Lure Board Game Review
I’m a big fan of fishing, but there are few fishing games that I actually enjoy – something like Deep Regrets looks really great, but without the chance to play it, I needed a cheaper, easier to table option. Enter Lure, a fantastic game of fishing with dice that will frustrate some because of the luck, but excite others because of the opportunity.
Place me firmly in the excited category. When you look at all its parts, Lure is an incredibly simplistic game. Central fish cards will show a value that must be met by rolling dice, and sometimes those values will have other conditions. Those conditions range from needing a specific number, to needing a lure attached to the roll, to having all your numbers be even or odd (Deep Waters expansion content). Players secretly bid a number of a dice, between 5 d6, 1 d12, 1 d20, and 1 d4 (Deep Waters expansion content). The number of dice you bid matters for a variety of reasons. Special dice require a cool down period between uses, so you can’t use them every turn; and there are only so many fish to catch, and whomever bids the least number of dice for the round gets to try and catch first!
The strategy here is how much you want to push your luck. There might be a number of mid range number cards in the central play area, but how few dice can you bid to potentially win a fish? Lure’s can help – they don’t count to your dice bid number, and can provide you different values to add to dice, the opportunity to change the value of a die, or earn extra victory points. When and how you use your lures, and when and how you deploy your special dice is key to victory. There is a ton of luck – I saw someone roll all small values even with the d20! – but you can try to mitigate that luck with some clever thinking.
There are a number of different strategies to pursue. Holding onto your d20 can be really valuable if an opportunity arises where no one else has access to theirs in a round. Saving up powerful lures for first specific circumstances can net you hard to catch fish! And catching the most fish doesn’t mean you’ll win either. Getting a few high value fish might be all you need.
There is a ton of luck to be had in Lure, that’s for sure, but I enjoy how quickly the game plays, and how easy it is to teach. The Deep Water expansion content adds just enough to add an extra wrinkle into the equation with the d4 and the trophies you can earn for more points, but after a few games with it, I’d never play without it. For a fairly reasonable price, this can be all yours this holiday season. It’s a great game for those people who don’t necessarily love games!
Article By Adam
