Anger Smash

As I start to plan out what’s going to be included at least in the first half of this year’s summer marathon, (which we are aiming to start on July 1st) , I thought I would post a quick review of “Anger Smash: The Viciously Addictive Card Game” (which I am going to call “Anger Smash” henceforth), a fun little card game that Jack(9) and I played the other day. I went into it with very few expectations, but I surprisingly enjoyed it for a fairly simple set collection game.

The game is very simple, with the idea of becoming the first person to gain two sets of cards (four matching Anger and four matching Zen cards). You start the game by putting the entire deck in the middle and dealing eight cards to each player, ensuring that no one gets any Disruptors or Blood Boiler cards. Then, reshuffle the cards and place them in the deck in the middle.

Firstly, you can lay all of your cards down in front of you so you can see everything you’ve got. This works particularly well for young children as very few cards are held in hand apart from the Disruptor and Blood Boiler cards, but you only ever end up with one or two of these at a time.

On their turn, a player draws a card from the deck. If it matches one in your hand, you take it. If it doesn’t, then you have to place it in the middle of the table. If you draw a card that already matches one in the middle of the table, then you get both.

Blood Boiler cards allow you to steal cards from other players. They can be used to gain a card you need or to break up a grouping. Equally, there are Disruptor cards which basically act as special powers. These are integral to the game and it would be far too simple without them.

This continues until one player successfully gains a set of Anger and a set of Zen cards. It’s all very quick and light-hearted with a few “take that” elements that don’t feel overly unfair. While this isn’t going to win any awards, Jack and I both agreed that it was actually really good fun for this type of card game, which isn’t normally the sort of thing we play.

If you like set-collection family party card games, then this is actually a pretty decent one that is worth picking up.

Disclaimer: “Anger Smash” was provided for free by “How am I Wierd Games” via the “UKBG Review Circle.” All thoughts and opinions are our own.