Much like the game Strike, this review should be short and sweet. Strike is a push your luck dice game for 2 – 5 players where there can only be one winner.
Strike Overview
In Strike, the rules are simple. Players are all given an equal amount of dice and take turns tossing 1 die into an arena trying to match it with the others. If the dice match, the player gets to pull out the matching sets for their collection. If none of the dice match, they remain in the pit. After each roll, the player can choose to keep rolling or pass to the next player. When the player runs out of dice to roll, they are eliminated from the game.
This plays out like a war of attrition amongst the players. As players are tossing dice, some of them are staying in the pit, some going to the player, and if a strike is rolled some are being removed from play all together. Over the course of the game, the pool of dice will naturally dwindle as players press their luck for the remaining dice in the pit until there is one player left.
There are some nice little wrinkles in the rules of the game. Striking other dice in the arena is encouraged to change values and get more matches. Also, if a player is able to clear the arena of dice, the next player must roll all of their dice into the arena. This gives incentive to push your luck to put pressure on the next player.
The Strike Arena
Open the Strike box and you are instantly greeted with the arena, a recessed insert in the box where all the rolling takes place. It kind of looks like a mini coliseum for players to battle it out in. It certainly is a nice touch. Dice are black and chunky, nothing special here but there is plenty of them. The overall configuration makes it a game that can be played just about anywhere. Just take the lid off, hand out some dice and get cracking!
Strike Impressions
Playing Strike certainly feels like a party game. When playing it kinda felt like a game of Left, Right, Center. I could very easily see folks kicking in a few bucks while playing this game. While it is out on the table the game will have folks cheering and booing each roll and if you have a crowd that is invested, the game can be quite fun.
I do wish that it supported more than 5 players but I suppose any more and the game may drag on for what it is. And once you have played a couple of rounds, the group may get tired and move on to something else. It is accessible enough that everyone wants to give it a try and people get a kick out of the game for 1-2 plays. But then we move on to something else and the game gets packed up until the next get together. I personally was hoping for a bit more staying power.
Final Verdict
Strike is fun while it is out but the fun can be short lived. If you like party games like LCR with some push your luck, give Strike a try.
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