Matthew BaileyToday, we’re going to be looking at “Dro Polter”, a slightly unusual dexterity game from Oink Games, played here by myself, Jack(.8.) and Toby(5).
“Dro Polter” essentially plays like the opposite of the fairly popular dexterity game, “Ghost Blitz”. In the game, there are five items: a red gem, a ring, a shell, a blue key, and a cracker (as in a biscuit). Unlike “Ghost Blitz”, where you have to grab the items really quickly, in “Dro Polter” you have all five of the items in your hand. You then turn over the card and have to drop the items on the card from your hand, only using one hand, without dropping the other items.
It’s a super weird concept that’s surprisingly difficult to do. I would say it’s really difficult for children as chances are their hands are smaller, which means holding things is harder.
Once you’ve dropped all your items correctly, you then have to grab the ghost. The first person to grab the ghost wins, gaining a bell, and the first person to get 5 bells wins.
And that’s basically it. It’s a super simple game that is really unusual and requires a really unusual skill of hand muscle control to be able to do it well. Neither of the boys particularly enjoyed it, and I thought it was very much okay. After a couple of plays, I’d kind of had enough and I wasn’t really that bothered about playing again. I think there definitely could be something here, maybe with an all-adult group, but even then you’d probably have to do it as a drinking game to make the appeal enough. To be honest, if you’re looking to play a small box party game, “Ghost Blitz” in itself is probably the better one to go for.
Equally, our previously reviewed Rafter Five would also fit the bill
What I will say though, is the component quality is extremely high. The cards are really nice, the ghost piece is really cool, and all of the little objects are well-produced, giving the game a nice premium feel. It’s the usual Oink Games box nonsense where the title isn’t on the side of the game, and I was pleased to see after my recent review of “Five Rafter” that I am not alone in this feeling.
Overall, it’s super unusual, but this hurts it just as much as it benefits it, and at the end of the day, it’s not really compelling enough to warrant long-term play.
Disclaimer: A copy of “Dro Polter” was provided for the purpose of review by “Hachette Games” via the “UK Review Circle”. My thoughts and opinions are my own.
