Bag of Chips

Butty

Do not judge a board game by it’s box, or, um, bag I guess. Bag of Chips comes in what looks like a crisp or nut packet. This is not an accident as the game revolves around pulling cardboard ‘chips’ (what we Brits call ‘crisps’) from said packet, and making the best bets on what will occur.

Everything you need is contained in the packet, although it’s a bit of tight fit once you have opened it the first time. The ‘gimmick’ is central to the game and though it could have been done with a normal bag contained within a standard game box, it wouldn’t quite be the same. But does the gameplay warrant the gimmick?

Monster Munch

In the packet you will find chips of various colours, rules, a deck of cards, a player aid tile, reward tokens and four round cards. To win the game you will need to collect a certain amount of reward tokens depending on player count. To win reward tokens you will need to finish a round with the most points.

Each player is dealt six scoring cards. On each card it will show a condition and a numerical score that that condition rewards. For example a card might give you 2 points per yellow chip that is on the table at the end of the round. Or it might give you hundreds of points if there are more of one colour than another. In fact there is a card that wins the game outright if there are more orange chips than yellow at the end of the round. I’ve never seen this happen!

Once you have your six cards five chips are drawn from the bag, after which each player discards two of their cards face down in front of them. Next four more chips are drawn and each player discards one more card. Here’s where it gets interest – three more chips are drawn and each player arranges their remain three cards. One goes to the left of their discards, two go to the right. The card on the left will score negative points if it is true at the end of the round whereas the cards on the right will score positive points if they are true at the end of round. Helpfully the back of the cards show where to place the cards so you don’t have to remember!

Nik Naks

Lastly two more chips are drawn one at a time. After everyone has done this you check to see who scores and how much. It’s a simple game but the need to play one card as negative points is interesting. I’ve played Bag of Chips around 30 times and I sometimes still forget to keep hold of either a low scoring card, or one that is impossible so I don’t lose any points!

There is of course an element of push your luck here. Do you play it safe or risk it all? Do you go for easy low points or high risk high reward points? Each draw gives you more information and helpfully a card has been included that lists how many of each colour chip started in the bag. All this open information and your hand of cards.

As you can tell games are quick affairs but in a good way, with two, three of four games being played in a row. And they are all in fun. Everyone is invested on that last chip draw, whether for their own cards, or other peoples. Bag of Chips creates that fun tension of the river card in Poker.

Space Raiders

Of course Bag of Chips is a game of luck as much as anything else. There is undoubtably some decisions to be made in choosing which cards to score from, but sometimes nothing in your initial hand would have scored you points! It isn’t too much of an issue because rounds are short, but if you take the competition seriously you might not enjoy this.

Components are a mixed bag too. The chips are good quality cardboard but they could have been a bit special. Card quality is ok but sleeving them would mean finding an different storage solution. Some have found the packet a little on the small side but I have large hands and manage – just about.

But again Bag of Chips is about a fun fast experience, that almost anyone can enjoy. It’s mainly luck, but the kind of luck that sees everyone invested, especially on the last two chip pulls!