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Numbers aren't worth anything in NMBR 9 unless they're off the ground floor and looking down from above.
The game includes twenty cards numbered 0-9 twice and eighty tiles numbered 0-9; each number tile is composed of squares in some arrangement. After shuffling the deck of cards, draw and reveal the first card. Each player takes a number tile matching the card and places it on the table. With each new card drawn after that, each player takes the appropriate number tile, then adds it to the tiles that they already have in play, with each player building their own arrangement of tiles.
The new tile must touch at least one other tile on the same level along one side of a square. A tile can also be placed on top of two or more other tiles as long as no part of the new tile overhangs the tiles below it; new tiles placed on this same level must touch at least one other tile, while also covering parts of at least two tiles and not overhanging.
Once all the cards have been drawn and the tiles placed, players take turns calculating their score. A tile on the bottom level — the 0th level, if you will — scores 0 points; a tile on the 1st level above this is worth as many points as the number on the tile; a tile on the 2nd level is worth twice the number on the tile; etc. Whoever scores the most points wins!
NMBR 9 Review - JonGetsGames
- fast teaching time
- puzzle invites thinking about future numbers
- beautiful components (large tiles, nice insert)
- quick setup and getting to the table
- emotional investment and sense of ownership over decisions
- one-trick pony, mainly stacking tiles
- zero player interaction
- below-average variability (deck-driven)
- box space is somewhat wasted; box could be smaller
- Karuba
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- deck reveal and shared selection — a 20-card deck is shuffled; the top card is drawn and everyone takes the tile with that number, repeated until all cards are drawn.
- stacking and level scoring — tiles can be stacked on top of others; a tile's points are its printed value multiplied by its level.
- tile placement — tiles are made up of small squares; when placing a tile adjacent to other tiles, at least two of these squares must be orthogonally adjacent.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- It's a one-trick pony game where you're just stacking tiles on top of each other and sliding them in amongst the other ones on their given levels.
- Incredibly fast teaching time.
- It's a really good-look game with a slightly large box.
- This is a beautiful game.
- I really recommend this game.
References (from this video)
- Simple rules with satisfying high-variance scoring
- Interesting stacking dynamic and risk-reward decisions
- polyomino shapes that correspond to numbers 0-9
- Realm of Sand
- Patchwork
- Cottage Garden
- Indian Summer
- Spring Meadow
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card-driven number reveal — shuffle and reveal a card with a number; players place a corresponding polyomino piece
- placement with no holes underneath — tiles can be placed flat on the table or stacked, as long as no holes remain beneath
- scoring by stacking height — a tile's points equal its number times the height of the stack it sits on
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Isle of cats is a brilliant polyomino style game.
- patchwork made polyominoes explode onto the board gaming scene
- I love cats