I Don't Want It, You Take It. No Thanks! Review

No Thanks!

• Designed by Thorsten Gimmler
• Published by Z-man Games in 2005
• Plays with 3-5 players ages 8+, which I think is the proper age range.
• Takes around 10-15 minutes.

Overview

What you get inside the box

No Thanks is a very simple game to learn, and a somewhat tricky game to master.  The rules are simple, in fact I will go into them in their entirety in the Mechanics section, but they're not hard to learn.  The game is never going to be the center of a game day, but it is a fun game that plays quickly.

Components

No one will mistake this game for having amazing components as compared to some of the miniatures games, or games with lots of plastic, but what's in the box is good quality.  There are 55 little chips that work perfectly for the game.  The cards are good quality, and still haven't shown much wear after 25+ plays.

Mechanics

The box fits in my hand

I'm going to explain the game here.  There is a deck of cards numbered 3-35.  You remove 9 cards randomly.  A card is flipped over.  Each player must then decide to either take the card, or place a chip on it to pass.  Players pass until someone takes the card and all chips played on it.  The face value of a cards counts as positive points, chips count as negative.  If you have a sequence, aka 11-12-13, the entire sequence is worth only the lowest card's value, in this case 11.  At the end of the game, the player with the lowest score wins.  Sounds simple, right?  It is.

Interaction

There is a decent amount of player interaction here.  Say for instance you have the 30 and the 32.  If the 31 comes up, you know you need it, but you also know that no one else wants it, because of the points against them.  You can use this to your advantage to extort more chips out of players.  Just don't push your luck too far because someone might take the card, either because they have to (they're out of chips) or they don't want you making the bridge.

Theme

Scoring example
This total score is 11

This total score is 24
(11+13)

There's no theme here.  The game doesn't pretend to have one, and that's a good thing.  I don't think it needs one, and I don't think a theme would actually help the game.  

Learning Curve

This is a very short learning curve.  The fact that I can explain the rules in under a minute is great for this game.  There are a few quirks, but nothing big enough to throw inexperienced players.

Why I like No Thanks!
As someone with a mathematics degree, I do enjoy numbers.  This game does have numbers, in fact, it's all numbers, but there's not tons of math.  It's really a risk game in terms of when to take a card versus the chips on it, and do you risk taking the 31 when you have the 29 and hoping the 30 is left in the deck.  It's a fun tension when the last few cards come out.

Why I don't like No Thanks!
There is a lot of luck in what cards are in the game, where those gaps are, etc.  If you bank on a higher card being in the deck, and it doesn't show, you're in trouble.  If someone can make a 4, 5, 6, or more card streak, they're in a really good position to win.  The game has it's swings, and after a certain point it becomes more about who has what cards and the runs they can make versus any kind of strategy.

Chips on a card when
players pass

Replayability
I often play 3 or more games of No Thanks! in a row.  That does tend to satisfy me for a few weeks.  It's a good game to have as a filler, meaning something to play when you're waiting for someone to show up, or you need a short game as a break between longer games.

Overall
I enjoy No Thanks!  It's a very fun, quick game.  It's not for everyone, but I think it's one of the best 10-20 minute games on the market.  I don't have a huge call for games like that, but when I do, this is the first one that comes to mind.  I can teach it to anyone who can do some simple math, addition/subtraction.  

Will you like it?

Unless you absolutely hate numbers, then I'd say give the game a try.  If you like making straights of cards, if you find the aspect of push your luck with cards and taking some chances, then this might be a game you'd enjoy.  Because the game is ~$10, it's not a horrible investment if you don't like it.  You can probably find someone who does.  Also, because the game has been out for 8 years, the odds are good that you can find someone who owns it to play with before you buy.

Want to buy No Thanks and support BoBG?

Top 7 Games to take on vacation

It's summertime, and this typically means some kind of vacation for most people.  Of course since this is a blog about boardgames, I'm going to promote the idea of taking some games with you.  Now, a lot of what you can take depends on how you travel.  Airplanes leave very little spare space, trains give you a bit more, but car travel has its limitations as well.  Two factors play into this list - size of the box and game footprint.

#7 A Standard Deck of Cards.

Yes, I am going here. Vacations don't have to be all about games.  A deck of cards gives people a lot of options, many games to play, and common ground for all ages.

#6 Forbidden Island

Here's a fun family activity.  Working together is a good thing to have in a vacation game.  The theme of treasure hunting is fun for all ages.  

#5 Tiki Topple

I've talked a lot about Tiki Topple.  I know the box is a little big, but if you really want to slim it down, put the tikis and pawns in a bag, then grab the board and cards.  You could even play without the board if you want to save more space.  Also, you can play with 2-4 players, which is a good mix.

#4 No Thanks

The only reason this isn't #1, is because there are cards and chips, and the chips could get lost.  Besides that, No Thanks is good fun. It's maybe a little mathy for some people, but it's playable in about 10-15 minutes.  

#3 Mafia/Werewolf

If you're in a big group of any kind, I'm thinking large family gathering with 10+ people, this is the game for you.  The best thing, you can play it with a standard deck of cards.

#2 For Sale

2 decks of cards and a bag of tokens.  Can't get much simpler than that.  It plays 3-6 players, in around 20 minutes.  The best part, it's incredibly easy to teach non-gamers.

#1 Coloretto

Here's a fun card game that doesn't take tons of space.  The box fits in your hand, plus with only cards, it's hard to lose any pieces.  It plays 3-5 players which is great for those family trips.  The game is short and simple, which makes for an ideal quick game on vacation.

There are a lot of games you can take on vacation.  Try to pack a game on your next vacation.  Don't go overboard and pack 10 games.  Ultimately a vacation is about spending time with people and exploring a different area than home.  

Top 42 Part 1 (42-36)

I've been thinking about doing a Top n list of games for awhile now. My first thought was 100, but I realized I didn't really like the tail end games, so that wasn't going to work.  Then I thought 50 would be a  nice even number, but that's a little too plain.  So I give to you a Top 42 in honor of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxay.  I'll run my list in 6 weeks of 7 game segments, so be sure to come back every week for the new list

#42 Sorry Sliders
Sorry Sliders is a neat little dexterity game.  There isn't a lot of strategy, and ultimately it comes down to how well you can slide your sliders, but it's a fun game.  It's quick to play and easy to teach, making it a game I can play with just about anyone.  Not my typical fare, but still a fun game every so often.

#41 No Thanks!
No Thanks is a filler card game.  Each turn there a numbered card gets flipped over, and you have to either place a chip on it to pass, or take the card with all the chips.  Your goal is to get the least amount of points, but all cards count positive.  The trick is in a run of cards, only your lowest counts against you, and then all chips help lower your score.  The downside is you never know if the card you need to bridge your run is even in the game, since some cards are randomly removed.  All in all a fun filler game which I enjoy, but not something I play all the time.

#40 Blokus
Blokus is a puzzle game where you're trying to get all your pieces on the board, and stop your opponents from doing the same.  The board is large enough for everyone to do this easily, except for the rule that you have to only touch a diagonal edge with your own pieces, you can never go adjacent to any of them.  This causes players to expand quickly, so they have the most room possible for tricky pieces.  I really like the puzzle aspect of the game, but I don't play it much, else it would be higher on my list.

#39 Mystery Express
Mystery Express is a deduction game in the ilk of Clue.  I love logic puzzles, but Mystery Express is far more than that.  It's not about figuring out what thing is missing, it's about finding the thing that only has 1 copy instead of 2.  This distinction adds a lot more mystery to the game, since in order to rule something out you have to see both copies in the same turn, because cards get passed around between players.  I've rarely won this game, but I always have fun playing it.  It takes a little long for what it is, but all of those turns matter for trying to figure everything out.  It's another one I don't play as often as I'd like, but it's a great alternative to clue, and a fun way to spend an evening solving a murder.

#38 Say Anything
Say Anything is a party game which is best described as free-form Apples to Apples.  The "judge" asks a question, then everyone writes down their answer.  The judge then secretly selects the winning answer and all players place bets on which one the judge chose.  Points are then awarded based on guessing the judge's choice, as well as having other players guess your card.  I prefer this over Apples to Apples, because the limitation is in the player's creativity.  There are also more ways to score points, and clearly defined guidelines, whereas Apples can lead to judges choosing cards for all the wrong reasons.

#37 Give Me the Brain!
You're a zombie working in a fastfood restaurant.  You have one combined brain. Let the hilarity commence.  With cards like "Is this meat vegetarian? Uh you mean did the cow eat meat?" and "I need the brain, my hand is locked in the safe" It's just a fun mess.  Sure, the game has balance problems, and too many ways for you to have no chance to win, but that's ok, it's fairly quick.  This isn't a strategy game, but it's something you can play at a party, or that Zombie theme night you've always wanted to throw, and people will have a good time.

#36 Colossal Arena
Colossal Arena involves controlling monsters, playing cards to support them in combat, and a fight to the near death.  Ultimately, it's a betting game, but you have a fair amount of influence over the various creatures.  If you have the most invested in a creature, then you are it's "backer" meaning you get to use it's special power when you play a fight card to support its survival.  This continues until every creature has a fight card and a single creature has the lowest value (range 0-10).  The problem I have with the game is that public bets allow for one player to be targeted by the others.  The other issue is how the game ends.  You either have 3 creatures left, or you run the draw deck. The draw deck tends to run out far too quickly in a 4 or 5 player game, which means the true end only happens in a 3 player game. Just know going in, great 3 player game, ok 4 player game, not the best 5 player game.  I do enjoy the various creature powers, but the game does become samey after a bit.