Escalation is a little game I picked up not long ago. I was looking for a diversion from our regular lunch break game of Bang! Sometimes when I’m snowed under at work I don’t want to spend a full hour playing a game so I was looking for some that could be played in about ten minutes with 4-5 people when I didn’t want to play Bang!
So I bought it…It wasn’t too expensive although it cost more than two regular decks of cards, which it essentially turned out to be. The distribution of card values in escalation has been tuned to the game. If you were willing to compromise and not have the cute artwork you could play this with regular card with a few tweaks.

For those that want to tweak a couple of regular decks the distribution is 1 x #1, 5 x #2, 6 x #3, #4, #5, #6, 5 x #7, 4 x #8, 3 x #9, 3 x #10, 2 x #11, 2 x #12, 2 x #13, 3 x Jokers which can have a value between 1-7 and 2 x Neighborhood Watch which are pass cards.

So what do you do with these 56 cards? Well you don’t want them. That’s right the person holding the fewest cards at the end wins. The game is quick so you would typically play over a few rounds and the lowest score across all the rounds would win.

The rules are short and simple everyone starts with 6 cards from the shuffled deck which is placed in the centre of the play area. Play goes clockwise with each player playing cards from their hands with these rules.
A) Cards played must have a sum greater than the sum played by the previous player.
B) If multiple cards are played they must all have the same value.
C) You may play a Neighborhood watch card instead of other cards to pass the play to the next player.
D) If you can’t play a card following rules A, B or C then you MUST take all the cards in the centre and put them in a pile in front of you. They do not go into your hand. You then play cards of any total (following rules A and B) into the middle from your hand.
Once you have played your cards you must replenish your hand to 6 cards.

I liked the artwork the neighbors eye you off with ordinary garden tools in their hands ready to beat you down to grannies with rocket launchers. The quick play is great. One of my work mates is a slow deep thinker and often kills a game session while analyzing his next move. This game didn’t present a problem for him. This is a game of shaftage which appeals to my lunch time group.

I didn’t like the artwork having no relevance to the game. I find this of a lot of Reiner Knizia’s games. Beowulf: The Legend being my grandest disappointment from him and Lost Cities is a lovely looking game that me and my wife enjoy but it too is an abstract with lipstick. It is fundamentally, a luck based game and unless you play it a lot you won’t develop the arsenal of tricks required to keep it interesting.

Does it get the thumbs up? Meh! Maybe. It’s got shaftage but it’s not got shaftage enough to maintain a long term interest. Fun, yes, but not quite fun enough to fill an hour. There is some strategy but if everyone has played a couple of times they will have worked it out so then it pretty much comes down to luck. If you need a 10 minute game and only have 2 or 6 players then yes, it’s ok but if you have 3-5 then No Thanks! is a better game that will play out in the same time for a more satisfying experience.

Can be good if you are in the right mood