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Who's the more foolish? The fool or fool that plays after the fool?
United States
DURHAM
North Carolina
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Five player, a first game for 3 (and first time non-2 player for us). Rick immediately took several 0s that were in the opening parade. J also picked up some early cards, while Mike and I avoided taking any for a while. Eventually I took a pair of yellows but had minimal points with a majority there. The parade grew to an extended length as people tried to avoid cards whenever and however they could. Rick contemplated taking some yellow to knock me down (my yellows were 17 otherwise), but he was in 2nd at the time and taking them would knock him back too...so he didn't, I took some of them and consolidated my yellow majority. And that was me with fewest when the deck ran out. It was all close though - Tom had not collected much, J had a fair bit but 3 majorities, Mike got a couple of bad cards late on.
Rick: 9
Me: 8
J: 18
Mike: 15
Tom: 12
Quick enough for a rematch within the same lunch time. This time the parade was not allowed to get to quite the lengths it did before, partly helped by me taking 5 purple very early with a purple 0. That may have been reckless though, as Tom sat with a single white 5 for the entire game, while the rest of us jockeyed back and forth on colors - Mike and I in green (I prevailed) and J tied me in purple (still OK) and challenged Rick in red (fell short in the final play). Tom had low cards for that moment, so was a comfortable winner.
J: 45
Mike: 30
Tom: 6
Rick: 10
Me: 12
I only got Parade this past weekend for Father's Day and it has already gotten 7 plays, showing that it is a short and quite intriguing filler with a certain amount of "let's play again" appeal. The rules seem almost too simple for it to be a proper game but there is some thinking to be done and decisions to be made - with inevitable consequences if things don't work out.
It clearly works well as a lunch game, accommodating 5 - even 6 according to the box, playing quickly, as 2 games in our allotted hour complete with time to spare will testify. But the more players, the less control and the more tactical it becomes. When my wife and I played 2 player, I attempted to duck all the points, a plan which unraveled spectacularly and I scored over 80 points that game. With more players, the possibility of ducking every time becomes more possible - Tom did it successfully here - and that loses some of the interest in the game for me. As I see it, there should be a tension between taking a few points now to offset what you might get later and ducking now might bring trouble. If you can duck all the way through, that tension is removed and though it could fail, the game has still lost something. With less players - 2 players was good, I'd expect 3 players also offers enough control to make it worthwhile - you can plan a little more, look to push at your opponents' weaknesses. With 5 you are just hanging on for the ride.
However, that said, it does play quickly and something that is all about the current turn without much regard for the future is still fun once in a while. Its portability means it is easy to pull out for a quick game any time and almost any place (the parade itself can end up taking some room!).
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