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Game Info
Year
2017
Players
2
Age
8+
Playtime
20 min
Collection
Ratings
Creator Score
Expansions & Family
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Mechanic profile
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Description
The Game: Face to Face features gameplay similar to The Game with players laying down cards from their hand in ascending and descending piles, but now the game is limited to two players who are competing to get rid of their cards first. You want to win on your own, but to advance, you must inevitably help your opponent...
On your turn, you’ll play at least 2 cards from your hand of 6. The twist comes from where you can play them. Of course, your own ascending and descending piles are fair game and follow the normal rules of The Game.
But exactly once per turn, you can play a card on one of your opponent’s piles, breaking all rules. This ultimately helps them out, as it pushes whatever pile you played on away from its upper limit.
The Game Family
(4 games)
Part of the The Game family — see The Game for the combined view.
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 5
This page: 5
Sentiment:
pos 3 ·
mix 1 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–5 of 5
Video SoRH824fCic
Board Game Sanctuary Review at 0:47 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 109875 · mention_pk 316102
Click to watch at 0:47 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Competitive two-player aspect
- Interaction between players
- Fast-paced nature
- Racing element
- Makes the original game feel more competitive
Cons
- A little bit dry when it comes to the theme
Thematic elements
- Competitive two-player card game based on a cooperative game
Comparison games
- The Game (cooperative version)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card playing — Players play cards into different piles in ascending or descending order.
- Deck Building — Players have a 58-card deck and try to empty it as quickly and efficiently as possible.
- Discarding — Players can discard one card from their hand into a face-up pile that an opponent owns.
- Hand Management — Players try to empty their hand of cards first.
- Rule Bending — Players can play a card in reverse order if the number is 10 less (ascending row) or 10 more (descending row).
- Set Collection — Players find themselves collecting pairs or triplets of numbers that are 10 points apart.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The game has you feeling like you are watching two people stuck in an elevator in a 60-story building playing with the buttons as they race to the top or bottom of the building.
- This changes everything including the strategy involved.
- It's very important to only use this action when you need to.
- It's almost like you're just trying to keep your head right above the water to survive.
- I really adore the two-player aspect of the game and the interaction that it creates between the players.
- I really enjoy the fast-paced nature of this game.
- I really adore the racing element of this game but I feel that the game is a little bit dry when it comes to the theme and I think the game could be lifted with a little bit of extra color.
- I really like how the game takes the original game and makes it feel a whole lot more competitive.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video UQXS1dxpUG8
kovray Review at 1:19 sentiment: positive
video_pk 89528 · mention_pk 237972
Click to watch at 1:19 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- quick setup and fast rounds
- enjoyable head-to-head challenge
- clever twist on discard mechanics
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- dueling card game with opposite discard rules
- Skull-themed, Halloween-inspired duel
- competitive tête-à-tête with misdirection
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- endgame squeeze — getting rid of cards efficiently to empty your hand
- hand/stack manipulation — players manage ascending and descending piles; on your turn you discard to your own pile or your opponent's pile to influence card flow
- opponent interaction — how you affect or assist your opponent by discarding cards that help or hinder them
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's skull themed spooky spooky
- it's a quick easy card game you can set up
- the postcards add so much theme to the game
- it's a brain-burning, tight two-player puzzle
- the production quality is sublime
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video yEX7xujH2PE
The Dice Tower Analysis at 4:45 sentiment: positive
video_pk 81471 · mention_pk 202521
Click to watch at 4:45 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- I thought worked really well
Cons
- I think The Game is at best okay
Thematic elements
Comparison games
- The Game
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Hey everybody, I'm Tom Vasel. Welcome to look back, a series where I take a look at games that I reviewed last year, 5 years ago, 10 years ago, and 20 years ago this week and tell you what I think about them now, if I think about them at all.
- So, let's jump back 20 years ago. I reviewed a game called Astro Plane, which was an abstract strategy game that almost required you to completely understand astrophysics to play it. It was not very good at all. I gave it a two out of 10 and it is one of the first times where the designer wrote me a very strong rant and went online and pretty much attacked me for being too stupid to understand this game, but it was pretty bad.
- I'm noticing games from 10 years ago didn't look necessarily great.
- And then surprisingly to me the game Face to Face. This is a two-player version of The Game. And I don't I think The Game is at best okay. But The Game Face to Face, that two-player version of it, I thought worked really well.
- So, this is a game where uh that Stonemaier Games did where I was like, "What is this Red Rising?" I went and read the the first trilogy so I could better play this game, which didn't matter because the theme is barely there.
- This is sort of like a Blackjack but with algebraic equations.
- Um algebra in a game, but I'm just amused by it.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video qs6ziBqxWx4
Meeple University Review
video_pk 70084 · mention_pk 166983
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
none
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- the idea of the game is to finish your pile first
- whoever finish the pile of cards first wins the game
- if you play one to your opponents out of the cards that you play you draw back up to six
- if you can't put down any cards you lose the game
- my mind was like because i'm not good at special rotation
- break a bone and then get sympathy to get a boyfriend
- it's like you don't want to because we can't communicate
- it smells better than it tastes tastes it's not durian
- the objective of the game is not to help your partner but to stop your partner from winning
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video qs6ziBqxWx4
Meeple University Review at 1:20 sentiment: positive
video_pk 70084 · mention_pk 241803
Click to watch at 1:20 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- It's a competitive version of a familiar cooperative game.
- Playing cards to an opponent's pile can be beneficial for drawing more cards.
Cons
- If you cannot play at least two cards, you lose the game.
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card Play — Players play cards in descending order on their own pile and ascending order on their opponent's pile, indicated by numbers 1 to 59 and arrows up or down.
- End condition — The first player to finish their pile of cards wins the game.
- Hand Management — Players draw cards to a hand of six. Playing one card to an opponent's pile allows drawing back up to six cards, while playing two cards to one's own pile results in drawing back two cards. The goal is to get rid of cards.
- Rule Bending — A specific rule allows playing card number 30 against the ascending pile, which otherwise follows strict descending/ascending order, to help an opponent.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- the idea of the game is to finish your pile first
- whoever finish the pile of cards first wins the game
- if you play one to your opponents out of the cards that you play you draw back up to six
- if you can't put down any cards you lose the game
- my mind was like because i'm not good at special rotation
- break a bone and then get sympathy to get a boyfriend
- it's like you don't want to because we can't communicate
- it smells better than it tastes tastes it's not durian
- the objective of the game is not to help your partner but to stop your partner from winning
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–5 of 5