Block Party Review - Pixel Art
Block Party is another title from Big Potato Games, a publisher who has made a name for themselves in the party/family space with approachable rulesets and games that don’t overstay their welcome. However, many of the Big Potato Games I’ve played in the past didn’t feel quite as suitable for younger players whether it be the nature of the game itself or the skills involved/required. Block Party combines a creativity and dexterity challenge in a way that will engage players of all ages and skillsets, including a co-operative mode perfect for getting junior players involved.
The gist of Block Party is pretty simple, evidenced by a four-page rule sheet. At the start of the game, players are given a small building mat in their player colour, a Building Card with ten different things listed on it and a Steal token. The bag of coloured cubes are dumped in the middle of the table and each player takes one matching their player colour to put on the score board. Over four to six rounds, players use an assortment of coloured wooden cubes to craft pixel art depictions of items listed on a card they are given at the start of the game. One player each round is the Guesser, and must identify the objects built by other players – a correct guess gives both the Guesser and the builder a point, while an incorrect guess gives another player the chance to use their Steal token; a correct Steal gives the Stealer and the Builder a point while the official Guesser eats dirt. Each round, a Challenge card will be flipped over by the Guesser to really spice things up with an extra point up for grabs by meeting a specific condition as well as the time limit for that round, such as using the fewest blocks to build the chosen object in 30 seconds.
A game of Block Party will move at a decent clip, and the only tricky rule to enforce is that blocks are only to be taken one by one from the middle instead of in giant piles – each game I’ve had to reinforce this particular restriction to overenthusiastic builders. The beauty of Block Party lies not in people creating excellent representations of their object that anyone can guess, but in the hurried, sad and abstracted abominations that are inevitably left some rounds when someone has exhausted all of their ‘easy objects’ from the Building Card and are scraping the bottom of the barrel, their eyes pleading with the Guesser to just understand what it was they were going for. Those sensitive about such criticism of their art might find the sting of a dumbfounded Guesser too much, but it’s when things are going awry that Block Party really comes alive.
For junior players, there are a few concessions in the box as well. It’s perfectly legal to look up a picture of an object you are required to create, as well as provide a one-word clue to the Guesser if they are struggling to see the beauty in the blocks. To cap this off, there is a dedicated 2-player co-op variant which gives a set time limit and block limit for each round as players try to guess what the other has created. If successful, they can move on to the next level gaining bonuses each few levels, while a loss will see their Life meter, which starts at 10, start to dip down with each incorrect guess. While the main 3-6 player competitive mode is a great place to start for most people, the co-op variant is what I’ve settled on for play with those far under the recommended age of 10 on the box.
Block Party is an enjoyable title that promotes a bit of creativity while providing the tactile satisfaction core to a lot of boardgaming. In a relatively small box, it’s something worth grabbing for a small gathering to keep a range of ages and game experience levels entertained.
Block Party was reviewed using a copy of the game kindly supplied by PR. It can be purchased at Amazon AU, direct from the publisher and from big box outlets like Kmart and Target.
