Gigamons

Game 3 of our “Fantastically Festive Christmas School Holidays 2023 Marathon” is “Gigamons.”

On the face of it, “Gigamons” is a very simple match-to-memory game that got nominated for this year’s “Kinderspiel des Jahres.” At the time, I largely overlooked it because we play a lot of match-two games, and it’s rare that they bring something interesting to the table.

“Gigamons” is, however, one of those rare examples where it does something a bit extra that makes it worthwhile.

The general concept of the game is fairly simple: you lay out a grid of 9 “Elemons,” which are the smaller creatures face down, and take turns turning two over, trying to get a matching pair.

Where this becomes a bit different is in the general way scoring works and what happens when you match a pair. Each of the Elemons has its own power, which activates when you take two of them, such as giving you an extra Elemon from the drawer pile, allowing you to destroy an opposing player’s Elemon, letting you freeze the tile before your next turn (meaning other players can’t touch it), allowing you to swap a tile with a player, or giving you another turn. The slight difference is the “Patchwork Elemon,” which can match with anything else.

Even though you take pairs, what you are trying to get in your hand are threes because getting three of an Elemon allows you to swap it for the matching “Gigamon,” and this is how you win the game by getting as many Gigamons as possible.

This two-then-three mechanic is really interesting as it means that when you take two, you don’t necessarily need to get another two to get a full set. Instead, you can get a one with a patchwork, maybe switch one with another player, or get lucky and take one from a draw pile. Not only are you trying to get pairs, but quite often you’re trying to get specific pairs, which makes the strategy element of it so much more.

The presentation of the game is nice. All of the cards and Elemons are made out of a nice linen-feel cardstock, and everything looks very lovely laid out on the table.

I went into “Gigamons” with very low expectations based on the fact that it’s a match-to-puzzle game, but actually, “Gigamons” is really good and probably my now favourite match-to-strategy game. It’s perfectly made for kids, but there’s enough here that this could easily be used as a starter game with a group of adults. I have also played it with a group of teenagers, and they equally enjoyed it.

“Gigamons” was provided free of charge from Hachette Games as part of a donation to the school where I work, with the understanding that I would review it here.

Note: Some international versions are called “Gigamon” and not “Gigamons.”

A very high recommendation from me.