Thread: Review of Chomp!

ASBiskey — 2007-05-17T18:32:08+00:00

Chomp! is a card game for 2-6 player, ages 6+. It is a food chain game, with cards higher on the food chain eating (collecting) cards lower on the chain.

COMPONENTS

There are fifty cards, plus two player guide cards, plus a rule sheet in English and Spanish.

There are cards for each level in the undersea food chain: Sharks, Seals, Big Fish, Little Fish, Shrimp, and Plankton.

There are also two types of special cards: Octopi and Electric Eels.

The player guides simply show what each animal can eat, from the top down: Sharks eat everything except other sharks, seals eat everything except sharks and other seals, and so on down to plankton, who don’t eat anything in this game.

The cards are on the thinner side, which seemed to work well in this card flipping game. I did not compare, but they seemed a bit larger than standard playing cards. The finish was nice, not so satiny that the pile slides, but not plain cardstock either.

The art is well done, not photorealistic, but not cartoony either. The larger animals are easily distinguished as each is animal is different colored and stands out from the background. The small fish, shrimp, and plankton cards show schools of light colored animals on a light underwater background. They are clearly different on quick examination, but I feel they would be better if they were more clearly distinguished.

The instructions are clear overall, with few vagaries. They seem a little lengthy for a card game for ages 6+, and the way they are printed around the fold is a little confusing until you fold them out flat, but I realize they had to fit them in the box.

PLAY

The deck is shuffled and divided equally among the players. Each player’s cards are stacked in a draw pile in front of them, face down.

Each player simultaneously reveals their top card to the other players. The first player to put their hand on the card lowest in the food chain that their card can eat and call out “Chomp” takes all the cards their card can eat and their own card. Cards that cannot be eaten by the winner go back to player who played them.

The octopus and electric eel cards add a few wrinkles.

An octopus card produces an “ink out”, placing all the cards from that round in a pot, which the winner of the next round takes.

The electric eel card trumps everything else. The first person to put their hand on the electric eel card and call out “Feeding Frenzy” takes all the cards in play.

Sometimes a player will make a “bad chomp” and must pay a penalty card, face down, from their draw pile into the pot. This happens when they chomp an animal equal to or higher to their own on the food chain or they chomp during an ink out.

When a player’s draw pile is depleted, the cards he has collected are shuffled to form a new draw pile. Play continues until all but two players are out of cards. Then the game is concluded by either counting the cards, greatest number winning, or playing war until one player has all the cards.

MY IMPRESSION

When I saw this game, I was hoping it would be similar to Frank's Zoo, another food chain game, which I enjoyed playing as a light game with other adults. The low price and 6+ age recommendation made Chomp! very appealing. After playing with my wife and kids (6 & 8) is was very disappointed.

As a disclaimer, I don’t enjoy shouting and slapping games in general, but I do enjoy War, which this has similarities to.

Perhaps if all players were the same age it would be more enjoyable, but I don’t think even my ten year old could play with my six year old and have it be a competitive, enjoyable experience for either of them. My wife or I could have walked away with this one. It is not really a game for the whole family, at least not all playing it together. I know the kids will get faster, especially as they play more, but it will have to be against each other.

There are only six levels in the “food chain”, which seems TOO simple. My six year old understood the whole food chain concept almost immediately. And the special cards are more annoying than interesting, the octopi breaking up the flow of the game and the electric eels seem to powerful, trumping everything.

The fact that whoever puts out the lowest card can’t claim the round is annoying. If you turn the lowest card, you are out of luck, unless a special card is turned up.

The kids seemed to do better with the large animals. The small fish, shrimp, and plankton are just to similar for a game where quick recognition is essential.

The end game, where you eliminate until there are only two players, then play war or just count is anticlimactic. My kids were anxious any time they came near elimination. Elimination is a little harsh for a game for ages six and up.

I know that each of these cons could be turned into pros by other people. I can see that this game can build hand-eye coordination, character recognition, is simple enough for young children, etc. I just didn’t get anything from it, and neither did my kids as far as I can tell.

BOTTOM LINE

Similar, better games can be played with a regular deck of cards. The food chain theme does not improve the game in any way.

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ArtEmiSa64 — 2007-03-05T23:13:15+00:00

permission by http://www.gamewright.com

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mistermarino — 2005-05-23T15:47:24+00:00

The playing cards: electric eel, octopus, shark, seal, big fish, little fish, shrimp and plankton.

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EJKemp — 2005-03-18T21:36:53+00:00

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breakmanynecks — 2003-10-22T21:43:27+00:00

cover

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nortsub — 2003-01-24T12:51:25+00:00

Game: Chomp!

Thread: Review of Chomp!

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