Hasbro's Express series of games have come as a surprise. At least half of them are solid filler gaming experiences. However, Hasbro's headscratching decision to not release Risk Express, arguably the best of the series, in the US has left most Yanks lamenting.

All is not lost, however, because Hasbro has released Yahtzee Free-For-All. Much like the Express line, YFFA cashes in on an established franchise while holding an identity of its own. Americans take note: YFFA is also incredibly similar to Risk Express and, dare I say, better?


Components

YFFA is beautifully--and oddly--packaged. The hexagonal box opens to reveal the felt-lined lid as a dice tray and the bottom of the box blossoms into the board. I'm typically against using the packaging as the board, but Hasbro pulls it off here. Initially, it seems the dice trays won't lay flat, but the design allows it to be bent backwards without damaging anything.

Also included are 30 dice, a set of unusually shaped black plastic poker chips and a small deck of cards that are thicker than the standard. My only gripe with the packaging is the card holder in the insert seems just a bit too small, thus damaging the top card when placing the deck back in the box. This is easily fixed, however. Simply dent in the portion of the insert responsible for this.


Gameplay

The heart of YFFA is identical to Risk Express: roll dice and either take a card in the middle, or steal one from your opponent. Using the standard up-to-3-rolls Yahtzee rules, taking one of the three cards in the middle is easy--fulfill the requirement (all familiar standbys like Full House, Large Straight, Ones, etc) and place it in your Hold area with your dice as is. You haven't scored points just yet--you only get to keep the card for good at the start of your next turn.

Stealing is another story. Not only do you have to fulfill the requirement, but you must beat your opponent's roll as well. If they have a Full House in front of them, you'll need to roll one where the sum total is greater.

The most interesting aspect of YFFA (and the biggest difference between it and Risk Express) is the poker chips. Whenever a player does not take a card from the center, they must add a chip, worth 1 point each, in front of each center card. Note that not only does this apply to failing on your turn, but also stealing or getting a Yahtzee card (which are always available) as well. This adds a considerable amount of thinking on any turn: stealing a card may rob you opponent of points, but it also makes the center cards more valuable for everyone else as well. There may be points in the game where a small straight could get you more points than a Yahtzee! This, by and large, is my favorite aspect of the game.

The point values of the cards are well balanced. The more difficult the task, the more points it is worth. The lone weakness, a holdover from the original Yahtzee, is that Yahtzees are simply worth too much. Perhaps my favorite card is Chance, worth a whopping 5 points considering you don't need to roll any combo for it. However, since the goal of the card is the sum total of your dice, it'll become a hotly contested card that may get passed around a few times before getting scored.

Each turn, either a new card is placed on the board or the center cards are reloaded with poker chips. Once either the deck or the chips run out, game over. This game clock mechanism causes all games to take roughly the same amount of time no matter how many players.

The game scales very well from 2-6 players. Those who have tried 6-player games of Risk Express know that some games can feel like they'll never end, but YFFA does not allow that.

I feel the only aspect of gameplay where Risk Express is the clear winner is RE's "lose a die" mechanism when you fail a roll. This creates much more tension than Yahtzee's "take a card whenever you can/want" philosophy. However, this is also why YFFA has less potential for frustration.


Conclusion

Yahtzee Free-For-All is a great dice filler game in the mold of Knights and Risk Express. The familiar theme will make it easy to teach for gamers and non-gamers alike. The components are very well done, especially for the price (can be found for $10-$15 online). North American players hoping for a US release of Risk Express should pick this up immediately--it's better.