Gobblet is an abstract game played on a 4x4 grid with each of the two players having twelve pieces that can nest on top of one another to create three stacks of four pieces.
Your goal in Gobblet is to place four of your pieces in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal row. Your pieces start nested off the board. On a turn, you either play one exposed piece from your three off-the-board piles or move one piece on the board to any other spot on the board where it fits. A larger piece can cover any smaller piece. A piece being played from off the board may not cover an opponent's piece unless it's in a location where your opponent threatens to win with 3 pieces in a row.
Your memory is tested as you try to remember whose piece one of your larger pieces is covering before you move it. As soon as a player has four pieces in a row, s/he wins — except in one case: If you lift your piece and reveal an opponent's piece that completes a four-in-a-row, you don't immediately lose; you can't return the piece to its starting location, but if you can place it over one of the opponent's three other pieces in that line, the game continues.
_______________
Similiar to :
Cover Up
- coffee table style game
- beautiful wooden pieces
- clever mechanic
- really good game
- not quite as good as Quarto
- abstract
- four in a row
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- abstract strategy
- hidden pieces
- Stacking
- Stacking and Balancing
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- these games have amazing table presence by which i mean people are going to glance across the room and go what is that person playing and i want to play all these games
- stacking games have table presence like nothing else
- looks beautiful it looks like a load of sweets on the board
- one of my favorite games of all time
- i don't like that sort of game i find that one of the most frustrating game mechanisms
- the central marble dispenser is your main draw in this game
- absolutely brilliant strategic game quite complex game
- it's actually my favorite of the mask trilogy
- i'm almost scared to say this but i don't really like azul very much
- biggest most overlooked game on this list
References (from this video)
- Iconic production for a family abstract
- strong lineage in the Gigamic/GF tradition
- Not recognized by SPIEL despite popularity
- pattern building and memory
- abstract, cup-based theme in a family-friendly package
- abstract strategy
- Quarto
- Quoridor
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- memory — tracking which arrangements are possible and valuable
- memory / set-building — tracking which arrangements are possible and valuable
- Pattern Building — players arrange cups to form patterns and patterns of moves
- pattern building / placement — players arrange cups to form patterns and patterns of moves
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's a fantastic alternative to Scrabble
- it's not heavy on the awards
- a real simple introductory card drafting game
- this is a fantastic alternative to Scrabble
- the garden is home to an antagonistic Gardener and Panda
References (from this video)
- memorable stack interaction
- dynamic capture mechanics
- can be complex to remember stacking rules
- Gipf
- Quarto
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- stacking and capture — place or move pieces; later turns you may lift and capture by stacking
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- these games have no theme
- it's a toolbox for you as a game designer which of these mechanisms do you want to employ in your own abstract strategy game
- product design is everything
- the single most impactful feature of connect 4 was that little hatch beneath the frame
- abstract strategy games are some of the most interactive games in existence