Is Cucumber Catastrophe as cruel as a cucumber?
As cool as a cucumber – that’s the saying, right? Someone should tell Michael Feldkötter, because his cucumbers are downright creepy, making cats lose their cool! This ancient green threat lurks, ready to ruin the sun-soaked naps of feline kind.
Cucumber Catastrophe is a trick-taking game played over four rounds, with each player dealt 10 cards for that round. At the end of each round, players tally up how many cucumbers they won. After four full rounds, the player with the lowest total number
of cucumbers is the winner.
It’s a wrinkle in the usual trick-taking procedure that makes this so much fun to play. The first player leads a trick by playing any card. The second player plays a card in response and that determines the rule for the trick. If they play a higher card, you flip the token to the + side and the highest card played wins the trick. If they play a lower card than the lead, you flip the token to the – side and the lowest card wins the trick. All subsequent players must play a card that is higher or lower than the lead card, depending on the active rule.
Having the trick switch this way during play creates dramatic reversals, making it difficult to know who will end up taking a trick. To twist the plot further, you can break the rule! If you physically cannot follow the active rule (for example, you don’t have any higher or lower cards in your hand), you can play any card. This breaks the rule and flips the token to the opposite side.
It’s not as if you’re even trying to win the trick. In the end, only the cat who has accumulated the fewest cursed vegetables has conquered their fear and saved their dignity.
Review by Lance Freeman
Yes
Revel in those moments where you think you’ve dodged a five-cucumber card, only for the trick to swing back your way!
It’s suits rather than trick rules that shift in Cat in the Box.
Category: Card Games
Designer: Michael Feldkötter
Publisher: dV Games
Time to Play: 20m
Players: 3-6 Players
Age: 8+
RRP: £14.99
60 Cards
Trick marker
Scorepad
Rulebook
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