Case Study: Sushi Go

A case study is the initial thoughts the Board Game Ripper has on a particular board game after only a few plays. This is just my initial impressions and are subject to change  after I feel I have played enough sessions of the game to give it a proper review.

     

Lately I have been going to a local game night hosted at the Library every Saturday in hopes of increasing my presence among the community and enjoying the chance to play games that I would never experience otherwise. I really have come to enjoy the people of this group and have discovered several games that I had passed on during their initial release that are amazing. This has really been a wonderful experience for me and has become a highlight of the week. Unfortunately, I have also discover some games through this group whose first impression was exactly why I avoided them in the first place. Sushi Go is one such example.

I am not a light gamer and it takes a lot for a filler game to impress me. Don't get me wrong, I do have a small collection of filler games but the vast majority of them are just not worth the time. I would rather play a full game with interesting choices and engaging game play that waste an hour playing several fillers that are quick to play but lacking in any depth. Sushi Go is a light drafting game that mirrors any other drafting game you may have seen taking only three rounds to play. During each round, players are dealt a certain number of cards depending on player count. The game than follows normal drafting rules as such: you select a card, play it face down in front of you, reveal it and than pass the remaining cards to the next player. After you have been passed the last single card of the round and played it, the round will end and you will score what is in front of you.

Almost all of the cards are basic scoring cards granting you points for controlling certain numbers, majorities, and simple point gains. For example, a set of two tempura scores you 5 points, a set of 3 sashimi scores you 10 points and dumplings score points bases on how many you have. There are some special cards like wasabi which can triple the points of some cards if they are played on top of it and chopsticks which allow you to yell sushi go in order to take two cards that round replacing the second card you take with the now used chopsticks from your play area. Overall you are just drafting cards to try to gain as much points each round as possible. After three rounds you tally up the points earned each round to get your final score.

This is a filler game all the way through which means there is no theme in this game. It is just a drafting mechanic with cute pictures and the cards are just different ways to get points that are standard in the industry. You are mostly trying to collect sets and simple majorities. I found this game to just be dull and offering really no reason to play. I usually love drafting games but there is almost no game to play. You could easily just put yourself on autopilot and tune everything out in your head. Sushi go is essentially a beer and pretzel game and I think you have to include alcohol to make this a fun experience. To be truthful, I think next time this comes out I would rather just leave early and miss out on the last ten minutes than sit around to play this game. It is about as much fun as randomly rolling some dice around the table. 

Board Game Ripper