Stronghold Games Ganz Shon Clever (That's Pretty Clever)

This is a great game to add to the family game closet. It has a good balance between experience and random rewards, and it is easy enough to learn that anyone 8+ truly can play it. Summary: "That's Pretty Clever" (TPC) is a game for 1-4 players by Stronghold Games for ages 8+. Yes, you can play a solo version of the game and try to maximize your score. The game comes with all of the scoring rules enclosed on the scoring pad and six dice. Five of the die are colored and have their own scoring rules, and the white die is "wild" and can be used as any color. Each player turn is played in a maximum of three phases. For each phase, the player selects a die to score with, and then the other players can use any of the die that are less than the die chosen. So, if the player chooses the highest die to score then the other players can use the rest of the dice to score themselves, starting to the left of the active player and working clockwise. The active player than selects any dice either not available to or not used by the other players, rolls again, and repeats the process. It is possible that there are not dice left over at the end of round two, and the turn ends at the end of phase III if the player gets that far. Each of the color of dice has a different, unique scoring pattern as reflected on the scoring pad. Players need to take into account their scoring potentials, and they need to keep big points makers out of the hands of the other players. There are literally hundreds of choices each turn, and in at least fifty games of TPC, no two games have been alike. Because there are so many scoring possibilities, my gaming group has talked about TPC for days after finishing a gaming session and speculated on what other choices might have done to the final tallies. That is the mark of a classic game. On to the Dr Games’ Criteria … GO/NO GO Criterion • Complexity: (GO) The scoring is complex, but it is completely contained on the score pad. (You will want to keep one of these scoring sheets as a clean copy so that you can make your own copies once you go through the pad provided with the game.) There are so many potential scoring strategies that each player can reasonably develop his or her own approach to the game. • Balanced: (GO ) The game is completely balanced. • Chance (GO) The game is a great balance of luck and skill. The dice are tossed randomly each turn, but knowing what the other players are attempting to do and what options are available to you counts towards success. Still, it is possible for a complete novice to be lucky and win that way too. • Clarity: (GO) The rules are very well done with many illustrations and some sample scoring turns. • Reasonable Time: (GO) You can play an entire game in 30-45 minutes. Bonus Criteria • Social: While not officially part of the game, the active player always received lots of "free advice" during our playing sessions. • Unique/Interesting Mechanics: The whole idea of five separate scoring regimens is unique. It fact it is pretty clever. (I could not help myself.) • Informed: Not for this game. • Rewards Throughout: Yes, any points you make on any specific turns are yours for the duration of the game.

I originally played the second version of this game (Twice as Clever) with my sister and really didn't care for it the first time I played. But after playing it a couple more times and figuring out a strategy it is one of my favorite games! I ended up getting this first version because it seems a little less complex and I wanted to play it with my kids. Overall, this is probably my go to game right now. It's quick, not too complicated for our friends that don't play games often and supports up to 4 players. Great combination of strategy and luck. You also have the option to play solo, which my wife has done a few times to test out strategies. Highly Recommend!!

Fun little points salad game with a good mix of randomness and strategy. Takes a play or two to wrap your head around the rules but once you do it's quick-playing and fairly light. It's really satisfying to trigger a chain of several moves in a row. I've only played it as a two-player game but it seems like it'd scale well to 3 or 4 players since there's almost always something to do or think about, even when it's not your turn. My only criticism is that, for the price, you don't really get a lot in the box. Instructions, 6 differently-colored dice, and a pad of scoring sheets. If you already have a bunch of d6 in different colors, you could print and play this pretty easily (and if I ever go through all of the scoring sheets that came in the box, I'll probably print more rather than buy another copy of the game). Overall, it's good enough to earn a permanent spot in my collection and, even better, to actually get pulled off the shelf and played regularly.

This is an addictive little game that I play pretty much exclusively solo. There's no story, there's no theme, there's no minis...and sometimes in a boardgame that is okay...sometimes. I love to try to beat my own score and it has such a small footprint that I can pull out a lap table tray thing and just sit on the sofa or in bed and play it...I've found myself playing this 4 and 5 times in a row because it's so simple and fast..its a fun little puzzle. It knows exactly who it is and isn't trying to be any more or any less.

We absolutely LOVE these games!!!! Probably the favorites of our roll and write type games. Easy to learn, easy to play, it plays different everytime you play it so it stays fun. Only reason why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because we played it so much that we went through all the sheets pretty fast and when we went to reach out about buying more sheets from the company we were told "we don't sell them, you should have laminated four of them". So not great customer service. So just so you all know....laminate four of them or make colored copies so you don't run out! We have now done this with all these types of games!! But super fun games...once you have one you will want the others as well.

Ordered this after searching for best games for two players. My husband and I love that the game is challenging, fairly quick to play, and each round we play unfolds differently. It was not simple to learn, but I wasn't looking for a simple game. I watched a few YouTube videos on how to play and one on strategy and then taught my husband how to play. Don't let that deter you from trying this game, especially if you like Yahtzee, but in a much more challenging format.

This is a very fun roll-and-write game! I had to read through the directions a few times before it made sense. Don't get discouraged if you don't understand the directions at first. Just give it a try. I like that everyone is constantly playing the game. There is no waiting for your turn to come around again. I laminated some of the score sheets so we could use dry erase markers to keep score. It is easier to correct mistakes, and now we won't run out of score sheets. The dice are made of wood and are very light. I prefer heavier dice, but it isn't worth taking a star away. If you like roll-and-write games, I think you will enjoy this one, too!

This is an excellent and clever strategy game. Very quick to learn but there’s definitely some skill in choosing your dice. There was also a sequel to this game but it was not nearly as good as this one! A short summary is there a six different colored dice and each color accumulate points in a different way. So you could choose to lean heavily into a certain color and forsake another but that might reduce your chances for bonus rolls bonus points etc.

Simple but challenging puzzle to master. It's a very clever dice game which is a fun mix of yahtzee sudoku and little math.

One of the best games ever!!! Every time I show someone this game they go home and buy it. Here is an awesome idea I was shown by the person who introduced me. Buy the laminating sheets off Amazon and some dry erase markers. Laminate four of the sheets back and front. Then when you play you just wipe the score sheet each time and start over. No need to go through the pad and have to buy more. I do this for all games I have that come with pads of score sheets.

The game is good , however it is complex. There are many a time you feel you might have missed/forget to apply a rule as the game progresses. Pretty good for but advance players

Siendo el primer roll-and-write que juego, me sorprendió bastante la profundidad de estrategia que se puede alcanzar con elementos tan simples como 6 dados de colores y una hoja de puntuación. Había escuchado muy buenas opiniones pero tenía mis dudas y finalmente lo compré al encontrarlo en oferta... y qué mal que no lo hice antes. El juego consiste en tirar 6 dados de colores e ir eligiendo entre ellos para ir llenando tu hoja de puntuación, pero no es tan simple como eso, dependiendo del dado que elijas, tus opciones se van reduciendo y las de tus rivales aumentan, por lo que debes pensar muy bien lo que más te conviene pero al mismo tiempo no facilitarle tanto las cosas a los demás. Al principio las decisiones no son muy complicadas, pero conforme las rondas avanzan, la cosa se complica porque existen bonificaciones que te permiten realizar combos de puntos con un solo dado. Suena complicado, pero jugadas unas dos o tres rondas, es muy fácil entender las mecánicas, aunque será necesario jugar unas cuantas partidas para ir descubriendo cómo puntuar de manera más óptima (de ahí su nombre en español; "Optimus"). El juego es totalmente independiente del idioma y el manual en español es fácil de encontrar en internet si es que no dominas mucho el inglés. También tiene modo solitario que en lo personal no he jugado, pero me imagino las sensaciones no difieren demasiado de jugarlo con más personas. Aunque no es un juego para todos por el aspecto de tener que pensar y que puede llegar a generar algo de "anaálisis.parálisis" por las consecuencias de cada jugada (algo que no a todos los jugadores les agrada), sin duda es un gran juego y el diseño de las mecánicas es grandioso y muy bien pensado. Gracias a él le perdí la aversión a los roll-and-write. Si te gustan los juegos que te ponen a pensar y llevan buena estrategia con componentes simples pero bonitos (6 dados y un bloc con hojas de puntuación), este juego es para ti. 10/10

One of our favorite roll & writes, and a go-to travel game for us. Everyone we have introduced this game to have also loved it and we have gifted many copies to friends. Combos are super satisfying, and it's always fun to chase the high score.