Matthew BaileyToday, we’re going to be looking at “Rafter Five,” a cute little dexterity game by Oink Games that comes in an incredibly small box. Played here by Jack (.8.) and myself.
You set up the game by placing the two halves of the box on top of each other to make a platform, and then putting down the deck of blank cards face down to create a sea around, and all of the meeples go on the raft. On your turn, you have to select your plank and place it on the raft with a treasure chest on it matching your colour, using one of the meeples to help weigh it all down.
It continues until the whole thing collapses, and that person loses, much in the same way as a game of Jenga works. I am not massively keen on games where there is a loser and everyone else wins. We played a two-player game, and on the instance that I played it, it was fine. If I were to play it with more players, I would probably house rule something.
Component-wise, it’s really good for the size, and everything fits in the incredibly tiny box. I hate the fact that Oink Games doesn’t put the names of the games on the side of the box, making it really irritating to put them on the shelf. I think that is largely a me problem rather than a general problem most people have. I’ve played a few small box dexterity games over the years, and actually, this is one of the strongest. Small box dexterity games tend to be quite fiddly, and even though the components on this one are very compact, it feels like a full-sized dexterity game, and it doesn’t feel like you’re doing anything on a micro-scale.
We enjoy playing this, and I intend to pick up my own copy, as this is a really good dexterity game to take travelling, as it doesn’t take up much space, unlike most dexterity games.
Goof stuff.
Disclaimer: A copy of “Rafter Five” was provided for the purpose of review by “Oink Games” via the “UK Review Circle”. My thoughts and opinions are my own.
