Image taken from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8641183/tango

Designers: David Harding, Matt Sims
Publisher: Grail Games
Artist: Heiko Günther

I can’t cope. I’m in love with this game and 100% did not expect to care for it much (hence the title of the review). We aren’t huge trick taking people (we like it but don’t love it), but holy cow, this is a phenomenal two-player trick taking implementation. My mom even loved it!!

Before I get into game play, I have to say, this game is exceptionally abstract. They tried with the theme, and it works since it’s a two player game, but there’s nothing thematic about it (the suits are supposed to be dance styles…).

To set up the game, the 41 cards are shuffled and then one is flipped face up; this card determines the trump suit for that round. Then each player receives ten cards as their hand. Lastly, five face down cards are placed in front of each player and then a face up card is placed on each of those.

As is standard in almost every trick taking game, the first card played is the trump suit for that trick except for the ultimate trump revealed at the start of the game. As expected, the player with the highest value card in either the starting suit or the trump suit will win the trick. What’s interesting in this game is that each trick contains four cards. First, each player plays one card from their hand, and if they have at least one card of the declared color, they must follow suit. Once each player has played a card from hand, they also have to play one from the available face up cards in front of them, once again with the must follow rule.

As I’ve just explained the whole game in one paragraph, this one is super easy to teach and very straightforward, especially if the people playing are already familiar with trick taking. Even though it’s simple, it is fascinatingly strategic and tactical, and it’s brilliant.

The first aspect of this game that is interesting and rather unique (at least from the games I’ve played) is the open information. In most trick taking games, you have no idea what the other player(s) have in their hand. While this is still true here, you do have all the information you need in terms of what their second card could be. This makes deciding which card to play at what time really intriguing. If you lead with a suit you see your opponent only has one of in their face up cards, you know exactly which card they will have to play. However, if there are more than one of that suit or none of that suit, your opponent has options, making it trickier to decide what the correct play is. I find the open information really cool and special to this game, and it overall adds in some nice strategy.

I suppose I never explained how points are scored! Each trick won counts as a point, and then certain cards (1, 2, and 8) are worth one positive point (in addition to the number of tricks won) and other cards (9 and 10) are worth negative one point.

I had to explain this because this leads into my next point of praise. The fact that certain cards are positive and others negative adds another layer to the decision space of this game. It’s very possible that if it’s obvious you will win a trick, your opponent will throw in a negative point card. However, it’s also possible to lead with a suit your opponent only has the 1 or 2 of (visibly) meaning it’s likely you’ll win the trick with that extra point in there.

Additionally, there’s an interesting rose card that helps make the deck 41 instead of 40 cards and is worth two positive points at game end. The rose counts as the trump suit for that game but it’s basically a value zero – the lowest of that suit relevant in the trick. Now this card is a tricky beast (pun intended)! There are very specific points in the game where this card can be useful or detrimental. It’s possible you can slide it into a trick you’re already winning and it’s also possible for you to have to play it and then lose it to your opponent. Making it the trump suit is a very clever design, as it makes it difficult to decide when to play it.

As I’m sure you’ve gleaned, I find the design of this game very impressive. It’s a really solid execution of a solely two-player trick taking game that’s still its own and has some nice originality. It’s thinky and puzzly without being rules-heavy or complex. For the most part, there’s a nice back and forth between the two players and their success in winning tricks and scoring points.

Besides the mechanics, I also have to say the cards and player pieces (used for scoring) are of good quality. Also, the game doesn’t take up much space on the table, it has a small box size making it easily portable, and it’s quick to play.

I do have two minor complaints I want to point out, though. The first is that there is definitely luck involved in terms of the cards dealt in relation to the game’s trump suit. Winning tricks can be difficult if you don’t have many of the trump suit cards and/or if you’re dealt a poor hand in general. Also, while not always true, in our experience, the person that wins the most tricks (unless the numbers are very close) almost assuredly wins the game. Logically, it makes sense, but it’s still worth mentioning.

In my opinion, this game is the best of the three in the Grail Games Kickstarter series. It’s the most involved but it’s still not complicated in any capacity. As of this point, it’s certainly the most played of the three games in that collection.

If you get the chance (I don’t know how easy it’ll be to find), I’d definitely check this one out!