Intro

My 4-year-old son recently received this game (the metal lunchbox version) in an Easter basket from the Easter Bunny.

I wasn't sure at first that he could grasp the rules of this game, but I was quite surprised to find he not only understands the rules, but he is very good at making the "optimum" play.

This is a simple game, but thanks to the ability to choose which card to play, it does teach young gamers to make smart choices, and the winner is not pre-determined at the start (Candyland, anyone?).

Components

The metal lunchbox version comes in (what else?) a small metal lunchbox:


Inside is a rules pamphlet, a deck of 54 cards, and a Fly token. The cards are laminated, but crease easily if mishandled. We've only had our copy since April, and several of the cards are near to tearing. Some of this is due to the 1-year-old getting his grubby hands on the cards once or twice.

The Fly token is a piece of black plastic with a Fly sticker on each side.

Rules

The rules are simple. To win, a player must create 3 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches using the ingredients on the cards. There are 6 card types:
Bread - used to make a sandwich
Peanut Butter - used to make a sandwich
Jelly - used to make a sandwich
Wild - Can be used as Bread, Peanut Butter, or Jelly
Ant - Steal an ingredient from an opponent's sandwich
Fly - Move the Fly token to an opponent's sandwich, thereby making that sandwich VOID until the Fly token is removed.

Each player has a hand of 2 cards. On a player's turn, he takes a card from the deck, then plays a card. He can either play a valid ingredient card to a sandwich, play an Ant or Fly, or if none of the above is possible, he discards a card of his choice.

Sandwiches must be built with Bread on the outside, and at least one Peanut Butter and one Jelly card in between (any of which can be Wild). Each sandwich must be completed before the player can start a new one.

If a sandwich has the Fly token on it, cards cannot be played on it, and it does not count for the win condition. For all purposes, a sandwich with the Fly token on it does not exist. The Fly token can only be removed by playing another Fly card.

Play continues clockwise until one player finishes all 3 sandwiches and wins the game.

How it plays

This is a great game to play with my 4-year-old. He really enjoys the silly and simple concept of making sandwiches, and he "gets it." I can watch him look at his cards, and look at what's on the table, and really make a decent decision about if he should play his Wild card to his sandwich, or play an Ant card and get my Jelly card instead.

For an adult, it is not hard to figure out the optimal play, and once your little one figures this out, each game will come down to luck, but that's OK. At least it makes your kid use his brain to try and win. If he doesn't think about his plays, you will soundly trounce him every time.

The biggest problem with this game is that it is promoted for 2-4 players. This game works well with 2. It is OK with 3. It is clearly broken with 4. In a 4 player game, once the ingredient cards have all hit the table, there is nothing left in the draw deck except Ant and Fly cards. The game becomes an endless tedious cycle of all of the players stealing/blocking each other, making the chance for the stars to align and a single player to win very small. If playing with young ones, this will clearly become a bore, and they will not want to play the game ever again. I'm sure there is a house rule that could fix this, but you shouldn't need a house rule for a game for a 4-year-old.

Final thoughts

As a gamer, I am always looking for games that I can play with my young children that aren't brainless and tedious. This game came as a pleasant surprise, as my 4-year-old understands the rules, plus the basic strategies of the game. I don't mind playing it with him, especially since I can watch him work the problem. I definitely recommend it for 2 players, but I really can't recommend it for more.