This Mass Market Game Has No Right Being So Fun
Transcript
Hey everybody, today I thought I'd make a quick on the spot video talking about a game that caught me by surprise in a very pleasant sense and one that I thought I might enjoy but this one certainly exceeded my initial expectations. Um and I think one of the main reasons why this one maybe I wasn't expecting the world from is because of its kind of aesthetic way it's presented because it does have a kind of mass market, you know, mass production and certainly like cash grab kind of look to it. Um but after playing it that is certainly not the case. So this is certainly a small and unassuming game called Tally Up. You see this one comes in this tiny little tin. Uh component wise it's just a few of these cardboard tokens and some dice. Uh this one player count wise two to 10 players eight plus eight years plus and this one you are looking at around 30 minutes to play and but you can adjust that depending on how much time you have because you can change the goal on what you're aiming for in terms of these points. So Tally Up is a pure push your luck game. Um some of you might have already checked out at that thought because maybe uh push your luck games are all just too luck dependent for you um and because there are so many great classic ones out there. Certainly a pattern for me over the years has been like when a cuz I love push your luck games when a new one comes out I think yeah I'll give it a go but no doubt it's not going to be as good as some other ones I have in my collection such as your
classic you know Can't Stop or your Rapido's or even games like Circus Floati. For me uh those are absolute favorites of mine. I play them all the time and I just love that risk reward factor to them. Now Tally Up is is similar but also different in a lot of ways because as I said this one is this is dice driven but this one you are purely going for victory points and it's going to be a race to get to a certain number. So uh of the baseline number that the game recommends is 2,500 points, uh which sounds like a lot and it is, uh but you can get a lot of points in a single round uh in this game. So, uh the way the game works is ultra simple. So, as the active player, you are going to select three out of the six dice in this box. Uh all come with a different risk-reward level. So, for example, the the red die um has a really high points values on them, but it comes with more of the star symbols, which is basically your bust mechanism. Because if you ever roll two stars, um you will go bust.
Um but, the extra wrinkle to this game, which is certainly uh ups the fun factor and the party factor, is that if all three of the dice you are choosing for that round roll a star, it's kind of like the shoot-the-moon mechanism, where if you shout tally up before the other players, you will get some bonus points. And I love that little wrinkle because it means that you are forced to pay attention, because it it is the race to shout that out. So, and everyone's on edge, and it's just a great little nugget to um to make sure that the players are engaged. So, as I said, the active player is going to um select their three dice. They're going to uh roll them, and of course those points are going to get um tallied up and added to your running score. Uh if you ever roll one of these circle symbols on these dice, then you'll get a bonus roll with this magical dice, which can either kind of double your points or lose you 100 points, or even add additional rolls into the mix, which of course can yield more points, but will increase the um increase the uh percentage that you are going to go bust. And at each of these kind of pit stops, the other players can choose to stay in the round or back out the round through this simultaneous um almost selection system, you know, in or out, depending on what you reveal. If you go out, you will bank the points for that round, they're safe. If you stay in, you've got the potential to win more points, but of course you could lose them all if you go bust. So, as I mentioned with those other games, you know, my favorite push your luck games, one of the things that normally takes the edge off these push your luck games is maybe sometimes they're too forgiving
for me. You know, it's like for example, although it's a different type of game, a game like Quacks of Quedlinburg, great game, but if you go bust, it's not the end of the world. You still get, you know, it's a cushioned blow. In games of my favorite ones, and certainly with Tally Up, that is certainly not the case. You are either all in or all out with this, and that's what I really like about it. It has these high certainly those highs, those those tense moments, and certainly does you know, come to the forefront of the gaming experience is that risk and reward factor. So, that's pretty much the game explained. You're going to just pass the dice around, doing round after round, staying in, going out, going bust, getting trying to beat your race your opponents to get to that final score tally. But, it's an absolute blast. Again, I I thought I might like it, but it certainly exceeded those expectations. For me, this is as good as some of those other games that I mentioned, and no doubt it's going to be a hallmark of my collection because it's again, it's so easy just to smash a game out of it. And component wise, it takes no time to set up whatsoever. It doesn't stay out there saying welcome. You're always engaged even if you're not the one rolling the dice cuz as I said, you are, you know, deciding to stay in or out, or you are trying to look out for those tally ups. And it just for me, it just has that extra level of detail that makes a good game great. And for me, this is certainly one of the surprises of the year for me. It's not going to be for everybody cuz this isn't your, this isn't your two-hour hour brain burnery euro. It's simple, silly, party game
fun. But again, it's tailored to a wide audience. You can play this with again, two to 10 players, and I have played this at two, and it works pretty great. With more players, it's even better than that. So, yeah, I can't really say a bad thing about Tally Up because it stays in its lane and it does what it's trying to do to an extremely high standard. So, again, if you do want a a pretty cool and a again fun factor small box accessible, um, you know, quite emotional game in terms of those highs and lows, then certainly check out Tally Up. You know, it's very affordable as well. I think this one only cost me about 10 pounds, which is next to nothing. So, that is a a really nice game to talk about because, sometimes, the simple games are the best ones. So, I hopefully you have enjoyed the video. If you have, please be sure to hit like and subscribe to the channel and check out my other content, too. But, for everybody else, I'll see you next time on Sherman of the Board. Bye-bye.