Squishmallows Take 4

As we approach our last few games of Summer Games Fest, which comes to an end this week, we’re taking a look at a game that’s been sitting on my shelf for quite a while but has never actually hit the table until now – Squishmallows Take 4.

Depending on your household, you probably already have a few Squishmallows around. All three of my boys absolutely love them. In fact, Jack pretty much uses one of the big ones as his pillow most nights rather than the actual pillows we lovingly provided for him.

The game comes with a really cute little Benny Squishmallow plush. He’s not just there to be adorable either – he’s actually a key part of the gameplay. At its heart, Squishmallows Take 4 is a set collection game where you’re trying to gather four Squishmallow cards that belong to the same squad.

It works in a slightly unusual way. Each player has four Squishmallow cards in front of them, numbered 1–4. In secret, you choose which card you want and place it face down on the table. When everyone reveals, if you’re the only person who picked that number, you get to take the card. But if two or more players picked the same number, it becomes a race – the first person to grab the Benny plush gets to claim the card. The first player to collect a matching set of four cards wins.

I’ve got mixed feelings about this one. I really like the hidden card selection mechanic, but it doesn’t quite mesh with the Benny grab rule. Most of the time, it’s pretty obvious what other players are going for, so unless people panic and grab Benny too quickly, the tension doesn’t quite land. We don’t usually house rule games, but in this case we had to. We made it so that if you grabbed Benny when you weren’t actually tied with another player, you had to discard one of your cards at random. That turned out to be a good enough deterrent to stop people from snatching Benny just for the sake of it.

If your kids enjoy reaction games, this isn’t a bad choice. The plush you get with it is undeniably cute, and it makes for a nice little gift for any Squishmallow fan.

It’s absolutely not an essential game, and the rough edges turned me off a bit, but there’s definitely something here for the right little board gamer.