Trinket Trove Board Game Review
Trinket Trove is a very simplistic game with fantastic artwork that makes it an ideal filler game for your board game parties. This card drafting and set collection game is easy to teach and easy to play, but there is some strategy involved which makes it a great pick for experienced gamers as well.
Trinket Trove is played over a series of 6 rounds, and each round follows the same steps. The goal of the game is to create sets of cards and earn points. Once the central area is setup for each round – cards equal to the number of players in a display, plus a timer card added to the first card in the display – players will begin using cards in their hand to bid on sets they want to collect (or turn order of what they will select). Number of cards always trumps card values, so the more cards you bid, the better chance you have of going first. That said, having a single high card would also work, as long as your number is larger than everyone else. As players each place a bid, the turn order structure will change. Players can optionally bid zero cards from their hands, which means they go last but get to use a card from the deck as their placement, instead of one from their hands.
Once everyone has bid, there will be piles of cards on the table equal to the twice the number of players. Then, starting with the player who bid the most cards, players will select piles of cards to draft, with the exception being they cannot draft the cards that they themselves bid. After everyone has drafted cards, another round beings. After six rounds, you will create sets with the cards in your hand, and the person with the most points wins!
What I love about Trinket Trove is how simple it is to play, yet has a great mechanic of bidding that makes you think twice. Do you put down extra cards you think you won’t need so you can go first? What happens if the cards you put down really help someone else? Should you bid a card you know someone else wants to take? There is so much reading of other players in this game, and I actually quite enjoy it. The better you are at memory – knowing what others have taken in previous rounds – the better you’ll do at bidding as you try to toss cards on the table that other players don’t necessarily want. It is a constant battle of risk and reward, but one that feels very good.
There is a lot more strategy here than the box size and look portray, and I think that is a good thing. That said, it’s still a very accessible game, one I think my kids can easily play themselves. If you are looking for a nice little filler game for board game night, check out Trinket Trove – I don’t think you will be disappointed!
Article By Adam
