Game: Mmm... Brains!

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Keng Ho — 2008-07-26T08:27:51+00:00

Player cards

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Keng Ho — 2008-07-26T08:26:22+00:00

What you get in the box (besides the rules sheet)

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Keng Ho — 2008-07-26T08:23:42+00:00

Box bottom

Thread: Re: Mmm ... Brains review

wrongway — 2008-07-07T14:23:17+00:00

How could you possibly play only one game in an hour??? We played it 4 times in an hour. You may have been doing something wrong because there really isn't a "back and forth" motion to the game. Were you playing phase 1 and phase 2 at the same time by drawing new brains and discarding brains during the same turn?

Hmmm... I was not sure about this part either. Now that I see you have explained the phases as two different games almost, it makes more sense.

Guess I didn't have any brains when I read the rules (or too many when no brains were required.)

I see now. Could be a good 'filler' while you wait for other people to
arrive to the club meeting, or just something to pack for the coffee shop.

Thread: Knizia ... kinky?

verdigast — 2008-07-02T23:32:52+00:00

When I was entering this game into my collection, the Safari spellchecker suggested that I use the word "kinky" instead of Knizia. Is there something Apple knows that I don't?

I'm often amused at the suggestions that spellcheckers come up with.

Thread: Re: LaMMMe... Brains?

Xombeehive — 2008-05-21T01:59:30+00:00

:rock:

Hey, Chris, did it ever occur to you that the reviewer didn't KNOW it was a Yatzee variant before he bought it? The reason I ask is because it is totally obvious to me and I was just curious about the thought process of someone that failed to think on that very basic level and went so far as to post what they "thought".

Perhaps you think that every person here reads every possible review before spending a buck at their game store. In case you think this...*psst*...it isn't true.

Or maybe you are just trying to be a jerk on purpose? This is the Internet, after all.

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hkishel — 2008-03-09T14:25:43+00:00

mmm......brains

Thread: Re: Session/Review : Mmm...BRAINS!!!

habermanm — 2008-03-05T16:42:02+00:00

I LOVE Pepe!

Thread: Re: Session/Review : Mmm...BRAINS!!!

operamang — 2008-03-05T13:14:33+00:00

Ah, yes! You're absolutely right. How did I miss this?

THE RULES wrote:
Phase 2: When there are insufficient brains left in the mddle, the current player takes whatever s left. The game then changes: After establishing your result based on one color as above, the player with the corresponding colored player card must pay the respective number of brains into the middle.

Thread: Re: Session/Review : Mmm...BRAINS!!!

Gola — 2008-03-05T10:11:18+00:00

operamang wrote:
Once all the brains had been distributed, the game really started picking up, and we starting stealing one another's brains.

operamang wrote:
Unfortunately, our lunch hour ran out before we could determine a winner...
I think you were playing incorrectly. In the second half you put the brains back in the middle of the table, you don't steal them from each other. There's no way this game should last more than an hour.

Thread: Session/Review : Mmm...BRAINS!!!

operamang — 2008-03-05T04:47:28+00:00

I picked up Mmm...BRAINS! over the weekend in a local math trade. The small box fit into my book bag, and so I brought it with me to work today, in the hopes of bringing it out at lunch.

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Once everyone at the table finished their sammiches, I pulled out the game and started spreading the red and white brains around, which quickly got everyone's attention.

"What's that?"

"Are those candies?"

"OMG! They've got little cerebellums on them!"

It took about a minute to explain the rules, and we were off, rolling for brains. After the first couple of rolls, the fun began, with zombie-like groans of "Braaaaains" every time one came up on a die, and with each additional one, "TWOOOOO Braaaaaaaains"! Soon after, everyone was laughing and having a great time with the game, with our playful noise drawing a small but curious crowd around the table.

Once all the brains had been distributed, the game really started picking up, and we starting stealing one another's brains. One guy insisted that everyone pick on me, which quickly backfired, turning everyone on HIM instead! His desperate pleas for mercy went unheard, as we devoured his stash, and sent him packing.

Unfortunately, our lunch hour ran out before we could determine a winner, so the player with the most brains at that point was declared the winner, which just happened to be myself. All in all, a very fun lunch break!

My initial thoughts on the game are as follows...

The first phase is a little too long. Perhaps distributing about half of the brains equally, and then rolling for the rest, would accomplish the same goal in much less time.

The second phase definitely dragged on as well (as evidenced by the fact that we didn't even finish the game!), with the initial roll often deciding who each player would target, causing a lot of back and forth.

I'd love to try adding some random objective cards to the game, to provide some options for ending the game with something other than utter domination of all brains. Some examples might be...

Own all (and only) the white/red brains to win.
Roll a Yahtzee (ie, all brains) during phase 2 to win.
Personally eliminate two players to win.

I'm sure some objectives would be easier than others, but the point wouldn't be to balance the game, it'd be to make it end sooner, before the fun of moaning and groaning for brains wears thin.

Anyways, those are my thoughts on the game. It'll never crack the top 100 ... heck not even the top 1000, most likely, but it's an inexpensive (under $10 on thoughthammer, and for us Canucks, about a dollar more on starlitcitadel.com), fun diversion, which non-gamers will have no problem catching onto.

Thread: Re: Mmm ... Brains review

MasterHalco — 2007-12-27T06:17:43+00:00

How could you possibly play only one game in an hour??? We played it 4 times in an hour. You may have been doing something wrong because there really isn't a "back and forth" motion to the game. Were you playing phase 1 and phase 2 at the same time by drawing new brains and discarding brains during the same turn?

It's a fun filler that has a few more choices than you first imagine. choosing which dice to reroll and who to attack gives it just enough to think about. A good investment for the time and money.

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patchwerq — 2007-12-11T14:35:07+00:00

A nice homemade Brain bag!

Thread: Re: Mmm ... Brains review

carl67lp — 2007-11-15T16:55:11+00:00

dougadamsau wrote:
... "10 minute filler" category.

If only! We played this at a game night some time ago, with the full complement of players (five, if memory serves). It devolved into a back-and-forth struggle that lasted nearly an hour.

We all resolved never to touch it again.

Thread: Re: LaMMMe... Brains?

pkreynolds — 2007-09-04T01:03:45+00:00

I just got home from a two-day holiday weekend with my family, and we played many rounds of this game, with gamers and non-gamers of ages ranging from five to sixty, and EVERYONE had a blast and wanted to play again. Yeah, there's not much to it and it's not very deep. But it's great filler and lots of fun if you're not thinking too much about it. A good game to play while also carrying on conversation or eating.

Thread: Re: Review: Mmm... Brains

joebelanger — 2007-08-30T18:47:44+00:00

That is true. We make zombie groaning/brain eating sounds as we take away brains from the other players at the end of the game. That definitely adds to the overall effect/enjoyment of the game.

Thread: Re: Review: Mmm... Brains

tomfisher — 2007-08-30T18:35:07+00:00

I might add that the game takes on a new dimension when you add sucking sounds as you take the brains in the 2nd round. Tossing in the odd "Igor" sound effect, like "yes master" adds to the theme (which is painted on). It teaches kids that theme is added to the game by the players which makes the gaming experience alot more fun.

Thread: Re: Review: Mmm... Brains

joebelanger — 2007-08-30T16:01:14+00:00

You nailed it, bro. Great review!

Thread: Review: Mmm... Brains

pkreynolds — 2007-08-30T14:35:43+00:00

As a new parent with a growing extended family that includes a 5-year-old and pair of two-year old nephews and a one-point-five-year-old niece, my gaming radar has been dialed down to a lower setting lately. Where I used to look for big meaty games with loads of strategic depth and layers of complexity, I now find myself looking equally for quick-playing, easy to explain games recommended for the five and older crowd that help with the basic fundamentals of learning.

Enter "Mmm... Brains", which might as well be the poster game for the criteria I just detailed.

Designed by the ever-prolific Dr. Knizia, this is a math game at heart (not surprising since many Knizia games have a strong mathematical core). It can be explained in a couple of minutes, and played in under ten.

There are two phases. In the first, each player rolls the five dice (each has number 1-5 in five different colors and a picture of a brain). Two rerolls of any dice chosen are allowed, and the player can set aside any dice he wants to keep before each reroll. Then, the player chooses one color, adds up all numbers of that color on the dice and factors in the brains, which serve as multipliers. One brain is a x1 so no big deal, but roll a 5 and four brains and you've got 5x4 for a total of 20. The player then collects plastic brains equal to his total roll.

When all of the brains are gone, phase two begins. In this phase, players target opponents by choosing their color, and the targeted player must lose brains equal to the total roll. When only one player is left with brains, he wins.

'Mmm... Brains' is a simple and fast game that is all about counting and multiplying. It's excellent for fortifying young kids' math skills, and there are some very basic strategic decisions here too. In phase one it's sometimes better to reroll a 1 or 2 when you have one brain showing and hope for a second or third to get a nice multiplier, but it's a risk. In phase two, do you target the player with the most brains to whittle them down, or go after the guy with the fewest to put him out of the game? These are the kinds of decisions that younger players can grasp pretty easily, and of course the little plastic brains are just fun to grab. And kids love rolling dice, and this game lets them do a lot of it.

Bottom line - while 'Mmm... Brains' isn't much more than quick filler while waiting on that last member of your game group to arrive, it's great for family gatherings with lots of young kids.

Thread: Re: My Brains Hurt

pkreynolds — 2007-08-30T14:21:22+00:00

Yes, I think that nothing is ever "locked in" until after your final roll and you choose which color and/or brains to set aside and count.

Thread: Re: LaMMMe... Brains?

Yokiboy — 2007-08-05T16:11:50+00:00

Awfki wrote:
Wow. My first review and I'm knocking Reiner Knizia. Ah, well. I haven't played Settlers yet and MMM...Brains is a bit of a disappointment. Even the uber-designer's have an off day once in a while I guess. I'd gone to the FLGS looking for Settlers or TTR but they didn't have those so I took a shot at MMM...Brains. I should have gotten Inka instead.

Well even if you had played and loved Settlers of Catan that wouldn't have made you a Reiner Knizia fan, as it was designed by Klaus Teuber.

Thread: Re: My Brains Hurt

Buggy — 2007-08-05T15:41:31+00:00

First: Yes, you can rethrow dice you have set aside, but after your second, and final, rethrow, can you then swap set aside dice for dice you have rethrown. I believe yes. My wife was not so sure.

Also, thanks.

Thread: Re: LaMMMe... Brains?

ixnay66 — 2007-08-05T01:08:24+00:00

I heard this wasn't that great but if you don't like Yatzee I would would suggest stearing clear of Yatzee variants.

Thread: LaMMMe... Brains?

Awfki — 2007-08-04T21:16:49+00:00

Wow. My first review and I'm knocking Reiner Knizia. Ah, well. I haven't played Settlers yet and MMM...Brains is a bit of a disappointment. Even the uber-designer's have an off day once in a while I guess. I'd gone to the FLGS looking for Settlers or TTR but they didn't have those so I took a shot at MMM...Brains. I should have gotten Inka instead.

Getting back on track, MMM...Brains reminds me way too much of Yahtzee and that was never one of my favorites. So, what do you get?

The box: Compact. Very nice. I like the cute little zombies with the big-heads. I wonder how that'd look on my desktop?

The contents: One page of rules. 25 little white brains (1 pt each). 25 little red brains (5 pts each). Five dice with the numbers one through five and one little brain. Five colored cards, one per player, to go with the colors on the dice. (Tip: I was confused by the orange card; it's supposed to be red.

The rules: Simple enough. You've got three rolls to get a combination of numbers in the same color and, hopefully, some brains. The numbers in the color you pick (not your card color, you pick this color each turn) are added up and multiplied by the number of brains (with zero brains counting as one) to get a number. In phase one you get that number of brains from the center of the table. In phase two someone, maybe you, has to put that number brains back in the center of the table.

The objective: Be the last zombie with brains.

The only strategy is picking who you're going to try to take brains from in phase two and it's pretty obvious that the current leader is probably the best target.

It says ages 6 and up on the box. I'd say to 6-12 is more accurate and the 12 year olds might get bored pretty quickly. It will make for nice math practice for the little ones though.

This will probably hit the shelf pretty quickly and stay there. I'm kicking around some variations to make it worthwhile but you'd almost have to throw out the whole dice motif and start over.

I do like the little brains. I'll have to think of something more fun to do with them.

Thread: Re: My Brains Hurt

Gola — 2007-08-04T17:48:23+00:00

Question the first: the rules specifically say that you can rethrow dice that you initially set aside.

Question the second: I say that you have to factor in the brains. The rules don't suggest anywhere that multiplying by the number of brains is optional; it includes them as a step in arriving at the total.

Thread: My Brains Hurt

Buggy — 2007-08-04T17:23:17+00:00

Yes, even with a simple game with one page of rules, we had two questions.

Situation the first. After my second roll, I had two brains and a green 5. I roll a yellow 3 and 4, and swap them out for the 5. Wife says I can't swap colors like that on the third roll. I say, "sure you can."

Situation the second. In the second phase, I don't roll any opponent's colors, but I roll a 2 of my color and 3 brains. Do I *have* to include the brains in my calculations of brains lost, or are they optional? (I say, yeah, I gotta soak it up and lose 6 of my brains.)

What do you think?

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Tobold — 2007-08-01T07:49:38+00:00

The brains up close

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Tobold — 2007-08-01T07:47:44+00:00

The dice up close

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Chris Dorrell — 2007-05-06T14:30:06+00:00

MMM the yellow is hard to see by artificial light.

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Chris Dorrell — 2007-05-06T14:27:42+00:00

MMM a brain!

Thread: Re: Mmm ... Brains review

Sarge77 — 2007-04-11T15:18:08+00:00

Hey, that's a great idea!

Thread: Re: Mmm ... Brains review

Kaleljorson7 — 2007-04-01T19:08:25+00:00

I'm thinking about buying it for the brain pieces to use as sanity tokens in Arkham Horror.

Thread: Re: Mmm ... Brains review

Axelfudge — 2007-01-19T16:03:27+00:00

Thanks for the review. I have been eyeing this one at my FLGS and was drawn into the art right away. It's not too expensive but I was wondering if there is much game there. From your review it sounds like it might wear out rather quickly but it IS only 15 bucks. Hrmmm, food for thought... or brrrrains!

Thread: Re: Mmm...BRAINS!

The Bellman — 2007-01-19T11:01:45+00:00

"All we wanna do is eat your brains!"

Youtube Video

Thread: Mmm ... Brains review

dougadamsau — 2007-01-19T03:58:18+00:00

Mmm... Brains is a new dice game for 3-5 players from Reiner Knizia. Players represent zombies, collecting brains during the first half the game, then forcing players to give up their brains during the second half.

Brains, huh? Yes, you read correctly. The game comes packaged with 25 white and 25 red plastic molded brain pieces. The white ones are worth 1 brain, while the red are worth 5 brains.

The game also includes five dice. Each dice has the number 1 to 5 on it, as well as 1 brain symbol. Each number on each die is a different colour, while the brain is the same colour as the number 5. As far as I can tell, the colour of the brain has no effect on the game, apart from telling you the 5 of that colour is on the reverse die face.

Players are dealt a coloured brain card, and play begins. The colour of the brain card matches the colour of the different die faces (more or less - it's a bit of a stretch matching the orange brain card with the red die face). The brain cards are only relevant in the second half of the game.

During a player's turn they roll the dice up to three times. Between rolls, dice can be set aside or re-thrown. At the end of their rolls, or sometime sooner, they can stop rolling and take their total in brains. Their total is the sum of the die faces in one colour, multiplied by the number of brain symbols rolled. A quick burst of arithmetic, which is probably wrong, tells me that 27 is the highest possible brain income you can get during a turn (5 + 4 times 3 brains).

Players take turns repeating this until the supply of 150 brains is drained. Then the game takes a sinister turn... the die rolling continues as normal, however the total and colour of the roll is deducted from the owner of that brain card's brains. If due to bad luck that colour is not in the game, then the roller has to pay from their own supply of brains. If a player is reduced to no brains, they're eliminated from the game.

Play continues until one player remains with brains.

As can be seen from the description, this is a simple game, slotted right into the "10 minute filler" category. The main entertainment comes from the brain pieces, as well as all the "no brains" jokes. It's an enjoyable beat-em-up/take that game. While I'm a fan of Knizia's die rolling games, this is certainly one of the lesser ones.

A final word about the components. The box art is fantastic, and is what attracted my attention when I spotted it in my local game store. However the dice are quite poor - the blue and black colours appear to be identical even under good lighting, while the yellow colour blends right into the white die face and is almost invisible.

Apart from the production issues, the game is quite acceptable, in a brainless sort of way.

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dougadamsau — 2007-01-19T01:25:39+00:00

The brains, and the dice

Thread: Re: Is this a retheme

Larry Levy — 2007-01-16T15:46:35+00:00

Oh no. Very different games. About the only thing they have in common is that they both use dice.

Thread: Is this a retheme

Surya — 2007-01-16T11:09:45+00:00

From what I can make of it, this is a retheme of Pickomino. Is that correct?

Thread: Re: For the first time, Mark has more brains than the rest of us

vitas — 2007-01-15T05:16:55+00:00

My impression is that brains still act as a multiplier during brain loss.

Sincerely,
Vitas Povilaitis

Thread: Re: For the first time, Mark has more brains than the rest o

kimbo — 2007-01-10T14:33:47+00:00

One complaint: the yellow numbers are almost impossible to read on the white dice.
I find it very difficult to tell the blue and black numbers apart. Even side by side, it's no sure thing.

Thread: For the first time, Mark has more brains than the rest of us

Spielfreak — 2007-01-09T19:21:30+00:00

MMM...BRAINS: Mark, Jeremy, Phil, Gary, Bob

Gary picked up this small dice game at Rivendell in Rehoboth on his way to Bob's house. It's a new Knizia game in which players are brain-eating zombies who acquire and attempt to hold onto small plastic brains. Mmm, brains... The game components include five six-sided dice that are unique in their five colored numbers (i.e., one die has a yellow five and a red four, another has a red five and a blue four, etc.) with a brain symbol on the face opposite the five. There are also five player-color indicators (emlazoned with herr doktor's name), and a supply of small 1/4 inch plastic brains in two colors (red = 5, white = 1). Mmm, brains...

The game is played in two phases; brain acquisition and brain loss. In the first phase players roll dice up to three times in an attempt to roll as many numbers in one color. Each brain rolled acts as a multiplyer, so rolling two brains would cause the final dice summation to be multiplied by three. Mmm, brains... So a player rolls the dice, sets aside those s/he wants to keep and rolls the others, and does this up to one more time. Dice that are set aside after the first roll are not locked, and may be re-rolled during the third roll. After three rolls (or fewer, if desired) the dice faces of one color are summed and multiplied, with this total of brains awarded to the player. Play passes to the left, and this continues until all brains are distributed. Mmm, brains...

In the second phase players roll the dice as before (i.e., up to three times), but this time the player is selecting colored numbers that match another player's color, who must lose the resultant number of brains. Brain symbols on dice faces are ignored in this phase. Mmm, brains... If a player loses his last brain, then s/he is out of the game. If a player ends up with colored numbers that do not match any of the remaining players, then s/he must lose brains indicated by one of the rolled colors. This continues until there is only one player left -- the winner!

Jeremy started the game, and acquired 18 brains on his first turn, and took what was left (12 or so) on his next turn. Bob grabbed over 30 brains, Mark had 28, I had 22, and Gary had 24. For some reason in the second phase we all immediately targeted Bob, and he was the first to lose his brains. Mmm, brains... Yeah yeah, some could argue he never had any, but we won't go there. Gary, Jeremy, and Mark were then nicked for a handful of brains each, and then I delivered the death knell to Gary. I now had the most brains left (I hadn't lost any yet!), but this didn't last long. It then became a mano a mano contest between Jeremy and Mark, with Jeremy rolling first. They nicked each other, but then Jeremy fired blanks and had to lose brains on his own turn. Mmm, brains... Mark then finished him off and was declared the winner.

Despite the preponderance of cerrabellums, this game is rather mindless. It could be a lot more fun if drinking were involved, I suppose. It's not a bad game, it's just mostly a luckfest. One complaint: the yellow numbers are almost impossible to read on the white dice.

Thread: Re: Mmm...BRAINS!

monkeyrobot — 2006-10-23T18:33:18+00:00

sjap wrote:

Just one note of caution: DO NOT, I REPEAT: DO NOT EAT THE BRAINS!!!!

Thread: Mmm...BRAINS!

sjap — 2006-10-23T10:40:00+00:00

As soon as I saw this game on the net I knew I had to have it!

I mean, a game with 50 sculpted plastic brains as counters, for those alone it's a must have.

Plus: the great artwork by David Aikins (in the style of "all wound up!).
And... the caption :"you're hungry and brains seem to be in short supply!"

This all sets the tone of the humorous horror we're expecting (and enjoying) from Twilight Creations, Inc (of Zombies!!! fame).

This game has been designed by some dude called Reinier Knizia, that's a zombie name, if you ask me...

It comes in a small box of 15 by 13 cm (that's about 6 by 5.2 inches for the Imperial measurments weirdos out there).

Inside the nice box you have 2 partitions in which you place the two sets of mini brains, red and white (the red are worth 5 white ones).
You also get 5 dice with colored numbers, and a brain where the "6" should be.

The colors match the colors of the 5 cards representing the players (red, black, green, blue and yellow)

You're a zombie and you want to eat brains, but you have to get them from the other zombies who have more brains (as food item...) than you.

At the start: all the brains are in the box and you roll dice.

You've got 3 rolls to get numbers of the same color that you add up and use any brian that showed up on the dice as a multiplier. you get that amount of brains from the pile.

Everyone does that, and when the pile supply is empty you now roll and take the amount of brains from the player of the corresponding color.Those brains go back in the box

The last zombie standing has won.

It says 20 minutes on the box, it took us less than 20 minutes (even with having to read the rules).

It's a quick in-between game, you can gang-up on players who have too many brains for their own good , easy to learn from 6 years and older.

It's a great game fun game, great theme, great presentation.
it should price at $18, if I recall correctly.

Just one note of caution: DO NOT, I REPEAT: DO NOT EAT THE BRAINS!!!!
They look like candy (tictacs) and it's very difficult to resist eating them for adults and children alike....

10 for theme, 9 for presentation and 8 for gameplay.

***********************************************************************

As soon I got to Essen I went to the Twilight Creations booth to ask for the game...But Alas! As the game comes out early december, they had only 3 copies: 1 for themselves and 2 for some German dude, who apparently has designed a game or two...Reiner Knizia. Ok, officially it's called "Reiner Knizia's mmm...brains!"...

So it was just not possible.

So I started to beg, and beg and use all the tricks in the book, and kept coming back to their booth, they were quickly having enough of me there!

At some point they said Kneesore, O, I mean Knizia, was coming by later in the day, so I should maybe ask him.

So I kept coming back and back, and back (like a good zombie should), because Mister Knizia was not there in time...

At last he was there so I could pick his brains and I bluntly told him how I had to have the game and begged and whined (even might have made an indecent proposal or two, I do not recall very well it's rather blurry in my zombie mind), but no.

I said I would be back the next day (no escaping the relentless 45 year old geek zombie convention-goer).

And yes, the next day I was back as promised, and later in the day they had succombed to my incessant harassment...and I was presented a copy.
Yes!!!! The German game designer dude had relinquished one of his precious copies , probably to get rid of me, and save the Essen games convention from rambling zombies like me- that, or the shock of the indecent proposal...

Well, a HUGE thank you to: Todd and Kerry Breitenstein (...and all the people at the Twilight Creations booth) for putting up with me and finally enabling me to feast on small succulent brains, you're great people. And I hope they come back to Europe: all Europeans are not like me (thank whichever entity you worship).

And obviously: also a Huge thanks to Reiner Knizia for letting go of one of his copies, I hadn't expected it!

By the way how does Knizia remember his name (or anything for that matter?)... If he's introduced to someone he says: Hi, Amnesia.

Take care,
Have fun,
Sjap.