays one card from their hand), and once that’s been established, as well as the idea that you have to follow suit, then you’re ready to go.
The aim of the game is to win enough tricks to get as close to the edge of the cliff as possible. High numbers allow you to move further (if you win the trick), while low numbers (usually) allow you to lose a trick, stopping you from moving. An X counts for nothing, letting you essentially “skip” a trick. The initial idea is to win enough tricks to take you closer to the edge than your backstabbing competitors, but not so many that you fall off the edge.
I really enjoyed having to strategise as the game developed. If you win too many tricks too early, you have to make sure that the cards left in your hand don’t trap you into making a move you want to avoid. Additionally, no two lemmings can be on the same board space, so your opponents can sneakily push you off the edge – or into holes peppered along the path – if they come up behind you to land on your space. I’m so glad this was part of the gameplay: we really enjoyed dramatically shoving each other off the end or batting each other back to the beginning, tail between our legs.
But the best part of the game? The randomised rule cards.
Traditional trick-taking card games like Contract Whist do swap out rules as the game progresses, but only in simple ways, such as by changing the trump suit or reducing the number of cards in players’ hands. In Last Lemming, the rules keep the gameplay even more interesting.
The standard rule is that the person who leads the trick puts down a card, and players have to follow the colour of the card, if they can. High number = more chance to win. However, the rule cards can change the state of play very quickly.
Here are just some examples:
- #12 allows multiple cards of the same colour to be played at the same time, adding their values together. This gives players the chance to storm across the board quickly or hold back until other players have gotten rid of their cards.
- #13 allows the winner of the trick to jump forward onto the next occupied space – meaning that players in front can’t move forward if they win, and are far more likely to be pushed into a hole or off the cliff.
- #18 allows the winner of the trick to move 1-6 spaces forward or backward, and players who played an X can move by the value of any played number card.
As you can imagine, each round really shakes up the gameplay, meaning players have to keep on their toes and change up their plans throughout – as the strategy cooked up in act 1 may not be as successful by the end. In my opinion, this is what gives Last Lemming infinite replayability: every round is different, and requires new ways of thinking to outsmart your fellow Romans.
A Roman conquest
Victory in Last Lemming is not as straightforward as it first seems.
Sure, the aim of the game is to get to the edge of the cliff (in real terms, that means landing, and staying, on the 24th space). However, you have to play all the cards in your hand, and you have to follow suit. This means that, if you get to space 24 too early, you’re at risk of either falling off the edge yourself if you win a trick (or meet one of the other conditions in the rule card currently in play), or being shoved off the edge if one of your competitors lands on space 24 as well.
So, holding back a bit at first if you have high value cards may be an idea. But then, you may a) trail behind and lose the act, or b) you could have a rule card that only allows you to move forward depending on what one of your competitors have played (see rule 22 as an example), making your moves unpredictable.
Okay, so let’s just get to the front ASAP. But what if the rule card also allows the player who plays the lowest number in the trick colour to jump forward onto the next occupied space? If you’re out in front, teetering on the edge of the cliff, you’re doomed!
Ultimately, you can strategise, but quite a lot comes down to luck – or the gameplay of your competitors. I really liked this element, as it meant that all players stood a chance of winning, no matter their skill level, but I can imagine this would frustrate some players.
I’d say that all you can really do is play the cards you’ve been dealt. Perhaps that applies to both the ancient Romans and lemmings: they are both doomed to repeat the same tragedies, but you can still learn from your mistakes in the next round. This is another reason why this game is so much fun – even if you do terribly in the first act or two, it’s possible to swing in your favour by the end of the game.
A success in drama and fun
Overall, Last Lemming is an innovative twist on traditional trick-taking games that both requires careful strategy and delicious betrayal. Its small-to-medium size and quick set up make it easy to take to the pub with you, if you’d like, and it even offers alternative arrangements for 2 players, making it an ideal choice for both big groups and for date nights.
I’m excited to play it again when it officially comes out!
