Game: Duck, Duck, Bruce

Thread: Hey... this is a lot like Circus Flohcati

bnordeng — 2008-08-17T15:51:02+00:00

I did a bit of research on this game when looking for games to play with my kids (almost 3 & almost 5). When I read about it, for some reason it made me think about "Incan Gold for kids" with the push-your-luck element. So, I found this game at a toy store across the street for which we had a gift certificate...

I read the rules and it sure seemed a lot like Circus Flohcati (CF). It has ten "suits" of cards (same as CF); Each suit includes a group of numbers (1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4 in DDB and 0 through 7 in CF); on your turn, you flip cards over in a row until you decide to stop and take card(s) or draw the same suit as is already face up - also in DDB, a Bruce card can show up and wipe out the entire row. In CF, you can take one card; in DDB, you take the entire row. Game end scoring is similar in both games where you only score the highest number in each suit you have - CF also allows you to make sets of 3 identical numbers for 10 points a piece.

So, the games ARE similar, but couldn't you just play Circus Flohcati with your kids instead of Duck Duck Bruce? I think the answer is yes, but if your kids are 6 or younger they are probably going to have more fun playing DDB and have a better chance of understanding what is going on.

In our game, we played by the rules, meaning you say "Duck" when you flip a Duck card and everyone yells "Bruce" when you flip a Bruce card. This added to the "fun" factor for them.

It definitely helped that the numbers only went up to 4 and the number of ducks were pictured on the card (not true in CF). My 2 year old was able to tally her own score at the end of the game by counting the actual ducks on all of her remaining cards AND determine that she was the winner (25, 24, 18).

As I write this, my two daughters are explaining the game to their mom... and I'm proud to announce that we appear to have two more gamers on their way.

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whoami — 2008-06-14T12:50:30+00:00

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whoami — 2008-06-14T12:50:06+00:00

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whoami — 2008-06-14T12:49:37+00:00

Thread: Re: Family Fun with a 5 and 8 Year Old

cdunc123 — 2008-02-12T21:57:34+00:00

Ah... Good tip, thanks. The fact that I hadn't cottoned on to that strategy already says something about my mental acuity (namely, my lack thereof!).

Thread: Re: Family Fun with a 5 and 8 Year Old

Cadfan — 2008-02-12T19:39:35+00:00

I don't refer to the suits by color. They're Space Ducks, Football Ducks, Hiking Ducks, Workout Ducks...

Thread: Re: Family Fun with a 5 and 8 Year Old

cdunc123 — 2008-02-12T13:18:46+00:00

Good point. In my case, alas, I'm not sure my memory is up to it. With 10 suits (colors) I have a hard time keeping them straight. Not to mention that the colors are sometimes quite similar ("Let's see, was it the lilac #4 that has already gone by, or was it the slightly darker purple #4 that went by...?"). But hats off to anyone who's memory is up to the task!

Thread: Re: Family Fun with a 5 and 8 Year Old

Cadfan — 2008-02-11T21:59:29+00:00

Personally, I love this game. Its highly replayable, for a filler game. You aren't likely to play 10 sessions in a row, but you'll find it pulled out for quick fun every once in a while.

But the best part about the game is the memory aspect. This provides a lot of room for growth in strategy as your kids grow older. A young kid can just decide how far to push drawing new cards, but an older kid will figure out deeper strategies for themselves- like, "Wait, I shouldn't stop drawing even though I have a 2 and a 3, because I already have a 3 and a 4 in those suits, so really this isn't worth anything."

Thread: Family Fun with a 5 and 8 Year Old

cdunc123 — 2008-02-11T20:26:34+00:00

Last night after a game of Clue we had a short time left before bedtime, and a demand for another game came from the kids. Duck, Duck, Bruce -- a short, fun game -- fit the bill, and hit the table.

Duck, Duck, Bruce is a push-your-luck game in which you successively turn over duck cards from a central stack. You can quit at any time and keep the cards you've turned over. But if you turn over two of the same color (there are 10 colors in all) you lose a portion of the turned over cards (namely, the stretch of cards between the two cards of the same color). If you turn over a dog card ("Bruce") then you lose all the cards, but you get to pick some cards from an opponent's hand (how many is determined by a roll of dice -- actually it is a bit more complicated than that, but check the game reviews if you want the nitty gritty details!)

It was Mummy's lucky night: she'd turn over the high scoring cards frequently, and then instead of stopping, she'd turn over 1 or 2 more cards, sometimes 3. Usually you will get burned doing that, but as I said, it was Mummy's lucky night and she got away with it. The rest of us played more cautiously. Final scores after 4 rounds: Mummy 77; Daddy 74; Joseph 68; Beth 68.

Don't go away with the impression that only luck counts in this game. The game tonight was the exception: usually the reckless player ends up getting smoked!

Indeed, one thing I like about this game, compared to other push-your-luck games such as Incan Gold and Cloud 9, is that there are lots and lots of push-your-luck decisions (as compared to 5 rounds in Incan Gold and around 10 or so on average in Cloud 9), since each person's turn is a separate push-your-luck decision, and in our game of 4 times through the deck there must have been around 40 turns per person (each turn is very quick -- 10 to 30 seconds). This means that typically luck with average out and smart play is rewarded. As in any push-your-luck game there is LOTS of luck, so I'm not denying that. But there is scope for smart play too.

My worry before buying this game (another bonus = it's cheap!!) was that it would be too "little-kid-ish" and the big brother (age 8) wouldn't play. But it's been a big hit. I can imagine it working well up to 11-12 years old or beyond (I enjoy it). It also scales well and so is good for grandparents who visit. Plus it is short; you can play for about as short or long as you desire. Finally, there is no reading involved, so my 5 year can play just as well as her brother. And the scoring at the end of each time through the deck, involves adding 1s, 2s, 3s, and 4s, so it is great math practice for addition, which she is just getting the hang of.

A couple of reservations:

*I'm not sure about replayability; perhaps we'll tire of it shortly. But it's probably about average in this regard.

*The theme is underdeveloped. I was expecting the instructions to provide some story: Who is this dog Bruce and why is he chasing ducks? Why does a Bruce card scatter (i.e. discard) all the duck cards you've turned over, but retrieve for you some ducks from an opponent's hand? But there is no explanation.

*Like any Gamewright game, the cards are not that sturdy. But the artwork is cute and fun.

All in all, a fun game that is inexpensive.

Rating: 6.5/10 (it will go up if we don't tire too quickly of it + in general I don't often rate a game more than 7)

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pekin2121 — 2007-12-31T15:50:08+00:00

Workout card

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pekin2121 — 2007-12-31T15:48:42+00:00

Space card

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pekin2121 — 2007-12-31T15:48:22+00:00

Woods card

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pekin2121 — 2007-12-31T15:47:17+00:00

Pond card

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pekin2121 — 2007-12-31T15:46:54+00:00

Circus card

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pekin2121 — 2007-12-31T15:46:31+00:00

Football card

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pekin2121 — 2007-12-31T15:45:55+00:00

Rain card

Thread: Re: [Review] Duck Duck Bruce

Cadfan — 2007-12-26T01:07:49+00:00

I agree with most of this review, except that I'd add that this game isn't automatically a children's game.

Ok, sure, its got ducks everywhere, and a crazy dog named Bruce. And you're expected to say "DUCK!" every time you flip over a card.

Which I do.

But if you changed the theme of the game, this would be just as solid a push-your-luck game as any I've played. It doesn't do anything flashy, it simply presents a basic push-your-luck mechanic in a game that plays quickly and with easy to learn rules.

If the theme were changed to, I don't know, wooden cubes or something, adults would play this too.

Thread: Re: [Review] Duck Duck Bruce

jpat — 2007-10-15T13:37:52+00:00

keethrax wrote:
Is this the right game? It's under the Kleine Fische entry.

It's a rethemed version.

Thread: Re: [Review] Duck Duck Bruce

canucklehead — 2007-09-11T20:08:52+00:00

I couldn't agree more. This is a game our 4 year-old just loves. And Mom and I love it too. It's Incan Gold/Diamant ... with ducks!

Thread: Re: [Review] Duck Duck Bruce

keethrax — 2007-08-23T16:13:42+00:00

Is this the right game? It's under the Kleine Fische entry.

Thread: [Review] Duck Duck Bruce

TomVasel — 2007-08-23T05:35:00+00:00

Duck Duck Bruce (Gamewright, 2007 – Peter Neugebauer) sounds like the name of a bad Monty Python skit. But it’s really a card game featuring ducks and a dog named Bruce and is a simple game for children that teaches them how to push their luck. Now I’ve already reviewed a game that had similar features – Gopher it! In that review, I mentioned how I considered Gopher it! to be a “gateway” game, a game that helped children learn mechanics that they would use in many games, as they got older.

Duck Duck Bruce is similar, but it has a much higher “fun” element to it, one that will really resonate with children and their parents. The artwork is extremely cute; and while the end scoring is a bit confusing for younger children, the game has a charm that will appeal to many families. I myself found the game play merely passable – I felt a lack of control – but my kids enjoyed it so much that I found myself playing it multiple times, and not having a bad experience!

A deck of sixty-six cards is shuffled and placed on the table. The deck is made up of ten suits, each with six cards (numbered “1”, “1”, “2”, “2”, “3”, and “4”), and six “Bruce” cards. A die (numbered “-1”, “1”, “1”, “2”, “3”, and “3”) is placed near the deck, and the last person to feed a live duck goes first.

On a player’s turn, they take the top card from the deck and place it in front of them, starting a row. After this, they may either end their turn, taking all cards in the row – placing them face down in front of them, or turn over another card and add it to their row. This continues until either the player ends their turn, or
- They reveal a duck card of the same suit as one card already in their row. At that point, the two cards, and all the cards between them are discarded, and the players turn is over.
- They reveal a Bruce card. Everyone shouts Bruce!, and the player loses all face up cards in the row. However, the player gets a consolation prize of sorts by choosing another player and announcing the amount of cards (up to three) that they will steal. They then roll the die. If the number rolled is the same number or higher than the one they stated, they steal that many cards randomly from the player they are going after. Otherwise, they get nothing; and if they roll the “-1”, the opponent may steal one card from them! All cards stolen must be revealed to all players.

As soon as the last card from the draw pile has been revealed, all players turn over the cards that they have collected and sort them by suit, keeping only the highest number of each suit. Players add together their score and mark it on paper. Another round is started in the same way. The game ends after a certain number of rounds, time, or points – the players can decide beforehand. The player with the most points is then declared the winner!

Some comments on the game…

1.) Components: The deck of cards is wonderfully illustrated. Each card shows a number of ducks equal to the number strutting down a path. The paths are a different color, have a different background, and are easily distinguishable to all. The artwork is funny (the ducks seem to be smirking jovially at the players), and the Bruce cards themselves have a picture of a crazed dog hunting down a scared duck. The cards and die fit inside the small box easily.

2.) Rules: The game rules are on six small full color pages. I found that the game was easy to teach to people (notably kids), although the younger ones had a hard time understanding that they only would get to keep the highest number of each suit.

3.) Press Your Luck: The game is mostly about taking chances. Why take one card? Now if it’s a “4”, you might consider it, but still – why not take another? Getting two cards of the same suit happens occasionally, but more often players are zapped by drawing a Bruce card. I have seen my young daughters start to realize just how far they could actually push their luck, so the game was useful in that regard.

4.) Memory: There is also a bit of memory in the game, as players must remember who has what cards when they get a chance to steal. Also, if you already have drawn the “4” of a color, then getting the “1” is pretty much useless, unless you want to pad your cards against thieves. Certainly you can play the game without attempting to memorize anything, but kids will pick up on the memory element easier.

5.) Bruce and the Fun Factor: For an odd reason, it’s fun to shout Bruce at the top of your lungs. Or maybe that’s just the kids and I, but it does add a bit of wackiness to an already light game. The anticipation of drawing the next card is fun, and kids will get a kick out of watching their overreaching parent draw too many cards and lose them all. Duck Duck Bruce is a light game that doesn’t really present anything new, but it does allow kids to make some meaningful decisions without really stretching their brains much at all.

Duck Duck Bruce is for kids and their parents/teachers/caretakers. It’s a fun game that you’ll enjoy laughing at and playing, and kids will learn about risk taking. The game is full of simple, fun choices – from deciding how many cards to steal to how many cards to draw. You can play it until you’re sick of it – which may happen, but I think you’ll have fun before that point. Comical artwork and a funny theme help elevate this kids game to one that will be requested often. And adults won’t roll their eyes when it is.

Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games”
www.thedicetower.com

Thread: Re: Kleine Fische Review: Fast, Fun Filler, Good for kids

snoozefest — 2005-11-21T12:46:03+00:00

That's what we ended up doing - thanks for the clarification!

Thread: Re: Review: Fast, Fun Filler, Good for kids

not2fear — 2005-11-21T01:25:46+00:00

Ok, allow me to clarify- on his turn, the player flips a card. If its not an octopus, he can opt to stop taking cards (in which case the one card he has flipped goes into his pile) or he can opt to flip another card.

If he opts to flip another card, he should place the new card (assuming it is not an octopus) next to the cards he drew earlier in the same turn, making sure that it is possible to identify the order in which he drew the cards. This is important because only the cards between 2 similiar types of fishes (inclusive) are discarded.

For example:

For ease of explanation, the types of fishes are named A, B, C, D etc. and the number of clams on the fish are numbered 1,2,3,4 after the type of fish

On his turn, the player draws, in the following order:

A1, B2, C2, D3, C4.

When the player draws C4, his turn ends immediately. He discards the C2, D3, C4, and puts A1 and B2 into his pile face-down.

Let me know if you require me to elaborate.

Thread: Re: Review: Fast, Fun Filler, Good for kids

snoozefest — 2005-11-20T18:28:46+00:00

Sorry, I don't understand part of the translation. On your turn, you flip cards. Rules say you can stop any time - what do you if you do? How do the cards get in a pile? How many do you take? What "row" are you talking about in your rules translation? Don't cards taken go in a pile?

Thread: Kleine Fische Review: Fast, Fun Filler, Good for kids

not2fear — 2005-10-26T09:59:30+00:00

Kleine Fische (“Small Fry”)

This is an entertaining filler for 2-4 players with a duration of 10-20 minutes per game.

Components:
Box, 60 fish cards, 6 Octopus cards, 1 Octopus die.

The box is pretty sturdy and comparable to the box for Bang! in quality and size. The fish and octopus cards are normal playing card size, and are of similar cardstock as the Settlers of Catan cards. These cards fit into the normal ‘Magic’ sized card sleeves, which is how I protect my set. For those who are concerned about such things, the cards have a white border. The fish and octopus illustrations are rather cute and should be quite attractive to kids.

The octopus die is a cube of painted wood and is pretty light. On the whole, I think the quality of the components is comparable with other games in the same niche, although my gripe is that the wooden Octopus die is rather light and lacks heft.

Gameplay:
The cards are shuffled face-down and placed in the middle of the table as a common draw pile. Each player then takes their turn, with play proceeding clockwise. On his turn, a player may take cards by turning them face-up and placing them in a line in such a way that the sequence in which the cards were turned up is clear. Generally speaking, after turning each card, the player may opt to stop or continue taking another card. [Note: This para was edited to make it slightly clearer.]

If the player opts to continue to take another card and reveals a fish of a type which he has previously revealed in this round only (the size is irrelevant) then that player discards these two cards of similar type and all the cards picked up in between these two cards. The player gets to keep the remaining cards. That player’s turn then ends immediately.

At the end of the player’s turn, the cards he collected this turn are placed face down in a stack in front of him.

If the player turns over an Octopus card then that player is not allowed to take any more cards from the draw pile for this turn. He discards the octopus card drawn and all the fish cards turned over this turn. He then has the right to take from a fellow player card(s) previously collected by him. The player who turned over the octopus nominates a victim and declares how many cards he intends to take from said victim. Then he rolls the die. if the die roll is the same or higher than the number declared, then the player may take that number of card(s) at random from the victim’s face down pile, show them to the other players before putting them face down in his pile.

If the die roll is lower the player receives nothing.

If the die roll is "-1" then the tables are turned! The player loses one card (if he possess at least one) to the ‘victim’. The ‘victim’ picks one card at random from the face down pile of the active player, shows it to everyone, and then places it in his own pile.

The numbers on the Octopus die are 1, 1, 2, 3, 3 & -1

End Game/ Scoring:
As soon as the last card from the deck has been taken, a round ends. Each player then sorts his collection according to the type of fish. Only the highest value (indicated by the number of clams on the card) of a type of fish scores points (one point per clam on the card) for the player. The player with the lowest point value begins the next round after the cards have been well shuffled. The first player to score 77 points or more wins.

Comments:
A fast, fun filler of the ‘push-your-luck’ genre. Gameplay is nothing spectacular although the ‘Octopus die’ introduces just the right amount of ‘take that’ flavour into the game to make it interesting. It’s a nice touch that with 6 Octopi in the deck, the Octopi should backfire about once per game on average. The artwork, however, is spectacular and very attractive. My personal favourites are the fire fish.

If one is so inclined and wants to win very badly, there could be a fair amount of card counting and memory work (there are 6 Octopi and 10 types of fish with values: 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4 in the deck). Generally I just take note of who picked up the ‘4’s and ‘3’s of each type so I know who to filch from when the Octopus strikes.

I think Kleine Fische makes a pretty good filler and plays well with 2. I sometimes enjoy a quick round with my wife before bedtime although we never play to 77 points- shuffling thoroughly between games in a real pain. Although there are other fillers out there which I think are better (e.g. Coloretto, which we play more often), this is a pretty good filler worth adding to your collection. To be fair, I think this game is targeted at kids, and I suspect that kids should enjoy this simple game at least as much as or even more so than adults.